It was a great honor for me to talk to Gene Palubicki (guitar/vocals), who is an active member of several obscure death metal formations. In this interview, we focused on the latest works of Malefic Throne and Perdition Temple. Now it's your turn to analyze his answers and discover the all-encompassing darkness that accompanies the apotheosis of evil.
Hi Gene! Let's start the interview with Malefic Throne's debut album. "The Conquering Darkness" will be released on November 28, 2025, by Agonia Records. It took three years to complete. Compared to the songs on the "Malefic Throne" EP (2022), how would you describe the musical and lyrical developments in the eight songs on the debut album? Is there anything you did differently this time around in terms of songwriting or recording?
The mini album/demo from 2022 was really just a 1st glimpse of what was developing. Some of the songs on the new full length were written even at the time of the mini album's release. I think the real development of the new full length is the overall presentation has improved vastly. The mix on the mini album at times lost the guitars, and drums might have gotten a bit too loud, making a lot of the musical definition blurred. On this new full length, we really nailed the balance of all the instruments and vocals. You can hear all of what is happening. While at the same time it does not sound like some corporate cookie cutter product that sounds like radio pop music. We found a great balance for it all and it sounds like death metal as we understand it.
I assume Steve is responsible for the lyrics, but could you briefly describe what topics the lyrics deal with and how they relate to the demonic figure on the cover and the snakes surrounding the Earth? Was the cover idea entirely yours, or did Daniel Valeriani initiate it?
The art piece was pre-existing. I thought it had a very iconic look. Very regal in a dark way. I think it works with the lyrics Steve has written, since much of the topics are written from an adversarial perspective. Like a bleak, dark viewpoint voiced from the "demon/nemesis" directly.
Polish label Agonia Records is releasing the album in several special formats (in addition to CD, MC and standard black vinyl, there will also be limited editions on red, splatter and picture vinyl). What kind of contract did you sign with them, and what happened with your previous label, Hells Headbangers Records? I mean, were they not interested in the material this time around, or did you want to explore other options?
An offer was presented to us from Agonia Records that suited what the 3 of us needed to make the record possible in the way it has resulted.
Do you consider Malefic Throne to be exclusively a studio project, or is there a small chance that you will perform live in the near future? Or is this completely impossible due to the main activities of the members?
There will be a lot of careful logistics to sort out, but once we do, we would surely look to bring Malefic Throne to the stages. In whatever capacity possible, if even just a few festival appearances/etc. Since all of us have other active bands doing live stuff, it might get pretty tricky as to how and when.
The song "The Voice of My Ghost" from your debut album has already been released and spread across the internet. It presents a truly hellish and rather sophisticated mix of death metal, which sweeps through the listener like a hurricane in its 6-minute length. Is there any possibility that you will make a full band video for this song or any other composition from "The Conquering Darkness" in the future?
We are working on concepts for that sort of thing currently. Time will reveal all!
Whether it's a coincidence or not, Perdition Temple's fifth full-length album "Malign Apotheosis" will also be released on November 28, 2025. Two songs from the album have already been released online. Perdition Temple's music is a darker, blacker kind of death metal. But how do you personally see it, and how would you describe the musical content of your new songs to readers?
The new Perdition Temple album, "Malign Apotheosis", is just that one more step in evolving the contrasts of influences that have developed over the course of several albums now. On this latest one, there are moments where it leaps from the most ancient old school type of atmosphere into wild dissonant harmonies. Or sudden lurches into radical technicality explode out of more straight forward thrashing parts/etc. Lyrically, the Perdition Temple material has grown to blur the distinction as to what might be real world/fantastical/philosophical/etc. It is all just created in varied forms to fit a certain lyrical/visual aesthetic.
Where did you record "Malign Apotheosis"? Who was responsible for recording, mixing, and mastering? How did you manage to create such a natural, old-school sounding album? By the way, how long did it take to record the new album?
When it comes around to actually working on the recording itself, there is not an incredible amount of time. It is the writing of the albums that tends to take a bit longer. I might spend the course of 6 or more months writing the music and arranging the songs, then another 6 months working out the lyrics.
All of our three band members' individual recordings of our parts are done at our own home studio setups. I start with making the rough demo models of the riffs and arrangements. After that, Ronnie puts it all together on his recording gear and then builds his drum parts. Once he and I are done with all of that, I spend some time arranging how the lyrics will fall over the music. And once all is settled, we then forward everything to Alex so he can do his parts. And once completed we forward the finished work to Jarrett Pritchard, who has done the last 3 albums for us, to mix and master. Jarrett is from the early period of Tampa death metal evolution, so he is very on point with everything we want to do. He understands it all in exactly the same way as us. He will be handling our forthcoming works in the next few years also.
Who designed the cover for "Malign Apotheosis", and what message does it convey? Please share with us the essence of your lyrics.
It was an existing piece done by Nuno/Belial Necroarts. I liked how it shows an ominous and amorphous overshadowing what is already a dissolute and decaying/warped existence before it. It somewhat reminds me of the scene from the "Faust" movie from the 1920's where the devil is looming over the city and his wings cast a shadow over all. I thought the art piece went quite well with my chosen title for the album.
In the coming days, you will be promoting your new album with three concerts in Texas. What songs will you be playing at these concerts? Are you planning to visit Europe on tour in 2026 or perform at certain festivals? If so, where can we see you play?
From the new album, we are currently including the songs "Resurrect Damnation", and "Malign Apotheosis". And then of course many of the songs from the previous albums. No past album is ignored! For 2026 we are aiming at a return trip to Europe for a few weeks in the Fall. Coming up sooner, we plan to have a handful of South American shows too, those in May possibly.
What can you tell us about the other bands you are involved in, such as Demonized and Hexorcist? Is there any new material in the works?
Hexorcist's upcoming full length was completed some months ago. And should see release in the coming months. Antimo has been writing the full length album's material for some time now, and that writing and recording should start in the coming months also, probably a late 2026 release for that.
To conclude the interview, please send your final thoughts to Ukrainian death metal maniacs.
Mega thanks for the support! And all hopes that our violent music can continue to be of interest and relevance in these turbulent times!
