Sitting uneasily somewhere between a full-length and an EP, the debut release from UK-based experimentalists Malconfort is hard to classify. Featuring members of other post-black voyagers such as Sea Mosquito and Amaltheia, the band play an uncomfortable form of jazz-infused noise rock that stumbles drunkenly close to several subgenres but never quite fails to avoid black metal itself. Opener Compulsion (Ecstasy) is like some lost 90s Faith No More-meets-Candiria trip, initially yowled post-hardcore stomp before woozily meandering into something more esoteric and proggy, almost post-rock at points. The instrumentation is impressively played but obtusely varied, the jazzy drums and funky bass sometimes seeming at odds with the abstract guitars and having little relation to the vocals, even on the relatively instrumental Cruelty (Elation) where the initial vibe is that of one of Ephel Duath's calmer pieces.

This is, of course, before the song ups the tension, a fuzzy electronic cloud of ambience turning sinister with the re-addition of the instruments atop spoken vocals in a near King Crimson-esque workout. The following Stain (Fantasy) is one of the more blackened-feeling pieces thanks to rabidly snarled vocals atop a near dissonant backing guitar line, even as it devolves again with spoken vocals, avoiding being classified as metal despite the guitars seeming in that tradition. Apparently the band's name is indeed taken from a Deathspell Omega song, which adds to understanding of what they were going for with Humanism - a jazzy, experimental rock approach to the material of Paracletus, albeit here focused on the rhythm section rather than the suffocating melodies.

Which is not to say that Malconfort's sound isn't nightmarish and oppressive at all, even as it proves itself worthy of some quite beautiful moments when taken in isolation, such as on Rage (Indulgence). There's a pervading wrongness about it all as a package, from the mannequin-focused artwork to the music itself, which often manifests its madness in the vocals, which go so far as creepy laughter mixed in with the whispers and aforementioned variances. Yet it's something of a disappointment that it all ends on a whimper rather than building to a bang, the final two pieces being the instrumental Carnivore (God) and Inertia (Condense), both jazz-rock pieces that are compelling enough but that avoid anything too deranged even with some whispers in the latter. Humanism is a lightly uneasy trip overall then rather than a deep delve into Axis of Perdition-esque horror, but shows Malconfort to be a compellingly weird new underground voice.