Salomé (Vocals/Guitar), Beatrice (Bass/Vocal) and Raquel (Drums) ended up London from their respective countries and with varying musical influences but a united voice of anger and discontent. Garnering backing across the DIY scene supporting the likes of USA Nails, the London trio have recently raised eyebrows through immense displays at Desertfest and supporting Amyl and the Sniffers. ‘Anthames’ (a type of dagger used by witches during rituals), the title of their first EP, is here to stick that blade right in the heart of what you think you know about the punk scene.
‘No Exit’ gives you little time to settle in. Barrelling in with visceral hardcore energy and hooks. ‘Watch them burn!’ echoes as the trio aim a boot right towards the patriarchy. Small elements like added effects to vocals jump out and quickly show that the trio are not here to release an average punk record. Something which is used again on next track ‘Liar’ to great effect. The pace and message not letting up as abusers are called out, a call to arms for the listener to not be passive bystanders in their communities. A distinct D.C. hardcore inspiration on this track shines through.
Their first full studio album in nearly a decade, Heavy Pendulum sees the Massachusetts quartet take a leap of faith with the addition of Converge/Doomrider/Old Man Gloom bassist Nate Newton. Standing in the shadow of Caleb Scofield, who passed away during the early stages of the band’s previous record Final Transmission, is no easy feat. Heavy Pendulum however, lives up to its name in sound, sonics, and sentiment.
Opening track ‘New Reality’ strikes close to home in its tribute to Caleb, acknowledging his physical absence whilst still honouring his spiritual presence. The thick, sludgy, confrontational riffs also welcomes Nate with open arms and a newfound perspective. Heavy hints of doom and destruction penetrate tracks ‘Blood Spiller’ and ‘Careless Offering’, like a slithering and spiralling nightmare of a distorted and inverted Wonderland of mass media hysteria and empty political promises and propaganda. With “wicked words at play”, the transition into the gyrating panicked riff of ‘Floating Skulls’ morphs into a hypnotically twisting and taunting vocal melody.
The majority of Heavy Pendulum’s musicality and vibe matches that of its song titles, and the title track hits the nail on the head. Nate’s bass lines laboriously swing with a great weight from side to side as John-Robert Conners pummels his drums with lead arms, the sheer effort palpable through time and space. Stephen Brodsky and Adam McGrath’s twin guitar work alleviates some of the doom and gloom pressure, bringing an air of relief before the mass of Chronos himself catches up again.
From a thematic point of view, it is a departure from early work – departing from the proclaimed “crossroads of negative shit” in favour of an album that is all about “walking from the middle and picking a brighter path.” Inspired by vocalist John Carbone’s time working on a nature reserve, “Phototroph” centres itself around the theme of plants; growing ever towards the light.
“Soothingly gentile yet heavy and agitated” is how the band describe opening track, I Revere, and defiantly remaining in a musical style of its own, much akin to the band’s earlier work, it is a song that opens up the album perfectly. Striking a perfect balance between heavy and melodic; a perfect balance between darkness and light, seems only too fitting for a song about that very theme. Listeners may immediately be reminded of the likes of Pain of Salvation or even Gojira as the album delves from this opening motif into a harder hitting, more progressive sound with ‘Back Burner’.
It is interesting that we reach almost the midway point of the album before hearing any of its four lead singles. The fact that the album stays strong for so long without needing to sandwich in one of its “stronger” songs speaks waves, however, especially for a “weird metal band”, as Moon Tooth have been described. It is then the sign of a good “weird metal band”, that they can show us a whole four tracks before going for the big numbers. ‘Alpha Howl’ opens with a strongly heavy riff before leaping into a more melodic vocal line and more experimental time signatures for the verses – as a definitive feature of Moon Tooth’s sound that still manages to hit hard even as the listener begins getting used to it. Actually, ‘Alpha Howl’ even managed to strike up the idea in a listener’s mind that Moon Tooth are a band that can and should be experimenting more with polyrhythms; something that would make for a really interesting sound.
Malevolence are a band that is as hard as Sheffield steel. From their mindset to their riffs, this is a band that has mastered self-supremacy and woe betide anyone that stands in their way. Their unique blend of metallic hardcore with the grooves of NOLA sludge, alongside their ridiculously hard-working mentality has helped the band start a phenomenal rise to the to of the UK metal scene. Malevolence’s highly anticipated third album Malicious Intent sees the band up the ante with more aggression and more passionate emotion unlike anything we’ve seen from them before. Packed full of self-hype inducing energy, if you can remain in your seat for the duration of this album, then it is fair to say that you are not human.
Over the last decade Malevolence have been crafting their sound, evolving it to be bigger and better with each release, whilst gaining more and more dedicated fans in the process. Malicious Intent feels like the band have reached the pinnacle of their ascendancy. With features from Matt Honeycutt of hardcore legends Kublai Khan TX and Matt Heafy of all-conquering Trivium, this album already feels big and weighty before you even press play. Some will argue that in hindsight, it feels like 2020’s EP The Other Side was a small taste of what was to come on Malicious Intent. However, whilst in may ways that is true to an extent, this album conquers any and all preconceptions you may have of it. Transcending through the album is the signature Malevolence aggression that we have all come to know and come to expect, but throughout Malicious Intent you feel the band opening up, showing us the other, more heartfelt side. With increased cleaner singing and melodic lead parts alongside emotive, visceral and passionate lyrics supplied by Alex Taylor and Konan Hall, the band have pushed their sound further and have gone deeper than they have before.
Immediately they throw unexpected aspects into opener ‘Here To Stay, conveying that after all this time they still have something new to show (despite it being very reminiscent of All Time Low’s new sound). The clunky beats and scuzzy, high tuned riffs show juxtaposition between their self-proclaimed title of rulers of the genre they helped build while moving through the new wave that’s slowly occurring.
There are quite a few tracks that see State Champs move away from the catchy and dynamic bangers and more towards lighter, more preppy and melodic tunes like ‘Fake It’. There are some major pop elements here, including vocal overlays, off-the-beat rhythms, elongated guitar riffs, a clapping section and cleaner vocals. Singer Derek DiScanio moves away from his usual style and reaches a combination that no one would ever predict. The more mellow notes in the verses have the same smooth tones as Alex Gaskarth (increasing the All Time Low comparison), yet the powerful middle eight build ups into the higher range, supported by the poppy rhythms, is strangely evocative of that of Ariana Grande’s in her hit ‘Problem’ with Iggy Azalea.
The intro lays down a solid beat as it builds tension into ‘The Mirror Shattered’ which is oozing with the bouncy sound of classic thrash blended alongside more stabby djents of modern HC, starting the album off in a strong fashion. The mean breakdowns in ‘Killer’ followed by ‘Hope Castrated’ ramp up the quality even more, before plunging the listener into the track ‘Make a Decision. ‘Make a Decision’ has that pissed-off hardcore vibe to it, think municipal waste but more pissing blood than partying. ‘Guillotine’ chucks in some sweet slam vocals which work surprisingly well and keep the tune sounding heavy as you like.
Following some sick bars in the title track/interlude ‘Cage Fight!’ the listener is treated to more mean riffage and nasty chugs. Shoutout to one of the standout tracks of this work – ‘One Minute’ – which pairs the speed-laden thrash of bands like Warbringer alongside bone-breaking heaviness. This album really never slows down and is refreshingly original in each of its aspects, meaning listening to the full length of the work feels not like a body-aching marathon, but more like an awe-inspiring mountain trek.
