Album Review: Mallavora - What If Better Never Comes?
Reviewed by Oli Gonzalez
Amongst the biggest bands in the UK you’ve never heard of. Looking at Mallavora’s list of accomplishments since their inception in 2020, you have a feeling that they’re going in the right direction and will be huge. Just some accomplishments include airplay on BBC Radio, festival appearances at the likes of Download and 2000 Trees, a support slot with Skindred, and a headline tour across the UK. They have also appeared in less conventional places. More specifically, vocalist Jessica lent her voice to the BBC’ s TV show ‘The Celebrity Traitors’. How many musicians can say they’ve done that?
Via Church Road Records, Mallavora are poised to release their debut full length album “What If Better Never Comes?” (WIBNC) which they describe as a “conceptual exploration of sickness-personal and societal-and it’s given us the space to express our experiences of difference in new and expansive ways”. Just reading the some of the lyrics, they certainly pull no punches with their choice of raw unfiltered words. For instance, the song ‘Hopeless’.
“Give me a pill, say I’ll be fine, sink it to me”
For anybody unfortunately living with an illness (physical or mental) can relate to a sentiment of simply being palmed off with medication that at best manages the symptoms and not tackling the root cause. This isn’t going to be a pleasant topic musically and will require a strong delivery. Fortunately, the powerful ethereal vocals of Jessica are more than up for the challenge, and is matched by the equally bleak and melancholic tone of the music. With songs tackling the oppression of women in society and other bold hard hitting topics, Mallavora are willing to go to places other artists are afraid to…a fearless commitment to their art that should be commended!
Whilst Jessica is the vocal powerhouse of the band, the contribution of bassist James and his furious backing vocals should not be overlooked! Check out ‘Smile’ for examples of his roars that are dripping in a primitive hardcore edge. The whole song screams of a chaotic hardcore energy too! Though they shift the plan of attack during ‘Waste’, where the progressive and djent ends of metal are fully explored. Here, the bass and guitars lock in to conjure up bone-crunching riff after crushing distorted riff, often played to none conventional time signatures (think TesseracT). Though they make way for the powerful chorus delivered by Jessica…and not for the first time on this album as she consistently delivers solid hooks that become instantly memorable!
Thirteen songs seems like quite an effort and somewhat ambitious. Especially considering the way people consume music nowadays; mostly digital in small bite size chunks. However, dive deeper and you’ll realise that the majority hover around the 3 minute mark, making them short bursts and easy to digest. As well being more likely to get picked for playlists and air time. Unlike the 9 minute title track ‘What If Better Never Comes?’, a slow burner in the outset but gradually increases in pace and emotional gravity to deliver a cathartic climax to the album!
So, closing and overall thoughts on “WIBNC?”? For this nature of progressive metal, it does feel like the production is not as sharp as it could or needs to be. Especially when compared to the likes of Textures with their release of “Genotype” in January 2026, though one must consider the gaps in production budgets and resources available. It’s easy to see why Mallavora are heading in a positive upward trajectory as there’s so much to celebrate and admire about this young up and coming band!
