EP Review: Lake Malice - Post-Genesis
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
One of the finds of RADAR Festival back in the summer was Lake Malice, a duo from Brighton who had been making such a name for themselves that 2023 has, or will, see them touring with the likes of Skindred, Enter Shikari, Vended, Bloodywood and more, as well as their first London headline show at the Black Heart in December.
What’s even more impressive is Post-Genesis is Lake Malice’s debut EP and their success so far has been built on robust word of mouth. Just as the United Kingdom is churning out some amazing metal bands at the moment, the same can be said for the Alternative side of things. Vukovi, Cassyette and Wargasm are all names you could drop when giving this band an overview though, like those artists, respect must be paid to the broad nature of the comparison.
Post-Genesis kicks off with Blossom and immediately shows how Lake Malice are a comfortable crafting banging techno lines as they are with cranking out guitar riffs. The track wavers between aesthetics being, one moment build around a meaty bass, the next a keyboard, one moment Alice vocals are soaring, the next we get Blake’s guttural growl. Bloodbath has a promotional video that comes across like a version of Blade Runner 2049, as the song flicks between the ambient and the kind of heavy beats normally reserved for a Prodigy show.
Most recent single, released last month, Mitsuko, is the discs’ shortest song, but maintains a core of uncompromising techno-pounding.
Black Turbine arrives with an industrial weight, in the vein of SKYND but with the rock-banshee wail of Maria Brink, as the track ascends and descends throughout. Power Game has a clean beat and soaring moments, but still has room for rampantly crunching guitars and some unexpected emotive passages.
My highlight of the EP is Stop the Party, on which Alice and Blake channel Wargasm’s dancey rhythms and punky bounce, alongside some of Cassyette’s eccentric moments, and a killer earworm to close the disc with a scream.
Post-Genesis is a day-glo collection of tunes from a band with a bright future. Already being touted as ones to watch over the coming months and years, I’m fully expecting to see Lake Malice’s name on a Slam Dunk announcement before too long and, if their RADAR show is anything to go by, then they certainly have the live chops to back it up.
