MALACODA
“THE STRAIN”
E.P. Review by Piers Renfree

8/10

Named after a character in Dante Alighieri’s “Inferno”, Malacoda (which roughly translates from Italian as “Bad Tail” or “Evil Tail”), is a Gothic Power Metal band from Oakville, Ontario in Canada.

Founded in 2014 by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Lucas di Mascio, as a recording project, Malacoda have to date released two full albums, “Malacoda” & “Restless Dreams”, a six track E.P. “Ritualis Aeterna” and this year have released two four track, download only E.P.’s “Crawling Chaos” and “The Strain”.

Currently the band’s line-up includes founder Lucas (vocals), Wes Mac Donald (guitar) and Zachary “Zak” Stulla (bass). The songs on this E.P. delve into the band’s horror roots and are inspired by the writing of Guillermo Del Toro.

Each song has a different drummer – Andrew Suarez plays on the title track “The Strain”, Lucas plays drums on the second song “Crimson Peak”, Victor Boechat plays on “Where Shadows Play” and the final song “Mind Flayer” features the drumming of Ryan Claxton. “Crimson Peak” and “Where Shadows Play” also feature the vocals of Beth Wilson, duet-ting with Lucas.

Lucas switches his vocals from clean and melodic to a guttural growl, and Zachary’s bass could shake loose the fillings in your teeth. Wes plays riffs that would appeal to most fans of Gothic Metal, yet also effortlessly peels off solos that would make HammerFall fans weep with joy.

Lucas di Mascio also produced, mixed and mastered the four songs here and his production is top notch. He keeps things crisp and clear, no-one gets overshadowed in the mix. “The Strain” E.P. is well worth checking out.

TRACKLIST

The Strain
Crimson Peak
Where Shadows Play
Mind Flayer

https://malacoda.bandcamp.com/album/the-strain

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