Cc: You in the Pit

Category: ALBUM REVIEWS

  • MALEVOLENCE: ‘Where Only the Truth Is Spoken’

    Score: 10/10 (Don’t @ me, you know that anything less would be lying.)

    Image source: Nuclear Blast Records

    1. Blood To The Leech

    Opening slash to the throat.
    They don’t waste half a second. This is beatdown metalcore sharpened like a biro stabbed through a PowerPoint. A statement of intent: you will nod, you will headbang, you will probably wince.

    2. Trenches

    Welcome to the front line.
    “This is war” and they mean it. This song really makes me want to punch someone in the KPIs. Mid-tempo groove, guttural vocals; it’s the audio equivalent of trudging through Monday morning meetings swilling absinthe cocktails at all those colleagues you hate.

    3. If It’s All The Same To You

    Absolute Sheffield steel.
    Picture trudging through a swamp in a suit—that’s this track…but, in a good way. Crunchy riffs, down-tuned bravado, and just enough melody to make you ask why you ever wore a tie.

    4. Counterfeit

    Unmasking the fakes (we see you).
    Solid riff, pit-ready chorus. It’s got the vibe of someone calling out corporate bullshit while wearing a battle jacket. Standing desk optional.

    5. Salt The Wound

    Melodic with menace.
    National Trust’s no.1 public enemy. Mountaintop solo that comes in like a rescue team, but then stomps your face in on the way down. Think “breathers are acceptable… until they’re not.”

    6. So Help Me God

    Rock ’n’ roll meets prayer.
    Groovy, head-nod-inducing, like religious experience in a sweaty basement. You’re more likely to raise a devil sign than hymn (duh), but the conviction is real.

    7. Imperfect Picture

    Raw, reflective, relentless.
    This one hits deeper…maybe early morning existential crisis territory. Vocal vulnerability woven into riffs that remind you: perfection is overrated, but heavy definitely isn’t.

    8. Heavens Shake

    Epic, seismic, stellar.
    Title says it all. Opening chugs and thunderous breakdowns shake your world into alignment—god knows your spine needs it after that 3-hour budget review.

    9. In Spite (feat. Randy Blythe)

    Lamb of God stamp of approval.
    Randy Blythe guesting is the music industry equivalent of C-suite endorsement. He drops his signature roar on top of a track that already had enough bite. Result: getting sent to HR for throwing spin kicks in the kitchen.

    10. Demonstration Of Pain

    Three-minute sucker punch.
    Concise, brutal and effective. They’ve honed cruelty and catharsis into an art form, and apparently they didn’t need your permission.

    11. With Dirt From My Grave

    Graveyard finale.
    Closing track that leaves you drained, but transformed. Deep grooves, dark reflections, almost like shutting your laptop after a day’s work that felt like emotional exfoliation.

    THE BOTTOM LINE:
    Consider this your formal notice. Malevolence just restructured the entire genre. ‘Where Only The Truth Is Spoken’ doesn’t just slap, it throws you down a flight of stairs and makes you thank it. Ten out of ten. No notes. HR would not approve.

    See you in the pit.

  • STRAY FROM THE PATH: ‘Clockworked’

    Image source: KERRANG!

    Final album review, with feelings…

    After 17 years of inciting political fury, spontaneous pits, and mild tinnitus, Stray from the Path have announced their breakup, and Clockworked is their final war cry.

    It’s fast, feral, and fuming. And it’s so tight, it feels like they ran a Six Sigma workshop on sonic destruction. Clocking in just over 30 minutes, it’s the musical equivalent of rage-quitting your job via Teams and kicking over your office chair.

    This is not a polite goodbye. It’s a Molotov cocktail lobbed directly at capitalism, addiction, power structures…and your eardrums.

    Track-by-Track Breakdown (w/ Commentary & Corporate Trauma)

    1. Kubrick Stare

    Eerie intro, then a sledgehammer to the brain. It’s a strong start: glitchy guitars, dissonant leads, and Drew York sneering about media desensitisation and mass delusion.

    “How much can we fucking bear?”
    Exactly what I think when Outlook pings at 6pm.

    2. Fuck Them All to Hell

    No metaphor, no subtlety…just venom. This is a wild two-minute thrash that basically asks, “What if Slipknot grew up reading Jacobin?”
    Reddit calls it a “sprint-through-a-wall breakdown,” and honestly? I considered drop-kicking my printer.

    3. Shot Caller

    Groovy, riffy, almost swaggering, but still angry as hell. This one’s aimed at corrupt power figures. Drums hit like a panic attack. Drummer Craig Reynolds absolutely doesn’t miss. Ever. Put this on next time someone books a “touch base” call at 16:59.

    4. Can’t Help Myself

    One of the more vulnerable cuts. It tackles addiction with brutal honesty. The repetition of “I can’t help myself” is crushing, and it hits differently when you’re six espresso shots deep, panic-refreshing your inbox.

    5. Clockworked (feat. Florent Salfati of LANDMVRKS)

    The title track, and a monster. This one’s industrial, explosive, and groove-heavy. Salfati brings a cinematic weight to it, and the breakdown sounds like it could collapse a mid-sized Pret A Manger.

    6. Shocker

    Short and punchy. Feels like falling down the stairs in the best way. Jittery tempo, jagged transitions; the perfect soundtrack for making a scene at a company offsite.

    7. Bodies in the Dark (feat. Jeff Moreira of Poison the Well)

    A screamy, haunting mid-album gut punch. Jeff Moreira brings a post-hardcore ghostliness to it that sets it apart. Think therapy session in a haunted house.

    8. Can I Have Your Autograph?

    Peak sarcasm, peak bile. A takedown of faux-activist celebs e.g. people profiting off war, tragedy, and vibes.

    “You profit off bombs, then act like you’re Jesus.”
    This track is your inner monologue when someone with a blue tick posts a “solidarity selfie.”

    9. You’re Not That Guy

    Mid-tempo and snarky as hell. Basically an anthem for spotting the try-hard in the pit or the virtue-signaller in the brainstorm.
    No notes. Just rage.

    10. A Life in Four Chapters

    A ten-minute finale. It’s moody, dynamic, and closes the album with a full narrative arc; rage, sorrow, exhaustion, and resignation.
    Feels like you’re standing in the smoking ruins of a society (or your project timeline), just watching the credits roll.

    The Bigger Picture

    Stray have always operated like a hardcore band with a law degree. They’re articulate, aggressive, and Clockworked is their most polished middle finger yet. There’s no fat, no self-indulgence; just ten tracks of laser-focused rage.

    They sound like a band who knew they were leaving and wanted to burn the whole building down before they locked the door behind them.

    Production (Will Putney, naturally) is ferocious but tight. No muddiness, no mess. Even the heaviest moments feel intentional, which is wild considering how unhinged it all sounds.

    Final Verdict: 9.5/10

    (Half-point deducted for emotionally wounding me on a weekend.)

    This is the sound of a band giving everything they have left. It’s rage refined. Brutality with a conscience. And it’s going to be hard to say goodbye.

    If you’re a corporate girlie who needs to scream between back-to-back meetings, Clockworked is your holy grail. Put your AirPods in, stomp down the hallway like it’s a runway, and rage with purpose.

    See you in the pit.