REVIEW: Mauled – Mauled [EP/2025]
Artist: Mauled
Album: Mauled – EP
Nearing the halfway point of 2025—and almost four full years since the “MySpace Deathcore” revival began in earnest—and wave after wave of pulverizing, refreshing takes on the genre’s old standard continue to crash against eager purveyors of all things heavy the entire world over. With reimagined perspectives on many of the genre’s most well-regarded forerunners becoming prevalent—if not over-abundant—the need for a niche is more and more important.
Enter Mauled—a band that seems to very much understand the need to distinguish oneself as the deathcore resurgence mounts. Breaking into the game with their debut self-titled EP, Mauled rapidly establish themselves a band intent not on creating a copy-paste of yester-decade’s breakout deathcore act, but instead blend influence, aesthetic and primal energy into a grievously heavy and gut wrenching display of prodigal deathcore mastery.
From the opening salvos of “Resume Carnage,” Mauled make their mission abundantly clear: annihilate. The band’s debut EP is an amalgam of deathcore staples done to perfection. Lacerating, machine-gun blast beats run amok in “NGEFY” and “4.2%,” while the record’s introductory track and “From Life…to Lifeless” blend an atmos of east-coast mosh into a robust backbone of groovy, riff-driven deathcore insanity. Mauled manage to make each song feel instrumentally distinct—something even many established bands struggle with—while still allowing each track to cleave the listener in twain. “Dead Asleep,” alongside sophomore single “NGEFY” stand out as two songs that best exemplify the “OG” deathcore ethos, whether its the pummeling structure and remorseless beating that the latter provides, or the former’s tactful use of samples and meticulous approach to infusing a sense of pure unease into every riff and bone-busting breakdown. Throughout the entirety of Mauled, tight fretwork and a rumbling low end reign atop breakneck percussion to provide a cohesive and thoroughly bewildering display of aggression—peak performance for heavy music of the old or new school.
Just as is true for Mauled’s instrumental components, one has to give them flowers for the outstanding vocal performance abundant throughout the EP. You want high shrieks? You got ‘em. Blistering squeals? Brutalizing bellows? Raw yells? Check, check and check—and that doesn’t even begin to address the stunning guest appearances abundant throughout the EP! Featuring what I’m confident is the first true Psycho-Frame appearance, “NGEFY” is a stand-out, but the biggest ear worm (vocally) that resides in the entire EP hides either inside the introductory cut or the guest chants that define “From Life…to Lifeless.” If Mauled’s instrumentation is deathcore done to a tee, their vocal approach doubles and triples down on it, bringing raw, immolating intensity and putrefaction aplenty, capitalizing on the gritty and abrasive nature of the genre’s roots while still maintaining just enough contemporary production to give the vocals an extra layer of depth and dimension with respect to the release’s strong musicianship.
In a word, Mauled are deathcore—plain and simple—and their debut release is a frills-free lesson in the genre’s history and, hopefully, its future. More than just a strong debut, Mauled hints at a more grand horizon for an otherwise young and prodigally skilled band. With a little more refinement and attention to atmosphere, the band stand to take what is a strong, sinister and exemplary deathcore dynamic and make it practically legendary—which means of the countless new deathcore acts hitting instagram on a weekly basis, Mauled are certainly one to keep an eye on.
8.5/10
For Fans Of: Tracheotomy, Taking Your Last Chance, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Float Face Down
By: Connor Welsh
