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Where the Northern Lights Turn Black : Reckless Redemption - Malevolent (Track Review) Released: 12/25/21

 

Rockford, Illinois, deathcore/metalcore quintet Reckless Redemption has spent nearly two decades building a reputation as one of the Midwest'ss most uncompromising live acts, and Malevolent, a preview track from their long-anticipated EP Borialis, arrives as a potent reminder of exactly why. Having formed in the summer of 2008 and cut their teeth sharing stages with genre heavyweights like The Black Dahlia Murder, DevilDriver, Drowning Pool, and Tallah, Reckless Redemption carries the kind of earned credibility that most bands only dream about. That experience bleeds into every second of Malevolent. This track feels less like a studio recording and more like a document of a band operating at the absolute peak of their aggression. Last updated in 2021, it has left fans hungry for the full EP, and after hearing what's on offer here, that hunger is entirely justified.

From the moment Malevolent kicks in, the band's core influences are worn proudly on their sleeve. The crushing low-end devastation and throat-shredding vocal work of Matt Huff draw heavily from the Suicide Silence playbook, delivering a performance that vacillates between guttural punishment and white-hot ferocity with the ease of a seasoned frontman who knows exactly how to command attention. Beneath him, guitarists Craig Goodwin and Bob Sanner inject the track with the kind of melodic tension and technical precision that echoes As I Lay Dying at their heaviest, weaving riff structures that are as purposeful as they are punishing. Matt Masingill's drumming is an absolute force, thunderous, locked-in, and relentless, while Chuck Wisco's bass work ensures the low end remains a suffocating, grinding presence throughout. Together, the five members of Reckless Redemption move as a single, cohesive unit, and that chemistry is on full display here.

What makes Malevolent particularly exciting as a preview is what it suggests about the band's larger vision. Following their 2014 debut Origin of Destruction and their 2019 self-titled record, this track signals a band that has refined its identity without sacrificing any of the raw brutality that made them a staple of the Midwest metal scene in the first place. There's a maturity to the songwriting here, a sense of control within the chaos that elevates Malevolent above a simple show of force. Reckless Redemption has always insisted that their true home is the stage, where a simple performance becomes, in their own words, "a spectacle of unparalleled aggression." Malevolent captures that spirit in recorded form and leaves you counting down the days until Borialis finally sees the light of day.

Until we finally see Borialis, check out the track Malevolent for yourself:

Go give them a follow on Instagram: Reckless Redemption
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