There's a challenge buried inside the title before you even press play. "Will you die by the Scepter? Or bow to the crown?" It's the kind of line that could come off as posturing from a band that hasn't earned it. From Crown & Scepter, it lands like a mission statement, and "Malicious," their latest single, is the proof that backs it up with something real. The Green Bay five-piece have been building steadily since forming in 2022, carving out a reputation in Wisconsin's underground metal scene through tight live performances, back-to-back BAMMY nominations, and a catalog of songs that consistently punch above the weight you'd expect from a band this young. They operate in the metalcore space, but not with the genre's worst habits. There's no gratuitous clutter here, no genre tourism. Crown & Scepter understand the architecture of a heavy song where to build tension, where to release it, and crucially, where to let silence do the work, and "Malicious" is their sharpest demonstration of that understanding yet.
The track opens with intent. Guitarists Jacob Janus and Kyle Bush establish the tone immediately, locking into a riff that has real menace to it without relying on pure technicality to impress. This is riff-writing in service of feeling rather than showmanship, and it gives "Malicious" a focused, almost predatory energy from the first bar. The production is clean and punchy, the kind of mix that rewards good speakers or headphones, where you can feel the low-end without losing the definition of each individual instrument. Everything sits in its lane, and the result is a track that sounds polished without sounding sterile. Vocalist Sean McKindles is the centrepiece, and he delivers. The dynamic range he brings to "Malicious" is what separates it from the pack of competent-but-interchangeable metalcore releases that flood the independent scene every week. His harsh register has genuine weight and controlled aggression; this isn't bark-for-bark's-sake screaming, but purposeful delivery that feels like it means something. When the track opens up melodically, he shifts without losing the intensity, finding a clean tone that carries emotion without dissolving into saccharine. The chorus in particular lands hard. It's memorable in the way that matters most in this genre: it sticks because it earned its place, not because it was engineered to be inoffensive enough to replay. There's a defiance in the way he sings it that fits the track's title perfectly.
Rhythm-wise, Nick Wendler's drumming keeps the track honest. He doesn't overplay, which is a discipline a lot of young metal drummers struggle with. His patterns serve the song's momentum rather than competing with it, knowing when to push the tempo forward and when to sit into the groove and let the guitars breathe. Bassist Logan Stueck provides the connective tissue beneath it all; his low-end presence is felt more than heard in isolation, which is exactly what a good metal bass performance should do. Together, the rhythm section gives Janus and Bush a platform to be assertive rather than merely loud. The single also arrives at a meaningful moment for the band. If there's a critique to make, it's a generous one: "Malicious" is excellent at what it sets out to do, but it doesn't yet reveal the full ceiling of what this band might be capable of.
The songwriting is tight, but tight in the way that a band still consolidating its identity sounds tight, confident, and purposeful, but not yet at the point where you can hear the sound fully expanding at the edges. That's not a flaw so much as an observation about where Crown & Scepter are in their arc. The potential here is obvious and, more importantly, the execution to match it is clearly developing. The pieces are in place. "Malicious" is a single that earns its aggression, wears its ambition without apology, and announces a band that is done being a regional secret. Green Bay has a genuine contender on its hands. Get familiar now, because Crown & Scepter are not going to be easy to ignore for much longer.
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