Malicious Algorithm

Reviews

Malicious Algorithm Progress cassette

Pretty standard grindcore/powerviolence affair here. Sludgy and crusty at times. In what always seems to be the case with these grind albums, it’s the drums that captivate me the most. Super-tight and fast as hell. The dueling vocals also add to the dynamic and help to keep things interesting with their call-and-response technique. If you can’t tell from the band name and album cover, MALICIOUS ALGORITHM’s entire shtick revolves around technology and its direct aiding of the impending apocalypse. If you’re someone like me who grows more anti-tech with each passing year, then you’ll appreciate this, too. The robots are coming for us, folks.

Malicious Algorithm Gorgon Stare CD

Dizzying mix of powerviolence, hardcore, and grind from this California band. They have a split with AGATHOCLES (but, I mean, so does everyone), and they blend mean-ass PV like DESPISE YOU with precisely played grindcore à la INSECT WARFARE. It rips and sounds great. The drums, particularly the blasting, are so crisp that I thought they were digital at first, but no, just first-rate battery smashing. Many of the songs center on anti-capitalist subjects, like “Corporate Gaslighting,” with the lines, “I’ve dealt with robbers, I’ve dealt with crooks / I won’t forgive you for the hours you took / I’ve been a liar, I’ve been a cheat / But you’re the biggest one I’ll ever fucking meet,” but there are also tracks about drug abuse, doomsday cults, and MK Ultra mind control. All the good stuff. Full-tilt shredder from start to finish.

Agathocles / Malicious Algorithm split EP

I know that I should know better by this point, but every time I see a new AGATHOCLES split, my first reaction is always “wow, another one?”— I’m sure I’m not alone here. And usually, right before I throw it on, I always assume that this EP will be the one where they start phoning it in; that their side of the slab will be a bit of a bore or lazy or unimaginative or what have you. However, once the record starts spinning, I wonder why I ever doubted them at all. AGATHOCLES always delivers, and such is the case with their new split with California’s MALICIOUS ALGORITHM. AGATHOCLES strays a bit from their classic mincecore styling, opting for a slower, sludgier sound. MALICIOUS ALGORITHM plays brutal, lightning-fast powerviolence, but also with a classic grind influence as the guitars and blastbeats pair exceptionally well together. Both bands sound different enough to make this a quality split.