Band: Malinois
From: Yakima, Washington
Their formation story:
(Bruce Hunter, guitar): "Malinois is actually the byproduct of the pandemic in a sense. We were all playing in different bands at the time that had gotten sidelined and stirred up when COVID came through. So early 2021, my band was looking for a new drummer and I heard Jeremy was available. I knew he played primarily in hardcore bands (my band was deathcore) but I remember not being anyone else in Yakima wanting to play in the pandemic.
"So we got together for a jam and I’ll never forget just how opposite we were. Jeremy would be playing all these fast punk grooves and I would be standing there with my double drop D tuned 8 string thinking, 'What the hell am I gonna play?' Through out that jam, I kept stripping away all the technical stuff my band was doing and just focused on chugging and grooves.
"By the end of it, we both agreed what we were playing was really fucking heavy and cool, but it was a completely different band. Since everyone in the band was avid dog lovers, we wanted a dog breed to be our new name and settled on the Belgian Malinois, because we felt it matched our intensity and frenetic energy the best."
Their sound in their own words:
"Ben and Jeremy are big hardcore guys and we wanted that as our foundation. I had fallen in love early on for dissonant chords from bands like Norma Jean and Botch, then I heard Meshuggah in 2010 and had to get my hands on an 8 string (and eventually a 9) to see how low I could go with it.
"So, if you take metallic hardcore, infuse it with 8-9 string guitar tunings, and sprinkle in ungodly-sounding chords and tones, you’ll probably end up with Malinois."
Latest release info:
"So we just dropped our first EP on April 3rd called The Price. We were toying with the idea of doing some type of concept album early on. Eventually, we were put in touch with Zane Pugh, who ended up becoming our producer and liked the idea.
"So, after months of preproduction and writing sessions, we came up with 5 songs whose themes tell a loose narrative: betrayal, hatred, obsession, revenge, and regret. We all went out to Eastern Washington, holed up in an Airbnb for a week, and laid out the whole thing out. That was probably the most wild and stressful, but fun and satisfying 7 days of our lives, and we couldn’t be happier with how the record turned out."
Future plans:
"It’s show time! We got some shows lined up around PNW, and are still looking to play more. Anything we can do to get this EP to as many people as possible."
What other bands from their region should we check out?
"So Eastern Washington is overflowing with great bands right now. You got our homies in Cold Hearts who are doing great things. You got Cyclone, who just came out of the Tri Cities, they’re tearing it up. Spokane's home to our pals in OX, Dead Low, and Tomb Ripper. Over in the Seattle area, you got to check out Full Choke, Pine Box, Land of Wolves and Warcrime (RIP)."
Malinois on social media: Facebook | Instagram
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