photos by Tylar Frame
With their 2022 debut full-length, Seraphic Punishment, Fargo, North Dakota’s MAUL dropped one of the most memorable death metal earworms of the year. Coupled with the band’s relentless drive for bringing their music to the people live throughout the country, MAUL’s reputation rapidly grew and a pact with 20 Buck Spin was scrawled in blood. The initial fruit of that union was delivered late in 2023 with the Desecration And Enchantment promo tape. And now all roads have led to MAUL’s second album, In The Jaws Of Bereavement.
While the rotten death metal heart at the core of MAUL is without question, the band have no shame in their game when it comes to embracing a penchant for the heavier side of hardcore with mosh-ready riffs and crowd-killing breaks. In The Jaws Of Bereavement manages to so skillfully fuse the eerie apparitions and melodic lead work of death metal’s greats with the punishing rhythms of hardcore’s violent power it feels completely organic. It’s all tied together by the unhinged vocal prowess of the human wrecking ball Garrett Alvarado, fueled by the triple guitar attack of Anthony Lamb, Josh Sanborn, and Alex Nikolas, and rhythm section of bassist/vocalist Mike Griggs and drummer Robby Anderson.
At its putrescent core, MAUL is a live band, and the songs on In The Jaws Of Bereavement are adeptly tailored to the environs of a dank club sweltering from the energy created through this music and a crowd living for nothing but the moment and the swell of bodies on bodies. The production here is clear and in-your-face and allows the band to expand their unique blend of old and new to become Midwest death incarnate. If you frequent the works of Sanguisugabogg, Phobophilic, Fulci, Scorched, Warflurch, Kruelty, Terminal Nation, Obituary, and Gatecreeper, MAUL is for you.
In The Jaws Of Bereavement was tracked, mixed, and mastered by Adam Tucker at Signaturetone Recordings at in Minneapolis (Ulthar, Obsequiae, Sunless, Thou), and completed with cover art by Wyrmwalk (Iron Age, Terminal Nation, Sentenced 2 Die, Fulci, Noxis) and photography by Kary Janousek of Old School Collodion. The album includes guest appearances from Hugh Danger, who provides synth and sample work to the album, and Vincent Bennett (The Acacia Strain) who provides additional vocals on the title track.
Garrett Alvarado writes, “The entirety of our second full-length album offering is drenched in grief and anger thematically, while the song compositions and attack of each members performance on this are the most intentional and precise we’ve ever been. Its layers from all fronts of our influences show on top of how we’ve grown as a group over the last seven years, touring relentlessly and the execution that brings. We’re extremely proud of what we’ve created and how this album is expressed. It was captured as true and raw as possible while sounding huge thanks to Adam Tucker. I also need to shout out the album cover that was encapsulated by the mighty Wyrmwalk, featuring elements of virtually every track involved in the hellscape. He absolutely knocked it out of the park with the color palette and mood of In The Jaws Of Bereavement.”
Of the album’s lead single and title track, Alvarado expands, “First off, I need to give an immense shout out to Vincent Bennett for lending his time for the title track, it’s a fucking honor to have an inspiration and a legend involved in our creation and singing my lyrics. The single was actually the last song we wrote for the album and I attached a gigantic light to the mood of it during a very dark period of my life. ‘In The Jaws Of Bereavement’ is directly influenced by that seemingly death clutch of grief and how it affects the will of survival.”
Unload MAUL’s crushing “In The Jaws Of Bereavement” featuring The Acacia Strain’s Vincent Bennett everywhere including YouTube HERE and Bandcamp HERE.
In the Jaws of Bereavement will hit the slab October 4th on LP, CD, MC, and digital formats. Preorders have been unveiled at the 20 Buck Spin webshop HERE and Bandcamp HERE.
In The Jaws Of Bereavement Track Listing:
1. In The Jaws Of Bereavement
2. Blood Quantum
3. Weaving Cerebral Horrors
4. Spontaneous Stigmata
5. An Alluring Deceit
6. Midwest Death
7. Unbridled Delusions
8. Stuck Stomped And Smeared
9. With Each Voracious Lick
10. Drawn To Drowning
Watch for additional preview tracks from the record to drop over the weeks ahead.
MAUL is notorious for touring relentlessly. Having already completed multiple massive tours this year, the band has scattered dates already confirmed across the Midwest throughout the rest of the Summer and is currently plotting new tours for the Fall months which will be announced shortly.
MAUL Tour Dates:
8/02/2024 At the Tracks – Green Bay, WI w/ Hanging Wound
8/03/2024 The Olympic – Cedar Rapids, IA w/ Hanging Wound
8/04/2024 Iowa Metal Underground Fest 2024 @ Bigs Bar – Sioux Falls, SD
8/27/2024 The Aquarium – Fargo, ND w/ Oxygen Destroyer
9/15/2024 Harold’s On Main – Moorhead, MN
MAUL:
Garrett Alvarado – vocals
Robby Anderson – drums
Anthony Lamb – guitars
Alex Nikolas – guitars
Mike Griggs – bass/vocals
Josh Sanborn – guitars
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