MÉLANCOLIA are an Australian Deathcore band from Melbourne, and if one thing is sure it is that they do know how to wake you up in a jiffy. Having only been established in 2022 I can tell you that they haven’t even let the grass grow into a proper height below their feet, as their current album that I am about to review “Random.Access.Misery” (released on 29 August 2025) actually is their sophomore album. Their debut album “HissThroughRottenTeeth” was thrown into the world on 23 April 2023. I haven’t heard that one (yet), and the review of “Random.Access.Misery” will probably give you an inkling whether I am inclined to check that one out in the future.

One thing is sure, MÉLANCOLIA are an angry bunch. Well, singer Alex Hill certainly is. I keep wondering how anyone can keep up this level of aggression for 34:10 minutes without literally spilling their guts all over the studio floor. I suppose it does help that he has done all of his shouting in small doses when the band was recording “Random.Access.Misery”. As for emotions, they are plentiful musically. The band goes from fast and furious to nice and thoughtful on a regular basis. I have to admit that I really like some of the riffing as well as the tempo changes that characterise MÉLANCOLIA. And I realise that I like the music better when they are not playing at their fastest or angriest, but just one level lower. That’s when they sound really Heavy instead of just annoyed or irritated.

What’s more, even though I like what I hear a lot of the time, it is pieces and parts that do that, never any of the songs as a whole. And that for me is where MÉLANCOLIA falls short in comparison to other bands in the same genre. I feel that if they would taken more time to make the tunes on “Random.Access.Misery” sound like coherent and complete pieces instead of just a load of noises strung together I would have enjoyed listening to this racket a whole lot more. I’m not saying that MÉLANCOLIA doesn’t have the talent, as a lot of musical parts show that it is there, but they just need to work on making what they write sound more like it belongs together rather than just being thrown into a heap and hope for the best. If and when they do, I would really like to hear how they sound then.