Out of South Coast, United Kingdom, Villainous began to cut their teeth in late 2017, and with their recent self-titled EP release, they are poised to show the UK metal world and beyond that they’re not messing around!
Villainous is a four piece progressive metal group composed of Sean Stakim on vocals, Neal MacCallum on guitars/vocals, Nick Read on bass/vocals, and Callum Armitage on drums. Despite being this upstart band, Villainous has already received several features in well-known publications, including Bucketlist Music Reviews, Down The Front podcast, and even had a review published out of a Belgian e-zine! It’s plain to see why considering their moxie with their riffs, guttaral vocals, and how tight their musicianship sounds.
The self-titled EP begins with a banger of a track entitled “In Solace”. I was immediately impressed with the tempo changes from the intro as it goes into the transition into the first verse. In this track, the rhythm section absolutely pounds, the guitars just trudge along like a soldier going into battle. When the vocalist sounds gutteral, there is certainly a Red Fang influence, but during the clean vocals, the vocalist seems to be influenced by Sully Erna of Godsmack. This track just pounds and pounds, until it forces you into submission to headbang.
The track “Obselete” has somewhat of a post-grunge meets prog metal feel to it. The harmony in the chorus while the background vocals provide the screams add a nice touch to it. The rhythm and progression of it just feels like a mosh-pit inducing anthem. “Ephemeral” definitely adds a nice touch to the album, which has somewhat of a desert-rock type of feel to it, which allows fans to peel away another layer of Villainous. The guitar solo
Overall, this EP is a rocker! In the future, I would like to see Villainous push the envelope further in their arrangements and in their vocal range, as I already notice that have a supreme talent level for a band that just formed in late 2017. Overall, this EP is just solid body of work that metalheads around the world will unite with their collective horns in the air and just rock the hell out to. Madness To Creation gives Villainous’s self-titled EP a solid 8 out of 10 star rating.
Here is the track listing below:
- In Solace
- Obselete
- Ephemeral
Fans can check out the music via Bandcamp here.
Fans can check Villainous out on Facebook here.
Villainous has a couple of U.K. gigs coming up. Check out the dates below:
Sun. Oct. 28th- The Unicorn Camden Live in London, United Kingdom (w/Disease Illusion, Gutlocker, and No Saving Grace)
Sat. Dec. 8th- Crowley’s Bar in Hastings, United Kingdom (w/ Vichama, Victus, and Confronted)
