Review: “Random.Access.Misery” by Mélancolia

“We are bringing a fresh sound to an otherwise stale scene, you will not hear what we are doing from anyone else. We are setting the trend as we set the bar for modern heavy music. Love us or hate us, you will f**king remember us.” ~ Mélancolia 

Touring their Australian homeland three times while breaking into Europe and the UK twice with Suffocation and Ingested respectively as a result of their 2023 debut album “HissThroughRottenTeeth” it seems that Mélancolia are putting their money where their collective mouths are. Formed in 2022 by a collection of seasoned musicians known for their roles in Aversions Crown, Earthender, Alter Idem, Âme Noire and Drown This City to name but a few, its safe to say the quintet have been around the block and then some. Some have called them Deathcore, others Nu-Metalcore and some Blackened Nu-Metal but call them what you want because it seems the Melbourne based outfit don’t care as long as you call them…

Returning to the tried, tested and true, “Random.Access.Misery” is produced, mixed and mastered by Declan White (Annihilist, Vanguard, Complexant), the man behind the boards for “HissThroughRottenTeeth“. That was an obvious choice because the more you listen to this new record, the more you appreciate how much White understands what Mélancolia were trying to do with it and how he has assisted them in not only achieving their aims but smashing them out of the park with a baseball bat as they score a home run. Industrially tinged opening cut “ALL_IS_RUST” breathes decay in a post-apocalyptic future before roaring into life with opening verse from Alex Hill so fierce it sandblasts the skin. The eerie, sinister atmospheric burns like wire as drummer Mason Page drives things forward, the staccato riff breaks adding Deathcore flavours to the unhinged urgency. Screams of “we all leave in a body bag!” are pure catharsis over the crushing riffs of the grand finale and if this wasn’t the opening track, it would make one hell of a closer. Pouring fuel on the already intense fire “icanseethroughtheholesinmyhands” maintains the dark energy with quirky grooves and vicious bites, Hill’s sharp tongue spitting venomous vocals with multiple voices in several tones. These performances makes him sound more unhinged than the lyrics themselves do, the shriller moments often reaching scalding levels. A kind of quote from the lyrics to “Disasterpiece” by Slipknot rears its ugly head in “Picking Scabs“, a cut laced with Nu-Metal electronics and ethereal sounds while somehow still remaining heavy. Somehow Mélancolia have defied the odds with this one and achieved the unthinkable, managing to sound fresh and nostalgic at the same time.

Circling the drain of Nu-Metal with churning basslines and nauseating battery acid atmospherics the first half of “<boiler.room>” feels like a waking nightmare, from the mind of Leigh Whannell, the writer of the original Saw movie. The powerful mid section then once again distantly echoes the Slipknot stylistically, smashing your teeth in with abrasive riffs and an icy sample. You could almost cut the tune in half and kill the atmosphere stone dead but why do that when you can have your cake and eat it? “Lithia” features Hunter Young of Psycho-Frame fame and returns to the dark atmospherics, incorporating rap screams, powerful clean vocal harmonies and blast beats as Mélancolia use every trick in the book to express themselves and exile the vile. Cathartic, punchy and with some ambient textures that have the power to disturb, its almost like they know the straight jacket awaits after a one way ticket to the asylum. Funky basslines and pummelling breakdowns give “RoseBloomWrist” another dimension, the pitching of Hill’s vocals so shrill they’ll make your ears bleed like banshee wails. There are even pig squeals in the mid section before a melodic break that will make a few who dare listen question their life choices. Christopher Mackertich of Dregg joins the party for “SPIT!“, a tune of epic proportions that maintains all the dark energy that came before it while at the same time ploughing a new furrow through the ear drums to the cranium. The clean vocal parts almost give the band an excuse to get more bombastic in their abrasive approach, the electronics bolstering what after repeated listens becomes a sing-a-long anthem thanks to its powerful chorus.

On an album of tunes which are anything but linear, arguably title track “random.access.misery” is the heaviest as the band come out swinging. Pummelling grooves will have necks snapping, the faux vinyl scratching from the electronics taking the place of any lead guitar work and making this one hit like wrecking ball. The infectious rhythms bounce around the cerebral cortex before fading into an icy melodic moment with below zero piano and then rising with a slow burn and some almost tribal drum fills. A powerful statement piece of a tune, it sets the tone for what their future could be if they continue in the same vein. An epically melancholic opening passage confirms that “Cold Now…” is far from a simple introduction piece or interlude before the final cut but instead a lethal dose of Australian hatred in its own right. Blackened Nu-Metal distortions sweep away any lingering feelings with blast beats and electronics chemically enhancing the heavy hitting riffage; the band settling in for a huge Deathcore breakdown in the final monstrous crescendo before offering up more disturbing keys. Those flow into to start of “…Colder Still” as the band bleed through the bleak into thunderous percussion and down tuned distorted guitars. The emotive qualities in this violently turbulent piece give it a distinctive quality, the five piece hauling all of the negativity to the surface in order to spit it out in rage fuelled screams of “anything to feel something!“. Consider yourselves warned… [8.5/10]

Track Listing

1. ALL_IS_RUST
2. icanseethroughtheholesinmyhands
3. Picking Scabs
4. <boiler.room>
5. Lithia (ft. Hunter Young of Moodring and Psycho-Frame)
6. RoseBloomWrist
7. SPIT! (ft. Christopher Mackertich of Dregg)
8. random.access.misery
9. Cold Now…
10. …Colder Still

“Random.Access.Misery” by Mélancolia is out 29th August 2025 via Greyscale Records and Nuclear Blast