Review: “Self Titled” by Mauled

A growing concern since their 2022 inception Indianapolis, Indiana based Deathcore quintet Mauled have been musing on themes of Murder, Violence, Hate and Death for the past three years. That time has yielded not one but two EPs with “Wrath” arriving in 2023 and there self titled record following in April of 2025. Those records have enabled the band to turn stages to sawdust with the likes of Ingested, Oceano and The Convalescence in recent times while befriending members of A Killers Confession and Kissing Candice, who appear in their music video for “From Life… To Lifeless“. That was filmed and edited by AJ Good of The House Of Masks with vocalist Abe Kirkpatrick, lead guitarist Chance York, rhythm guitarist Eli Harrell, bassist Dj Baker and drummer Tyler Powers front and center. Their self titled EP from which the single is taken was recorded by Eli Hanson from RollWithItRecording before being mixed and mastered by Noah Michel (Restricted, Root) at Nukepocalypseprod…

Seemingly inspired by the MySpace era sound “Resume Carnage” is a nail bomb of pig squeals and breakdowns that immediately brings to mind the early works of Dr Acula as Mauled stand outside a burning house with gasoline and matches without getting found out. A full on assault on the senses that lasts just seventy nine seconds, its enough to ensure that you know you’re getting a collection of rage fueled anthems that are full fat and high caffeine with zero tolerance for bulls***. “NGEFY” features members of Psycho-Frame and is just a bludgeoning with frantic chord progressions and bass drops in primitive style designed to capture the imagination as the vocals reach unhinged levels of feral performance. Menacing and sinister with a dose of nostalgia thrown in for good measure, this one obliterates the cranium and even has time to squeeze in a downtempo passage before the bodies hit the floor. “Mauled” by Mauled from “Mauled” is classic inception level madness as a tale inspired by news reels about a dismembered body being found in a fridge. Stripped back to the bare essentials, this one feels like a classic Stephen King story with buzzsaw riffs and vocals as evil as any beast the author may conjure.

A classic movie sample from 1984’s “A Nightmare on Elm Street” introduces the “Dead Asleep” which has classic Death Metal overtones and a gang chant with the repeated line “Look into my eyes! I’m coming to kill you!” masterfully done. A swift tempo change and a stompy mid track passage are all part of the dynamite that makes this one stand out like a hammer smashed thumb, the ferocity of Kirkpatrick’s vocals immense. The police sirens are in the distance as “From Life…To Lifeless” takes shape, the band using gang chants once more but this time getting low and slow with the riffs increasing the tempo with the intensity later on. Each violent chug slaps as hard as each throat splitting roar and by the end you’ll be grateful to have simply survived. “4.2%” finds AJ Good joining the party, the band coming out swinging with malicious intent and enough power to intimidate a high school bully into shitting his or her pants. There are a wealth of neck snapping staccato riff breaks and bass drops on this one, more than enough to start a mosh pit or a dumpster fire so it will be interesting to see what they do next [7.5/10]

Track Listing

1. Resume Carnage
2. NGEFY (ft. Psycho-Frame)
3. Mauled
4. Dead Asleep
5. From Life…To Lifeless
6. 4.2% (ft. AJ Good)

“Self Titled” by Mauled is out 30th April 2025 and is available over at bandcamp