Epi-Demic - Malformed Conscience

This April saw the release of Epi-demic's 'Malformed Conscience'. An album bred for the die-hard thrash fanatics in the metal community. The eleven tracks on this album are fairly short, ranging from two-to-three minutes long each. Despite lengthy difficulties, the riffs are enormous - sometimes fuelled by a thickening groove, causing severe head bobbing to any metal fan nearby. Contagious, they are followed by the frantic drums that often get drowned out in the mix, and don't always sound too healthy. But raw and energetic is the game here, and that's what the vocalist brings to the table. Brief shouts of rage that burst inbetween the fiery riffs; This is the result when punk fans and metal fans join forces.

Unfortunately the album's production becomes its downfall; Living in such a futuristic state where you can record anything in a bedroom and it still sound outstanding is just one of the luxuries we have, whereas this record sounds like it could of been recorded in the toilet bowl. Perhaps this production aims to shoot for the oldschool thrashers, as that would be the most logical explanation.

Perhaps a genre not best suited to my tastes, either that or the production needs a dollop of sauce to increase the flavour. 'Malformed Conscience' is in no way a bad record, but at times sounding like a starting out band playing in their mom's garage after being gripped in by the Guitar Hero game. As stated, not a bad attempt, but comes across very amateur. Perhaps a future release will see these guys truly soar.


  1. Rotting In Plain Sight
  2. Dark Thoughts
  3. Stewing In Misery
  4. Ruthless Ambition
  5. Losing Time
  6. Famine
  7. Hatred
  8. Sons Of Dogs
  9. Breaking Your Mind
  10. Punishment
  11. Mortal Kind