Album Review: MAYAK SELF-TITLED EP

After listening to the first effort from thrash black metal band Mayak for the last month, I was pretty excited to spread the word about the four-song EP from the Bielefeld, Germany four-piece. The band’s self-titled EP came out in November, and Mayak is already working on their first full length (due out sometime in the Spring of 2014 on the newly formed German label, Obey Records) – which is great fucking news, because I know I’m not the only one looking forward to hearing more from these hardcore noise merchants.

In a recent interview, Mayak vocalist Mark Schreier said that the band doesn’t like to take the black metal badge too seriously, which translates through to Mayak’s upbeat vibe. When it comes to the band’s creative process, Mark credits Mayak bass player Jonas Andre’ with being a song writing “mastermind”. And despite the fact that the band is only four songs into their recording career, I can’t disagree with Schreier’s statement.

All four tracks on Mayak’s EP are absurdly energetic and bleed from one to the next perfectly. Track one, Cut the Ropes, is a brutal ass-kicker with standout guitar riffs and speed ball percussion. Track two, Another Day Will Rise, is a raucous anthem, which immediately reminded me of a band that I, and pretty much any other metal head right now, is calling the best thing to happen to metal in 2013 – Kvelertak. Both bands embody the spirit of black metal, but have managed to take their sound to another level, without compromise or fear of alienating the fiercely loyal heavy metal fan base.

The last two tracks on the EP, Dead Men Telling Tales and Into Oblivion, are rife with thunder and sludge, as well as a few sweet punk pauses. The nearly seven minute Oblivion even includes a sort of left field acoustic guitar/harmonica jam. A nod to Sabbath perhaps? As unexpected as it was, it did seem to lay a bit of ground work for what we might expect to hear from the band in the future.

The only thing I could ask from Mayak is for more heavy metal cowbell, and to hurry up with that full-length! Lastly, if you’re in Germany, you can catch the band live in Cologne on December 19th, and Frankfurt on December 20th.