EP Review: Mallen – This Dream (Self Released)

This Dream is the second EP from West Midlands hard rockers, Mallen. 5 tracks of anthemic rock in the style of Evanesence & Lacuna Coil. The EP is out on October 16th 2017.

Mallen opens This Dream with the title track & it doesn’t exactly wow. It’s not a bad song. The tune is catchy enough & Kelly Jane vocals are great, the problem is that we’ve heard this all before. It sounds like a cut & copy job of all female fronted hard rock bands.

The Otherside improves things slightly thanks to its bombastic beat & soaring vocal highs but again it suffers from being quite unmemorable. Whereas Own Worst Enemy adds a bit of snarl & bite to shake things up a bit. With an upbeat pace & catchy chorus it’s a step ahead of what came before.

Unfortunately that upswing isn’t taken advantage of as Owes You Nothing is a soft ballad that has some nice sweetness to it but very little else. If anything it’s just a showcase of the power behind Jane’s vocals. She does have a killer voice.

Those hoping for a bombastic finish will find exactly what they’re after with the final hard rocking beat & catchy metal riffs of Jack of Cards. A punchy & chorus driven track that helps remove some of the disappointment felt by the lack of other really memorable stuff.

Make no mistake, This Dream is a perfectly good & well produced melodic hard rock EP. While it won’t live long in the memory, it is worth a listen or two.

Mallen – This Dream Full Track Listing:

1. This Dream
2. The Otherside
3. Own Worst Enemy
4. Owes You Nothing
5. Jack of Cards

Head over to Mallen’s store to pick up their music & merchandise via their official website. You can find out more about the band on Facebook, Twitter & check out some of their videos on YouTube.