DOWNLOAD: Malicious Intent - Malicious Intent

There is a reason that the first post on this blog was about Malicious Intent. MI is a particularly important important band to the author of this blog and to the state of West Virginia. I could write a mini-memoir on MI's effect on my life personally and musically, but I'll save the anecdotes.

Having formed in the early '90s by four teenagers in Bridgeport, West Virginia, Malicious Intent released their first tape - an ambitious 10-track demo - in 1995. With one tuned-down guitar, Barney Greenway-esque vocals and a lot of double bass as the ingredients, the demo is part-Napalm Death, part-Crowbar, part-Suicidal Tendencies - some times all in the same song. While most of these riff-heavy songs seem custom made for headbanging (mind that it was 1995), there are punk-influenced tracks like "Morbid 9" and "Society" that should inspire circle pits; and breakdowns in "Monday" and "Questito Quid Juris" are the kind that too many bands today contrive to include in their songs. These are the same elements that years after MI did it, brought a lot of success to bands such as Hatebreed.

Over the past five years, heavy music has lost its appeal to me. I don't listen to much hardcore or metal unless I'm feeling nostalgic. Then there are the rare times scrolling through my iPod that this album catches my interest. Thirty minutes later I've listened to the entire recording - not because of sentimentality but because fifteen years later these ten songs are simply still good. Never mind the fact that Malicious Intent is part of the reason I got into heavy music in the first place. Never mind that they are responsible for many of the friends I met throughout West Virginia and keep to this day. Never mind that they inspired my involvement in the state's music scene. Never mind all else, Malicious Intent was a good band, and this record proves it. I will follow-up this week by posting more by MI.

Artist: Malicious Intent

Album: Malicious Intent (aka Creation Denied)

Year: 1995

For fans of: Napalm Death, Crowbar, Hatebreed

DOWNLOAD: Malicious Intent - Malicious Intent