Stream Mikau’s Insane New Metalcore EP AbandonwareStream Mikau’s Insane New Metalcore EP Abandonware

In recent years, bands like SeeYouSpaceCowboy and Vein have been enthusiastically reviving the splattery, chaotic sounds of mid-’00s mall-style metalcore. They’ve brought back dramatic screaming, messy cross-genre experiments, and ultra-clean nü-metal production styles, and the end result has been a lot of fun, even for at least some of us who were not into that stuff at the time. Nobody has committed to the bit more than Washington, DC’s Mikau.

Mikau features Austin O’Rourke, drummer for heavy-screamo greats Infant Island. (Incidentally, I have heard an in-progress version of the next Infant Island album, and that shit is going to blow your mind.) Mikau released a great split with Buffalo kindred spirits p.s.you’redead last year, and they unabashedly refer to their sound as “mallcore.” Today, the band releases the new EP Abandonware, which pushes that “mallcore” sound way past its logical extreme.

The four songs on Abandonware feature drum ‘n’ bass breaks, ravey synth riffs, wailing opera vocals, DJ-scratch solos, and dubstep drops amidst all their juddering riffs and desperate roars. The whole sound is overwhelming and intense and joyous and sometimes very funny, and it rules pretty hard. Listen to the EP for yourself below.

The self-released Abandonware is out now, and you can get it at Bandcamp.