Modern Monsters’ “Malice”

03/19/2023

[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts music review of Modern Monsters’ “Malice” EP Release.

California Bay Area hard rock band Modern Monsters has created some gorgeously melodic songs for a self-proclaimed ‘hard’ rock band.

Modern Monsters’ “Malice” is intense, deeply emotional and ethereal, all this accomplished with profoundly esoteric guitars, pounding driving drums and Josh Weaver’s dramatic vocals, painting an almost glam rock picture at times, in amongst the walls of sound.

They’re a bit of a contradiction then. Definitely hard rock, but the vocals lift it, twisting the sound into something else. Dark, but polished, the production gives everyone the space they need to feel defined while still keeping the sound beautifully cohesive.

I’m not a hard rock fan, but I am English….so I get it. And this doesn’t feel like American hard rock somehow. The songs are poetic, lyrical. The sounds big but not overwhelming. Modern Monsters have a lot to say and it feels important to them that we hear it all. I really connected to this sound, which surprised me. But then there’s nothing stereotypical about this group of highly talented musicians, which is probably why as a selection of songs, this EP works so well.