BEAR - Anhedonia - Metal Epidemic

BEAR – Anhedonia (EP)
Release Date: 22nd May 2026
Label: Pelagic Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Mathcore, Progressive Metal, Progressive Hardcore, Tech Metal, Metalcore.
FFO: Botch, Converge, Herod, Norma Jean.
Review By: Mark Young

EP’s, I’m growing to love them. A long time ago, they felt like they were only trotted out to pad a single out with a couple of bonus live tracks and maybe an alternative mix of a song you didn’t like anyway. Recently, I’ve seen that bands are putting as much effort into them as they do full length releases, and I guess it must be more difficult to pick the songs that end up on an EP? Anyway, less of that, and more on BEAR, who via Pelagic Records have dropped a belter in our midst, its content a direct response to traumatic life events that have affected the band in the period from writing and releasing their last album Vanta.

It’s quite life affirming too, Empty Markers just takes off following a full throated roar, and its off, stomping around your front room and smashing all in its way. Its immediate, hooks under the skin with no quarter given. It’s the sort of song that will cause maximum carnage live, and I think that’s something we can look forward to. Lacerate does exactly that, taking on the mantle from the opener and then decides it wants to mesmerise you with its arrangement, whilst The Smile brings the stomping action along. Three songs in, and you get an appreciation of them as each song is similar to the other without sounding the same. There is a feel that runs through them, a common starting point that acts as the epicentre from which the devastation lines spring forth.

Title track, Anhedonia ups the crazy, and as a result makes daylight appear between it and the three before. It’s the same band, of that you can tell, it’s just that they have changed gear, flipped a switch or whatever your clichéd description of change you would like to use. Its just different, still vital, but it lands in a different time zone. It’s the sort of music that I can listen to all day long, written by artists who are constantly striving to do something different, and do it without seemingly breaking a sweat. Metastatic is the end of the road, and well is just a royal way to end. It’s a massive swirl of energy that once again offers a different view of the band. Its no less urgent, or aggressive, but possesses my first earworm of the year. It has a refrain that will stay with you for ages afterwards and a section that is pure brutality. I don’t think I can say enough about this, other than it is a fantastic release, fully deserving of full marks and your full attention.