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The music of Ben Frost is about contrast; influenced as much by Classical Minimalism as by Punk Rock and Metal, Frost's throbbing guitar-based textures emerge from nothing and slowly coalesce into huge, forbidding forms that often eschew conventional structures in favor of the inevitable unfoldings of vast mechanical systems.

“…The emotional power of Frost's music comes precisely from the stark contrast between extremely basic musical material and the deadly virtual instruments he invents to perform it… This is Arvo Pärt as arranged by Trent Reznor” –Wire Magazine, 2007

On albums like Steel Wound, released on the Room40 label in 2003 (Pitchfork: “An exemplary ambient experience”) and Theory of Machines on Bedroom Community in 2007 (Boomkat: “The Future of electronic music…”) Frost’s music is more than a cerebral exercise and has an undeniable visceral presence, felt as much as heard. His compositions are created with an acute awareness of the listener and their comfort thresholds, exploiting every extreme of pitch and volume. His notorious, building-shaking performances at international festivals including Montreal’s famed MUTEK combine amplified electronics with the furious thrashing of live guitars. Frost himself has been described as “one of the most interesting and groundbreaking producers in the world today.” (Boomkat). His music’s intense physicality has filled gallery spaces and driven contemporary dance productions by Chunky Move, the Icelandic Dance Company, and coreographer Erna Ómarsdottír.

The massive scale of Frost’s music often projects a sense of remoteness and isolation and yet he remains in demand as an artistic collaborator, having performed and worked with/for artists as diverse and acclaimed as Stars Like Fleas, Tim Hecker, Björk, Amiina, Crowpath, Wildbirds and Peacedrums, Jóhann Jóhannsson, and with celebrated Bedroom Community labelmates Sam Amidon (Appalachian folksinger), Nico Muhly (classical composer), and longtime collaborator Valgeir Sigurðsson (electronic composer/producer) with whom Frost shares Sigurðsson’s recording facility Greenhouse Studios in Reykjavík.

Underlying Frost’s often noisy, defiant aesthetic is a quiet and welcoming humanity, and a subtle sense of emotional drama which has recently bought him to the attention of the film world, where in 2008, utilizing the Icelandic string quartet Amiina, Frost composed the tender but ominous score for the forthcoming True-Crime feature film In Her Skin, starring Sam Neill and Guy Pearce; a cinematic sensibility also pervades his 2009 release BY THE THROAT

Malachai are a two-piece from Bristol UK, fronted by vocalist Gee, with music by Scott. That's the easy part of the description. It's the bit that follows that's tough. The bit where their sound is captured in a concise fashion, and placed alongside a list of other artists, past and present, that they sort of sound like, used to validate the original description.

The truth is Malachai aren't easily defined. If human nature dictates that we need to label, then file them under ‘Genre-Defying'. Or better still let others do the talking.

Kasabian's Serge Pizzorno said of Malachai, "it reminds me of Revolver-era Beatles but there's this kind of early DJ Shadow vibe going on."

Mojo went with "a stand alone Bristol sensation"

Pitchfork said, "revisits a moment in British pop history through a series of surprising U-turns and thrillingly illegal lane changes."

NME described them as "musically daring".

Doves cut to the chase and simply invited them on tour.

There's certainly no repetition on Ugly Side Of Love. They claim that "We're two minute and out men." That's why some of it sounds like an ADHD kid flicking through the load of used dusty vinyl. At other times, Malachai's music sounds like the apocalypse itself. "Fading World" was written after watching a news report on Hurricane Katrina. "I suppose I was taken aback by just how much at the mercy of the elements we are, but mostly at the plums who run things and where their priorities lay" says Gee.

But as exciting as the record's journey is, the road it travels on is built on solid foundations; the ability to weave seemingly incongruent influences into the most cohesive of sounds is no accident. This sound – ‘Malachai's sound' – is a reflection of many things. Of a complete emersion in hip-hop, 60s psych, dub and plenty of other musical forms. Years of crate-digging and creativity – before Bristol's musical name meant something, while genres were being created, and after the dust settled – and perhaps most importantly, a need to just simply make music.

"It excites me to think where we'll go musically" says Gee. "It's not about cherry picking. It's more about how ‘it' fits into us rather than how we fit into ‘it'.