Location: Varazdin/Koprivnica, Croatia
Year active: 2015
Members: Geč (vocals), Crni (bass), Žmer (drums), Luka (guitar), Sanyo (guitar, 2015-18), Dominik (guitar, 2018-present)
Label: Catfish Records, Dingleberry Records, Mad Schnauzer Records, Zegema Beach Records
Related bands: Mal Batard, Melkior Tresicz
FFO: Daitro, Daighlia, La Quiete, Loma Prieta, Portraits of Past
It's 2016. It's this particular time period when Croatia's Mališa Bahat came to prominence in the DIY world with their six-track demo EP "Moments We're Lost In" which made itself a landmark at the time.
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What i would basically describe this EP as nothing short of passionate but full of excessive agitation. Anguished vocals over melancholic hardcore punk frenzy shine through. It is so packed with an abundance of elements of screamo from France, USA, Germany and Japan.
Mališa Bahat acted as the part of resurgence wave of Ex-Yu Emo/Screamo, along with Serbia's eaglehaslanded and Bosnia's Deer In The Headlights. The debut hit the DIY world with the storm, followed by numerous shows in Europe (such as Fluff Fest and Miss The Stars) and Southeast Asia following the split releases of ZMAR and Old Soul in the next few years.
Then 2020 happened. The pandemic, along with personal matter among members happened which left little news from the band. The songwriting started throughout the pandemic and then stretched through five long years before its completion. Then in 2024, their full-length album "Lovers. Loners. Losers.", recorded by Nikad's Ivan Jakic and mastered by Orchid' Will Killingsworth. The tracks in here are more complex and less explosive than their previous efforts and the quality is top-notch and timeless. The dual vocals here are more in sync and cleverly placed, the songwriting here are definitely nuanced and the drumming is perfectly balanced between frenetic and subtle, which never gets old. Not to mention the clapping part in "Mother's Words" being the highlight that is bringing us together.
The reason why their debut full-length carries on very well is the lyrical theme that comes along with it. True to the name, "Lovers. Loners. Losers." deal with themes of personal and societal struggle, regret and introspection of all things. The fact that a sample from Leaving Las Vegas (1996) with Nicolas Cage is included in "Open The Last Bottle" makes so much sense and with the epic, devastatingly beautiful title closer, everything comes down together, dealing with themes of disillusionment, a search for identity and being haunted by choices.
Mališa Bahat just started touring around the Balkans this year. They were supposed to tour Europe with Piri Reis, but unfortunately the latter encountered many problems with the tour and had to postpone it for some other time, there Malisa's had to tour all by themselves. I am invited to perform in Sofia (June 25th) and in Novi Sad (June 29th). If you happen to be in any of these places, PLEASE DON'T MISS OUT THEIR SHOWS!
SUPPORT THEM BY STREAMING AND DONATING TO THEIR BANDCAMP!
