MALLARD

Location: Skopje, North Macedonia

Year active: 2023 - Active

Related bands: Гола Планина Collective

FFO: I Love Your Lifestyle, Големата вода, The Promise Ring, Everyone Asked About You, Now Now, Casper Elgin, Ubili su Batlera

(Not to confuse with another Mallard from Philadelphia)

Mallard are part of a new wave of bands actively shaping the underground in Skopje, North Macedonia. Emerging from the Гола Планина Collective, their work ties directly into a broader effort to build a functioning DIY scene through shows, events, and local collaboration.

Active since 2023, the quartet has so far released a two-track single followed by the promo EP Ferid Bajram VS Vasko Karangeleski in 2026, supported by the independent label Mrtov Konj.

Musically, Mallard lean into a bright but fragile strain of midwest emo - melodic, slightly melancholic, but never static. Tracks like “Ferid Bajram VS Vasko Karangeleski” highlight the band’s dynamic range, with falsetto-driven vocals pushing a sense of vulnerability to the front, while “Повторно (повторно)” shifts into something more unstable, introducing harsh vocals and tightly wound, spiraling guitar work.

Rather than staying locked into one emotional register, Mallard move between restraint and release, giving their songs a sense of motion rather than nostalgia. Their material circles around young adulthood, but not in a purely reflective way - it feels immediate, shaped by lived experience rather than distance.

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Mallard su deo nove generacije bendova koji aktivno oblikuju underground scenu u Skoplju, Severna Makedonija. Potekli iz kolektiva Гола Планина, njihov rad je direktno vezan za širi napor izgradnje funkcionalne DIY scene kroz koncerte, događaje i lokalnu saradnju.

Aktivni od 2023. godine, kvartet je do sada objavio singl sa dve pesme, a zatim i promo EP Ferid Bajram VS Vasko Karangeleski 2026. godine, uz podršku nezavisnog lejbla Mrtov Konj.

Muzički, Mallard naginju ka svetlijem, ali krhkom obliku midwest ema - melodičnom, blago melanholičnom, ali nikada statičnom. Pesme poput „Ferid Bajram VS Vasko Karangeleski“ ističu dinamički raspon benda, gde falset vokali iznose ranjivost u prvi plan, dok „Повторно (повторно)“ uvodi nestabilniju energiju kroz oštrije vokale i zategnute, spiralne gitare.

Umesto da ostanu u jednom emotivnom registru, Mallard se kreću između suzdržanosti i eksplozije, dajući pesmama osećaj kretanja umesto nostalgije. Njihov materijal se bavi temama mladog odraslog doba, ali ne iz distance - već neposredno, oblikovano ličnim iskustvom.

ГОЛЕМАТА ВОДА

Location: Skopje, North Macedonia

Year active: 2025 - Active

Related bands: Бик, Персеида

FFO: Sore Eyelids, heart-on-sleeve, Title Fight (Hyperview), Ridgeway, Gleemer

Golemata Voda (The Great Water, named after the 2004 film) is a midwest emo band formed in Skopje in 2024, featuring members of Бик and Персеида. They released their first single “Има или нема” in October 2025, followed by their self-titled debut full-length in February 2026.

Sung primarily in Macedonian, their sound blends cohesive midwest emo structures with a warm, melodic sensibility, tinged with dream pop melancholy and light, jangly post-hardcore textures. Somber vocals shift between restrained singing and tearful outbursts, giving the record a fragile but persistent emotional weight.

Across its ten tracks, Golemata Voda explores instability - of identity, memory, and emotional endurance. Rather than indulging in nostalgia, the album treats it as something distant and distorted, where the past feels unreachable rather than comforting.

Tracks like “Сила од Небес,” “Мртов,” and “Бунар” lean into themes of exhaustion and internal collapse, capturing a sense of being trapped within repetitive mental states. In contrast, songs such as “Стој Подалеку” and “Ко(Мета)” highlight a tension between withdrawal and dependence, suggesting an inability to fully exist either alone or in connection with others.

By the closing stretch, particularly on “Маѓепсан” and “Билка,” the tone subtly shifts. Not toward resolution, but toward a fragile sense of renewal... less a recovery than a quiet reintroduction to feeling after prolonged emotional numbness.

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Golemata Voda (The Great Water, naziv preuzet iz filma iz 2004. godine) je midwest emo bend formiran u Skoplju 2024. godine, koji okuplja članove bendova Бик i Персеида. Prvi singl „Има или нема“ objavili su u oktobru 2025, nakon čega je usledio njihov istoimeni debitantski album u februaru 2026.

Peva se pretežno na makedonskom, a njihov zvuk spaja kohezivne midwest emo strukture sa toplim, melodičnim senzibilitetom, uz primesu dream pop melanholije i laganih, jangly post-hardcore tekstura. Vokali prelaze iz suzdržanog pevanja u emotivne ispade, dajući albumu krhku, ali postojanu emotivnu težinu.

Kroz deset pesama, Golemata Voda istražuje nestabilnost - identiteta, sećanja i emotivne izdržljivosti. Umesto da se oslanja na nostalgiju, album je tretira kao nešto udaljeno i izobličeno, gde prošlost deluje nedostižno, a ne utešno.

Pesme poput „Сила од Небес“, „Мртов“ i „Бунар“ naginju temama iscrpljenosti i unutrašnjeg raspada, hvatajući osećaj zarobljenosti u ponavljajućim mentalnim stanjima. Nasuprot tome, „Стој Подалеку“ i „Ко(Мета)“ ističu tenziju između povlačenja i zavisnosti, sugerišući nemogućnost da se u potpunosti postoji ni sam, ni u odnosu sa drugima.

U završnici albuma, naročito kroz „Маѓепсан“ i „Билка“, ton se suptilno menja. Ne ka razrešenju, već ka krhkom osećaju obnove... manje kao oporavak, a više kao tiho ponovno upoznavanje sa osećanjem nakon dugotrajnog emotivnog otupljenja.