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.