Up-and-coming Buffalo, New York, quintet Malfunction make their first big statement with Fear of Failure, a harsh and uncompromising bout of metallic hardcore. The band's first proper release in three years after touring with the likes of Bane, Turnstile, Backtrack, and Harm's Way shows them progressing considerably, adopting a loose and raw yet thoroughly heavy strain aggressively exorcising the demons of personal anxieties and volatile relationships.