Frog Mallet – “Boiled In A Pot”

Self-Released

If there’s three things I love, it’s Milwaukee, metal, and fests. So when Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed brought back the legendary Milwaukee Metal Fest in 2023, I knew I had to go. I unfortunately missed 2024, but got right back on for 2025 and just returned from the 2026 edition this weekend. As much as I enjoyed Ministry for the eighth time and Deadguy playing to a pit of pool noodles, one of the best sets I saw all weekend was from a death metal band called — *checks notes* — Frog Mallet?

Really, as a lifelong hesher, I can’t be surprised by any ridiculous metal band names anymore. Two of the first heavy bands I ever fell in love with were Eyehategod and Pig Destroyer, and in the last decade or so of the death metal revival, a crop of silly, self-aware, “dummy death” bands have emerged, like the NASCAR-themed Restrictor Plate or the cosmic kush enthusiasts Bonginator. It keeps metal fun and is an intentional antithesis to hyper-serious metal purists that unfortunately make up a large part of the genre’s fan base.

Frog Mallet has been hopping through the underground metal scene since 2020, and “Boiled In A Pot” is their second single of 2026, released in tandem with their two performances during Milwaukee Metalfest. Frontman Sean “Frog” McCormack has a true frog-like, low gurgle to his vocals that really make their brand of slamming death metal stand out in a scene full of low-gurgly slamming death metal bands. The track immediately seeps in with a headbanging groove through the first verse before hitting a signature slowed-down “fight riff,” and rides a steady pace of arm-swinging parts and push pit initiations. It’s rooted in classic death metal like Cannibal Corpse or Suffocation, but is clearly contemporary and fully committing to the amphibian bit.

There has been a strange amount of frog bands popping up in the last few years, from the easygoing indie rock of Frog to the experimental dungeon synth of Frog Concert and the folk punk of Frog Legs. I’m not sure how all of this happened, but there’s an old joke about music journalists and how they count: one, two, trend. Frog Mallet may officially bring frogcore to trend status, but they’re not just doing it for the flies. The band is extremely tight and making exciting heavy music, gimmick be damned.