This 'feature' is specifically mentioned in the patch notes: "Melee: Cannot conduct melee attack from "lowered" melee stance (press space to chance stance to "raised")."

not a bug. i also prefer this method, it makes more sense that you need to ready yourself with the axe. also other melee dont all need to be raised to swing its only certain items i think

Hey

This is not a bug. It is intended as a player should first raise the axe and then swing. Anyway the animations are being worked on frequently so you can expect more changes to come.

Thanks for the report, have a nice day!