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There aren't many stories from the metal world over the last decade that are quite as surprising or impressive as the rise of Malevolence. Since grabbing the attention of the UK underground with their superb 2013 debut album, Reign Of Suffering, they’ve crept slowly but surely into a position where they’re filling some of the most prestigious venues in the country and stealing the show at every festival stage they set foot on.
Not bad for a bunch of Sheffield hardcore kids with no gimmicks or obvious mainstream crossover appeal. Against all the odds, it’s not impossible to believe that Malevolence could be on the brink of becoming the next big shock success story in heavy music, à la Lorna Shore or Knocked Loose.
If that’s something that has entered this band’s consciousness, then they’re certainly not showing it on Where Only The Truth Is Spoken, the fourth and unquestionably most important album of their career thus far. Because, where many artists evolve, change and adapt to capitalise on gaining a larger profile, Malevolence are essentially still doing the same thing as they were over a decade ago. That might be a cause for disappointment with some artists, but this band have been so good at their particular brand of sludgy, moody, crushing hardcore that there’s no reason to desire anything else from them.
So effortless is their grasp on the sound that you get the impression that guitarists Josh Baines and Konan Hall were kicking out crushing Crowbar-meets-Hatebreed riffs while still in the womb. Case in point is album opener Blood From The Leech, which sets the stall out perfectly with a twisting, turning, cranium-chattering groove and frontman Alex Taylor’s gruff, bile-soaked growls.
Originality, growth... nah, not a bit of it, and why would you when you can chuck out the same wonderfully irresistible grooves and pit-starting aggro that only Malevolence can do? That said, there is a bit more to Malevolence than just assault and battery. The otherwise snarling Counterfeit also features their other great weapon for the first time on this record: the melodic vocals of Konan, giving the song a sober and aching feel before the bomb is detonated once again. It’s even more present on Salt The Wound, which sits somewhere between a Corrosion Of Conformity ballad and prime Lamb Of God. One-trick ponies they are not.
The comparison with their legendary recent tourmates is hammered home even more comprehensively when Randy Blythe turns up on the fist-swinging, Earth Crisis-esque In Spite. The production job by Lamb Of God, Trivium and Korn producer Josh Wilbur is immense, making Where Only The Truth Is Spoken the best-sounding album of Malevolence’s career so far.
So, for what will surely be one of the most anticipated metal records of 2025, it’s ultimately just business as usual for Malevolence. More people are destined to come onboard, their profile will certainly rise once again, and the only thing that looks like staying the same is the sky-high quality of their output.
Where Only The Truth Is Spoken is out this Friday , June 20, via Nuclear Blast
