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Malevolence (band)

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Malevolence
Malevolence in 2019
Background information
OriginSheffield, South Yorkshire, England
Genres
Years active2010–present
LabelsMLVLTD, Siege of Amida, Century Media, Beatdown Hardwear, Nuclear Blast
MembersAlex Taylor
  • Josh Baines
  • Konan Hall
  • Wilkie Robinson
  • Charlie Thorpe
Websitemlvltd.com

Malevolence are an English metalcore band formed in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, in 2010. They have released three studio albums and one EP and established their own record label called MLVLTD Music.

History

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Guitarists Josh Baines and Konan Hall first bonded over a shared love of heavy metal music while attending primary school in Sheffield,[1] beginning to perform live when they were twelve years old.[2] Malevolence officially formed in 2010, when Alex Taylor joined as vocalist. They released a demo the next year.[1]

In June 2013, they signed to Siege of Amida Records.[3] The label released the band's debut album Reign of Suffering on 23 November 2013.[4] Between 3 April and 2 May 2014 they supported Obey the Brave on their European headline tour along with Napoleon and Kublai Khan.[5] In the same year, from 8 November to 20 December, they supported Dying Fetus on their European headline tour with Goatwhore and Fallujah.[6] Between 7 August and 16 September 2016 the band toured the North America with Kublai Khan and Jesus Piece.[7]

On 19 May 2017, their second studio album Self Supremacy was released through Beatdown Hardwear Records.[8] From 11 to 13 February 2018, they opened for Despised Icon on their UK tour, along with Archspire and Vulvodynia.[9] They played Download Festival in June.[10] From 21 March to 1 May 2019, they opened along with Misery Signals and Left Behind on Darkest Hour and Unearth's European co-headline tour.[11] Between 1 and 6 December, the band opened for Knocked Loose on their UK headline tour along with Renounced and Justice for the Damned.[12]

In late 2019, the band established their own record label MLVLTD Music as a means to continue releasing music with as much control as possible.[13] In January 2020, they played Invasion Festival in Sydney and toured Australia in support of Terror.[14] On 28 February 2020, the released the song Keep Your Distance, featuring Bryan Garris of Knocked Loose, as a single.[15] On 26 March, they released a music video for their single Remain Unbeaten.[16] Both songs were included on their EP released 24 April titled The Other Side.[15] In reference to the released of an EP, Taylor stated that "We wanted to make a short body of work to put out whilst we continue writing for our next full-length album, whilst also trying to push ourselves out of our comfort zone as much as possible".[13]

In June 2021, the band played the Download Festival Pilot, the first music festival held in the United Kingdom since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[17] On 23 February 2022, they announced that their third album Malicious Intent was set to be released on 20 May 2022 through Nuclear Blast, and released the album's first single "On Broken Glass".[18] The album's second single "Life Sentence" was released on 24 March,[19] followed by the third single "Still Waters Run Deep" on 28 April.[20] On 10 March 2023, the band announced the release of a split EP titled The Aggression Sessions, featuring themselves Thy Art Is Murder and Fit for an Autopsy, which was released 7 April 2023.[21]

Musical style and influences

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The band have been categorised as beatdown hardcore,[22][23][24] metalcore,[25][26] hardcore punk,[27] groove metal[28] and sludge metal.[29] Vocalist Alex Taylor described the band's sound upon forming as having "a weird, melodeath, kinda At the Gates vibe".[1] Rock Sound described them as "the perfect crossover between hardcore and metal",[30] while Noizze described their music as a merger between hardcore punk, heavy metal, and thrash metal, as well as "a sludge-ridden, toxic hybrid of post-hardcore, thrash, metalcore and Texas blues".[31] They often make use of dual vocals between Taylor and Hall.[32]

Rob Barbour from Metal Hammer described their music as "evok[ing] the very best whisky-swiggin', weed-smoking bands that ever swaggered out of states like Texas and New Orleans. Although their King Kong-size riffs are backed by brutal rhythms from the no-frills hardcore playbook, there's no mistaking their origin. Of course they're from the Deep South... of Yorkshire."[1] Writer Stephen Hill described their sound as "like Dimebag Darrell has joined Hatebreed to work on a sludge album".[33] The Sound Board Review described how "Malevolence unquestionably shine, laying down riffs that switch between pounding metallic hardcore and filthy sludge-metal with consummate ease and equal proficiency".[29] Distorted Sound Magazine described it as a "confident combination of the shredding riffs of metal and the belligerent slam of hardcore meant that they were able to straddle both genres with confidence".[32]

They have cited influences including Terror, Madball, Down, Pantera, Crowbar,[1] and Despised Icon.[2] In an article for the Quietus, Dan Franklin described their music as "rooted in the beefed-up chuggery of the turn-of-the-millennium New Wave of American Heavy MetalChimaira's The Impossibility of Reason, Hatebreed's Satisfaction Is the Death of Desire and Perseverance, with a dollop of Crowbar's Sonic Excess in Its Purest Form".[34]

Members

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  • Alex Taylor – lead vocals
  • Josh Baines – lead guitar, backing vocals
  • Konan Hall – rhythm guitar, co-lead vocals
  • Wilkie Robinson – bass
  • Charlie Thorpe – drums

Discography

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Studio albums

  • Reign of Suffering (2013)
  • Self Supremacy (2017)
  • Malicious Intent (2022)

EPs

Demos

  • Demo (2011)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Barbour, Rob (2 May 2017). "Why Malevolence's new sound has the scene losing its sh*t". Metal Hammer. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Reet good". Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  3. ^ "MALEVOLENCE SIGN WORLDWIDE DEAL WITH SIEGE OF AMIDA RECORDS & CENTURY MEDIA". Rock Sound. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  4. ^ SAYCE, ROB. "MALEVOLENCE – REIGN OF SUFFERING". Rock Sound. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  5. ^ Kamiński, Karol (16 December 2014). "OBEY THE BRAVE / MALEVOLENCE / NAPOLEON / KUBLAI KHAN EUropean dates announced!". Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  6. ^ Days, Salad. "DYING FETUS ANNOUNCE EUROPEAN HEADLINING TOUR SIX-WEEK RUN WITH GOATWHORE, MALEVOLENCE AND FALLUJAH". Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  7. ^ "Kublai Khan, Jesus Piece, Malevolence tour". Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  8. ^ Sims, Eddie (15 May 2017). "ALBUM REVIEW: Self Supremacy – Malevolence". Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  9. ^ Redrup, Zach (31 October 2017). "NEWS: Despised Icon confirm headline UK tour for February 2018!". Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  10. ^ Cook, Lottie (23 January 2018). "NEWS: You Me At Six and 60+ more bands join Download Festival 2018!". Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  11. ^ Bates, Joe (14 November 2018). "NEWS: Unearth and Darkest Hour to co-headline London show for March 2019!". Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  12. ^ Redrup, Zach (19 August 2019). "NEWS: Knocked Loose announce UK tour for December 2019!". Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  13. ^ a b Heath, Michael (23 April 2020). "INTERVIEW: Malevolence (22/04/2020)". Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  14. ^ Gallagher, Alex (16 October 2019). "The Red Shore Will Play Their First Show In Nearly A Decade At Invasion Fest Next Year". Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  15. ^ a b Quint, Kim (28 February 2020). "MALEVOLENCE RELEASE NEW VIDEO FEATURING BRYAN GARRIS FROM KNOCKED LOOSE". Kerrang!. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  16. ^ Redrup, Zach (26 March 2020). "NEWS: Malevolence release video for 'Remain Unbeaten'!". Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  17. ^ THOMAS, LAVIEA. "Live Report: Download Pilot 2021". Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  18. ^ ROGERS, JACK. "MALEVOLENCE HAVE ANNOUNCED THE DETAILS OF THEIR NEW ALBUM 'MALICIOUS INTENT'". RockSound. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  19. ^ Carter, Emily. "Malevolence drop aggressive new single, Life Sentence". Kerrang!. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  20. ^ "Malevolence unleash new video for Still Waters Run Deep". Kerrang!. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  21. ^ Kennelty, Greg. "FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY, THY ART IS MURDER & MALEVOLENCE Announce The Aggression Sessions Split". Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  22. ^ "The 5 Pantera Breakdowns That Will F–k You Up the Most, Chosen by Malevolence". Loudwire. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  23. ^ Heilman, Max. "Album Review: MALEVOLENCE Malicious Intent". Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  24. ^ Kenworthy, Ian. "MALEVOLENCE – 'THE OTHER SIDE'". Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  25. ^ "NUCLEAR BLAST And BELIEVE Launch BLOOD BLAST DISTRIBUTION". Blabbermouth.net. 24 February 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  26. ^ Resnikoff, Paul (24 February 2020). "Believe, Nuclear Blast Launch 'Blood Blast Distribution' — Specializing in 'Extreme Music'". Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  27. ^ Heath, Michael (20 April 2020). "STRAIGHT OUTTA: UK (Malevolence)". Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  28. ^ Cordova, Daniel (20 May 2022). "THE WEEKLY INJECTION: New Releases From CAVE IN, SEPTICFLESH & More Out Today 5/20". Metal Injection. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  29. ^ a b "ALBUM REVIEW: 'Self Supremacy' by Malevolence". 11 May 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  30. ^ ROGERS, JACK. "THESE ARE 12 OF THE BEST MOSH CALLS EVER". Rock Sound. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  31. ^ Lewis, Sam. "An Interview With Malevolence: Inciting Violence For Our Future". Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  32. ^ a b Sims, Eddie (3 April 2017). "INTERVIEW: Alex Taylor – Malevolence". Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  33. ^ Hill, Stephen (3 May 2017). "Malevolence – Self Supremacy album review". Metal Hammer. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  34. ^ Franklin, Dan. "Fear And Loathing: Malevolence On A Locked-Down Planet". The Quietus. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
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