Malevolence – Where Only The Truth Is Spoken
Malevolence – Where Only The Truth Is Spoken
MLVLTD/ Nuclear Blast
Release Date: 20/06/2025
Review by Rory Bentley
9/10
Sun’s out guns out my friends, and them guns need to be put to use swinging around in the gnarliest pits of the world! Chances are the ringleaders pouring petrol on the flames in said pits are none other than the mighty Malevolence, because the Sheffield Metallic Hardcore Bastards are back with another 40-odd minutes of hook-filled neck-snapping, beatdown anthems with riffs so dirty that you’ll need a Dr Squatch subscription to keep jamming them.
I’ve been a huge Malevolence fan from the beginning, and at one point it looked like it wasn’t going to happen for them despite having the ultimate final form of the mosh pit Hardcore sound. Then somewhere during the pandemic, with international bands struggling to come to the UK, they started getting booked in prominent slots on big festival stages usually reserved for the yanks as the live music world slowly came back to life. Despite having merely 2 albums and an EP to draw from, the band set apart absolutely destroying everyone’s stupid fucking faces with songs and performances worthy of prime Hatebreed and Pantera, and are now legitimately massive.
2022’s “Malicious Intent” was a huge success and saw them chucking in big stadium choruses without sounding like a wet lettuce, dullard BMTH copyist like most of their Metalcore peers. It was a killer album, but it didn’t resonate with me as much as “Reign of Suffering” or “Self Supremacy” did, sounding a little more polished than I’d personally like. It was the equal of the two that came before it, but I thought maybe the straight ignorant, thugged-out Crowbar-worship was destined to adopt a more minor role and I made my peace with it as a fair compromise for wider success. Then I got this new one through and the pure carnage unleashed when I hit play was a total delight.
“Where Only The Truth Is Spoken” is considerably nastier and more spiteful than its predecessor whilst retaining the strident hooks and shout-along slogans that have cemented them as a headline act. ‘Blood To The Leech’ is boiling over with venomous hatred, with good old fashioned Heavy Metal riffage leading the charge between ignorant-ass beatdowns and Alex Taylor spitting lyrics with raging intensity as his Sheffield accent intermittently slips through every other line like you’re about to get chinned in the car park of a Yorkshire pub.
‘If it’s all the Same to You’ is a huge standout and a nailed-on classic for the next few years of festival dates, possessed with the same fist-pumping quality as ‘On Broken Glass’ but just that little bit meaner. Guitarist and co-singer Konan Hall’s ultra macho yet super melodic delivery is the band’s secret weapon, delivering crossover hooks whilst retaining the grit of Kirk Windstein at his glass-gargling best. His late album turn in ‘With Dirt from My Grave’ is also an absolute cracker as he trade lines with Alex over the sludgiest riffs this side of NOLA.
Everyone is clearly having a great time and playing out of their skin throughout the record with Josh Baines peeling out Dimebag-worthy solos at every opportunity and the rhythm section of Wilkie Robinson bringing grooves tighter than than a crab’s arse, holding down the sparse verses of ‘Trenches’ magnificently. Despite a slick Josh Wilbur production job, things always feel organic and human, which in the copy and paste, polished-to-death world of modern Metalcore is of huge credit to the band’s approach and obvious unwavering passion for the game.
Randy Blythe’s delightful cameo on ‘In Spite’ is also an obvious highlight, feeling like a passing of the Groove-Metal baton to the next generation of circle pit commanders and the miraculous feat of pulling off a Power Ballad whilst still sounding hard as fuck is once again pulled of on the stirring, yet savage ‘Salt The Wound’.
The bottom line is Malevolence are four for four on killer Metal records and remain a band at the peak of their powers and commercial appeal while staying totally true to the principles of riffs-first, uncompromising Metallic Hardcore where the melodic hooks never come at the expense of reckless audio violence. Fucking brilliant.
‘If It’s All The Same To You’ Official Video
TRACKLISTING:
01. Blood to The Leech
02. Trenches
03. If It’s All The Same To You
04. Counterfeit
05. Salt The Wound
06. So Help Me God
07. Imperfect Picture
08. Heavens Shake
09. In Spite
10. Demonstration of Pain
11. With Dirt From My Grave
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Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Rory Bentley and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
