British bruisers Malevolence have been knocking about the UK scene for over a decade now, and after two self-released albums, got signed to Nuclear Blast for their third effort, Malicious Intent, back in 2022. That was my first exposure to them.

Despite hailing from the depths of darkest South Yorkshire, in England, you’d be forgiven for thinking the band was from the deep south of America, as since their inception, the band has leaned hard into a groovy, Southern tinged form of thrash and hardcore that has distinct hues of Crowbar, Pantera, Lamb of God, Hatebreed, Kingdom of Sorrow etc.

At the heart of this sound is guitarist Konan Hall, who, along with Alex Taylor’s traditional hardcore bark and snarl, delivers a spot-on, Kirk Windstein-style, gravelly, bluesy croon to almost all the songs. 

The musical influences listed above bleed through in every tune, delivering ample amounts of blustery hardcore, replete with some very tasty, beefy grooves and breakdowns such as “Counterfeit”, ‘Imperfect Picture”, “So Help Me God”, and “In Spite” (where Lamb of God‘s Randy Blythe helps out). They can even thrash it up pretty good, as heard on “If It’s All the Same to You” and “Demonstration of Pain”.

But the material has lots of soulful Crowbar-y, bluesy choruses, like “Heavens Shake”, semi-balladic “Salt The Wound”, and closer “With the Dirt on My Grave”.

Everything is glossed in a beefy, but crystal clear modern production from Josh Wilbur ( All That Remains, Lamb of God, Trivium, etc) and with all these elements in place, even though they are already on a ‘major’ label, these guys appear to be poised for a Bodysnatcher/Kublai Khan international blow up.

[Visit the band's website]

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