It’s been a whirlwind few years for Malevolence. Having toiled for over a decade as heroes of the underground, 2022’s excellent Malicious Intent thrust them onto the world stage. But as Alex Taylor explains, follow-up Where Only The Truth Is Spoken serves as a reminder never to forget their roots…
On March 13, 2025 the Sheffield Online Facebook page shared a blurry CCTV screengrab to their 245,000 followers. Authorities, apparently, had released the image of two men they urgently wished to identify and interrogate with regards to the burglary of several ‘high value’ items that took place back in January. One of the individuals was in his later 30s, with a stocky build and short facial hair. The other was a few years younger and a few kilos lighter. Pretty much every lover of heavy music in South Yorkshire clocked them immediately as Malevolence frontman Alex Taylor and drummer Charlie Thorpe. At the time of writing, we’ve yet to receive confirmation whether this was actually the audacious publicity stunt it seemed, but gleeful fans were quick to pile in with quips about handing down a Life Sentence and warning concerned citizens to Keep Your Distance.
Arguably the biggest banter band in heavy music over the last few years, the Yorkshire devils have form for this variety of hi-jinks. Before they’d even hit their sub-headline demolition at Bloodstock last summer, they’d distributed beer cups with ‘WANTED’ posters of their own faces around the festival, stating the crime as ‘turning the main stage to fucking rubble’. They lived up to it with the most crowdsurfers and biggest circle-pit in the festival’s 20-plus-year history. And on their fourth album Where Only The Truth Is Spoken, they’re out to raise hell on a bigger scale than ever before. And a little viral campaign casting them as brutish villains is just the tip of an all-crushing iceberg...
“It’s been a busy start to the year,” Alex begins from Mesa, Arizona alongside Charlie, guitarists Josh Baines and Konan Hall, and bassist Wilkie Robinson. “We’re about halfway through a United States tour with Counterparts, Pain Of Truth and Foreign Hands right now. Some of the shows have been a bit rocky, to be honest, but others have been brilliant. And it’s been nice to enjoy some sunshine.
“Before we left, we filmed a music video for new single If It’s All The Same To You. It’s definitely the most ambitious and adventurous we’ve done. The concept is that we’re burglars who’ve been sent to steal a piece of art. We managed to get Brick Top from Snatch [veteran actor Alan Ford] to play the mob boss who sends us. There’s an exciting scene as we’re getting through the security, moshing through the laser grid. Then just as we replace the art with a duplicate we trigger the alarms. After that, there’s a high-speed chase with drift cars and the police. Eventually, we get back to the hideout and it’s revealed that the painting we’ve stolen is the new artwork for Where Only The Truth Is Spoken…”
So, where exactly is it that only the truth is spoken?
“It’s a reference to Sheffield. Wilkie was on holiday one day and he got talking to a local guy about the area. When this guy found out Wilkie was a Sheffielder he spoke the phrase, ‘Ah, Sheffield, the land where only the truth is spoken…’ We thought that was so cool. Sheffield is renowned for its honesty. Brutal honesty, sometimes. People tell it as it is.”
Opening track Blood To The Leach ends with a sample that sounds akin to the encounter you’re describing, but it’s not exactly in the King’s English. Where does that sample come from?
“It’s just one of our friends. There’s a local quote: ‘If you ever do something for nothing, make sure you do it for yourself!’ If you put that into Yorkshire slang it becomes ‘If ivver tha does owt fer nowt – allus do it fer thissen – in God’s own country, where only the truth is spoken!’ It feels like a bit of an Easter egg, an explanation of what the album is all about. Is WOTTIS a tribute to Sheffield? I wouldn’t call it a ‘tribute’ necessarily. There are songs, like Heavens Shake, which reference aspects of life in Sheffield, like young kids getting drawn into gang violence. The album title is a tribute, but there’s more going on than that.”
That cover piece is another collaboration with veteran artist Eliran Kantor. What is it saying?
“Eliran smashed it. I love working with him because he always understands our vision, and this epic reveal for the artwork feels like the driving force behind [the album launch]. We wanted the artwork to reflect the same things as the album title. The image itself shows a central figure – you don’t see his face, just this outline of a man – in some kind of fiery factory setting, which is crumbling around him. But he’s pulling this symbol with his finger on his lips. He’s surrounded by fire and general suffering which is a reference to the history of Sheffield with steel making, the factories and the hard conditions people worked through in years gone by.”
Malicious Intent rightfully slingshotted you into the big time. Are the references back to your blunt, no-bullshit roots a reaction to dealing with more ‘music industry’ nonsense?
“Where we’re from, everything is said how it is. That definitely contrasts with some of the other experiences we’ve had. There are a lot of people in music who will tell you what you want to hear who aren’t necessarily that bothered about the truth. But we try to always say it as we see it. Ultimately, this album is about being honest with ourselves and not sugar-coating things too much. Trenches, for instance, is a direct song with direct lyrics. There are a lot of songs on there about cutting off people who hold you back. The opening track Blood To The Leech is about exactly that. It’s quite literal this time out. That’s definitely comes with being from the north of the UK.”
Speaking of Trenches, in November you announced it as ‘possibly the most aggressive, ignorant, direct song you’d ever written’. Did that directness and aggression bleed throughout here?
“The heavier parts are heavier. The aggressive parts are more aggressive. But it’s delivered in a way that we believe is clever. It’s not just all heavy. There’s a dynamic range at play. Not every song is angry or pissed-off. Well, maybe not [entirely]. There are a lot of topics being explored, and some of them are quite personal to me. But it could be interpreted as the most aggressive we’ve been.”
In your 2022 Kerrang! Cover Story, you spoke about the importance of men’s mental health and how that bled through the lyrics. What are the key topics this time out?
“On the song So Help Me God, I’m referencing some personal things that are going on in my life. The lyrics are very literal, so I don’t think they need an explanation. Some songs are more of a recognition or realisation or acknowledgement of one’s own struggles and how you need to push through them. But there isn’t one consistent theme. Each song is allowed to speak for itself.”
On If It’s All The Same To You it’s very much about the recurring theme of removing toxic people from your life...
“Generally speaking, yes, it’s another of those songs about those people who will try to hold you back and how it isn’t worth your energy trying to change them. You can try and try and try to make people see things in a better way, but a lot of the time it’s not worth your time and breath…”
Malevolence aren’t the breakout stars you were a few years ago. Are there really still people with the nerve – or the stupidity – to try to hold you back?
“It’s not even a direct reference to the music industry. It’s more about day-to-day life and the people that I’ve encountered outside of music. Whether that be family members, people on the street or the people online. No matter where they’re coming from themselves, I think that’s something a lot of listeners will be able to identify and resonate with. One big example is those people who will go online and read about immigration and racism and take what they see as gospel. Then they parrot the same hateful rhetoric. I just don’t have any time for people like that.”
Given the success you have had, has the experience of treading some absolutely massive stages impacted your songwriting?
“I guess so, yeah. With any song Malevolence have ever written it’s always in the back of my mind how that song will be received live. That is my favourite part of being in this band: the live show. So I think about playing shows like Bloodstock last year and how it cemented in our minds that we can continue to write the music that we want to hear without compromising: forcing a sing-along part in here, or stick a chant over there. That resonates with listeners more than bands who write to a formula. Having your heart in the music will always beat some AI version of a stadium rock song.”
Photo: Derek Bremner
How bonkers was it recording with Josh Wilbur at Dave Grohl’s Studio 606, where the album was tracked through the iconic Neve 8078 console?
“It was refreshing and made the whole writing process fun again. I sometimes struggle with the motivation to actually get on with it and write lyrics. Having Josh’s input was so exciting. It gave us a mediator for our ideas where previously we’ve been our own worst critics, sitting around for hours arguing about how this or that word sounds. He told us when we needed to move on, and to come back to certain ideas when that was the thing to do. He pushed me to try new things – and us as a band to reach a little higher with our songwriting. He actually flew to Sheffield for a couple of pre-recording sessions. Then Josh and I travelled to LA for a month, with the rest of the lads joining later to finish their parts. It was the first time we’ve recorded an album outside of the UK. Being out there to work gave us the motivation to deliver a great performance. And it made it a more fun, engaging experience overall – which really shows through in the music.”
Continuing Malevolence’s tradition of epic guest spots, In Spite features Randy Blythe. How did that come about?
“We’d actually played with Lamb Of God at two shows in Germany a couple of years ago. Before those shows I was roped in last minute to do this BBC podcast with Randy. That was our first official meeting. It was so cool to talk to someone I’ve looked up to for years: one of the godfathers of modern heavy music, who’s so respected in our world. And Josh has produced a bunch of Lamb Of God’s albums. I just asked if he’d text Randy to ask if he’d be up for featuring on ours. I wasn’t sure if he’d be interested, but he was, and he really came through, bouncing ideas back and forth quite organically. Afterwards we did a full U.S. tour with Lamb Of God, Kerry King and Mastodon where we really got to know each other. All of those guys have always been so cool and supportive. To now be able to call a band as influential as Lamb of God our friends is amazing.”
What’s the ultimate goal you’d like to hit with this record?
“The goal with this is to get a Top 40 album. We want to really show that metal in the UK is on the rise. Beyond that, we’re about to announce one of the biggest headline tours we’ve ever done. I’m just really excited to have the album out. We’ve poured a lot of effort into it, and we’ve sat on it for a while, so just getting it out into the world where people can hear it is exciting.”
And, as stardom calls, is there ever any concern about disconnecting from your Yorkshire roots?
“Honestly, we all still rip each other so hard that nobody has the time to get an ego. We will happily roast each other until the cows come home. And some of my friends outside the band don’t even listen to metal. They see what we’re doing and they think it’s cool, but they’ll also be the first ones to tell me that this life I’m living is pretty weird: ‘You just go onstage and shout!’ They won’t let me get a big head. And I wouldn’t have it any other way…”
Where Only The Truth Is Spoken is due for release on June 20 via MLVLTD / Nuclear Blast
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