Malevolence’s Alex Taylor: The 10 songs that changed my life

“My name is Alex, and I am the lead singer in Malevolence. I grew up listening to a wide range of music thanks to my parents, however it was at around age 10/11 when I first started listening to heavy metal. I’m constantly on the hunt for new music and like to branch out into new genres outside of my usual remit, however my most listened to genre is mainly rap music…”

“For some reason, this is the first song that came to mind. I have some vague memory of my mum playing it in the car back in the day. This is an absolute banger, and I will still chuck this on the queue list to this day.”

“This is another banger that was on a CD that my mum would have on in the car when I was young – shout out mum! She would often have the latest Ministry Of Sound Clubland CD, and I remember them being jam-packed with absolute hits from front to back!”

“The whole of Hybrid Theory was the soundtrack to many of my teenage years. It’s one of Malevolence’s collective favourite albums without a doubt, and we constantly refer back to it whenever we have a long drive to do between shows. It really doesn't need much explanation for how much this album did for the metal scene.”

“Killswitch Engage were the first heavy band that I went to see many years ago. I’d been lucky enough to bag a ticket from a friend that wasn't able to go, so I went with a few mates from school. I had no idea what a wall of death was, and ended up getting pushed over and cracking a rib. Great memories!”

“Up until recently, I had never actually learned to play a song the whole way through. This is kind of embarrassing, considering I've been in the band for 12 years. So, I sat down with Josh and got him to teach me The Other Side as we plan to possibly do an acoustic rendition of the track live in the future!”

“If you are from the UK, this was always the song that someone was playing off a Nokia when you were on the back of the bus after school, on your way home, thinking that they were proper cool – definitely was me…”

“This is a hard question to answer, as I have many favourite songs for different reasons, but I picked this song as it was one of my most played on Spotify and still absolutely slaps! The lyrics and riffs stand the test of the time and I love the production on this whole album.”

“This song was a challenge for me personally, as it was one of the final songs that we recorded for our new record Malicious Intent. I really wanted to challenge myself and try some new styles of long, drawn-out high screaming, which I don't usually do. It was a challenge, however I’m really proud of the final track.”

“If you know Malevolence, then you know that we buzz off of getting the biggest possible circle-pit going to this one. It’s a high energy song with fast riffs, huge sing-alongs and hard breakdowns. What more could you want?”

“This is one of the most uplifting songs ever, which was on the soundtrack to one of my favourite films, Cool Runnings. I’d want this playing because I’d want to bring some cheer to the place and some celebration rather than sadness.”

Malicious Intent will be released on May 20, via Nuclear Blast. Pre-order your copy now.

Catch Malevolence at Download Festival this summer. Get your tickets here.

For more from the band, watch Malevolence’s brutal performance in The K! Pit: