Malevolence – Where Only The Truth Is Spoken
Release Date: 20th June 2025
Label: MLVLTD / Nuclear Blast
Sheffield’s finest metal-core taste breakers Malevolence return with their fourth studio release Where Only The Truth Is Spoken. Known for steadfastly straddling between the worlds of hardcore and groove metal, Where Only The Truth Is Spoken reflects the group’s uncompromising drive to push forward and shatter the ceiling of every sub-genre they seek to conquer.
With the intention of achieving a new level of songwriting, the band swapped their hometown backdrop of Steel City for California. Recorded at Dave Grohl’s famous Studio 606 with Grammy winning producer Josh Wilbur at their side, Malevolence offer eleven weighty yet eclectic tracks of an ever-increasing technical ability and unfiltered expression.
Kicking off this album’s relentless guitar fest is album opener ‘Blood To The Leech’. Loaded with fast paced chugs and frantically cascading lead lines, you can hear the clear influence from new wave American metal groups such as Chimaira, or even Swedish death metallers Arch Enemy. Vocalist Alex Taylor’s blisteringly raw delivery invites plenty of gang vocal opportunities to accompany his Randy Blythe-esque growls.
The Lamb of God frontman himself in fact does make a guest feature on track ‘In Spite’, a quintessential thrash and metalcore blend that has come to be expected from the group, finished off with some juicy stomp-inducing slam sections.
Things quickly switch gears in the second track ‘Trenches’. Starting off sparse with Taylor’s isolated barks, before dropping like a guillotine into a pendulous hardcore track, chopped up with breakdowns-a-plenty that any Kublai Khan TX fan would gladly spin kick their way through.
For those who prefer a little more swing and sludge, tracks like ‘Imperfect Picture’ and ‘Heavens Shake’ certainly scratch that itch. Taylor’s glossy chorus harmonies peppered across are refreshingly doomy, a moment that stands out the most in its simplicity amongst the reoccurring chaos, while feature single “If It’s All The Same To You” finds the group squeezing as many of their trademarks into four minutes.
Whilst the album intentionally aims to surpass expectations when playing to their strengths, the formula does begin to become slightly predictable. Following on from 2022’s head turning release Malicious Intent, it’s undeniable that the group appears to have significantly raised the bar with this eclectic and technically ambitious new release. These gigantic slam anthems are delivered straight from the heart, and are decadently elevated with layers of thrash, beat-down and new wave American metal with considerable success.
FFO: Bodysnatcher / Lamb Of God / Bleed From Within
Recommended Track: So Help Me God