MALOVELENCE is a band from Sheffield, England. A city that, many, many years ago, was the epitome of an English industrial town. The city had several steelworks, and until their closure, most people from Sheffield had jobs and earned a decent living. This changed in the 1970s and led to a significant transformation of the city. From a city of heavy industry, it became a city with blooming meadows and a thriving service sector. A city from which beautiful, warm pop music could emerge. Everything is so nice and clean here now.
That this is only one side of the coin is proven by MALOVELENCE.
With their fourth album, they have entered the German album charts for the first time. The preliminary highlight of a band that has been presenting their brand of hardcore on stages around the world since 2010.
MALOVELENCE, what is that actually?
MALOVELENCE consists of five young men who make quite a racket. A racket that has its roots in hardcore, fertilized with metalcore, and poured with thrash parts. At least, that’s how I would describe the first songs. A hearty mix, with plenty of in-your-face parts. A lot of anger, a lot of energy, and yes, also a lot of musical skill. The songs are catchy, but not simple. The vocals are captivating, yet always precisely placed.
From the fifth song onwards, there is suddenly a shift, and sounds reminiscent of Metallica determine the sound here and there. The Englishmen attempt ballads or melancholic songs. It doesn’t sound too bad, but the vocals come off as a bit too forced. They seem to be trying a bit too hard for my taste. Overall, the following songs also remain rather mid-tempo, which is a bit of a shame. Not that the band can’t play songs at a slower tempo, but this causes the songs to lose some impact and veer into a somewhat too dark, emotionally painful direction for me. The deep anger, the despair, I believe the band conveys that well; that’s not the issue. It just doesn’t really move me.
The first half of the album offers really good hardcore of the newer school.
The second half leans more towards metal with influences from doom, sludge, and pompous metal with aggressive parts.
Just like the two halves of the album, the conclusion is clearly divided.
Additionally, as a criticism of the otherwise beautiful digipack with a fitting motif, is the font size of the texts. Even though I belong to the older generation and my eyes may not be the best anymore, a larger font would surely have done all readers of the texts a favor.
