Album Review: Malevolence - The Other Side
Reviewed by Carl Black
Malevolence have a true hardcore ethic. They record themselves, manage themselves, they sell their merchandise through a company they set up themselves. They are in house, DIY, down for life. They have established themselves as a genuine contender and have worked hard to become noticed in the UK, Europe and Asia. To appease their following, Malevolence are releasing a three track E.P. A taster for an album or a stop gap for fans?
'The Other Side' manages to show different sides of the band in just over ten minutes. The three tracks are well written and well recorded. Two of the tracks are as you’d expect, 'Keep Your Distance' and 'Remain Unbeaten', are brutal metalcore at the very aggressive end of the commercial heavy spectrum. Hatebreed tread this path also well. Crunching guitars and overly complex drums keep the songs interesting and individual. We get a slightly more mainstream, dare I say it - New Found Glory - riff at the beginning of 'Keep Your Distance' that soon gets swallowed up by bouncy riffs and beatdowns. We get a very melodic riff at the front end of 'Remain Unbeaten', but this quickly gives way to faster riffs and aggressive singing.
We get a genuine ballad with the song 'The Other Side'. This style of music very rarely strays into this territory. Fans can be militant to softer, more emotional tracks. How the fans react to this song live will, for now, have to wait. This track again picks up and becomes a heavier song. This song comes across a bit Avenged Sevenfold and their now constant stream of ballads, personally I hope Malevolence don’t continue to stray into this area too often.
Malevolence showcase all they do well within this E.P. They also show that they are expanding horizons and trying to break a very tight mould. This is never a bad thing and should be applauded, this could be a blueprint for a true ground breaker, if they can continue to experiment.
