LIVE REVIEW: Malevolence @ O2 Academy, Liverpool

Mondays are always tough. It’s the start of a long work week as you long for the weekend. However, if you’re looking to cure those Monday blues then the O2 Academy in Liverpool was the right place to do it. Sheffield metalheads; MALEVOLENCE put on quite the show to blow away those cobwebs. Even before any bands took to the stage, the room was already full to the brim and that’s even before the first support act. It’s these kinds of venues where you know things are going to go off once the show gets started. 

Kicking off the night’s proceedings were Sheffield hardcore outfit; ROUGH JUSTICE. As openers for the show, they had the toughest job of the night. However, they understood the assignment. Taking to the stage in cacophony of enormous riffs and pulsating drums, the crowd instantly responds to what would be the first of many mosh pits throughout the night. Liverpool crowds know how it’s done. Whilst a little rough around the edges, you have to laud ROUGH JUSTICE for their DIY feel about them as they barrage their way through their short set. They do a fine job of warming up the crowd who spend the majority of their show lurking around the put flailing their arms, legs and even their friends at each other like there’s no tomorrow. It’s just as entertaining to watch as the bands throughout the night.

Rating: 7/10

Taking to the stage after them for some more hardcore goodness was Long Island’s; PAIN OF TRUTH, who took things up a notch. Whilst sounding a little more polished than ROUGH JUSTICE, it did sort of feel like more of the same with some songs sounding very similar and hard to distinguish when one ended and another begins. Whilst this was only a minor gripe, PAIN OF TRUTH still did a fun job of warming the crowd up for the nights headliners. They’re one band we need to keep an eye on in the future. 

Rating: 8/10 

By the time MALEVOLENCE takes the stage, the crowd are well and truly whipped up into a frenzy, awaiting some mayhem. You almost feel sorry for those without ear protection, particularly when they launch into their set with Malicious Intent from the incredible album it gets its namesake from. It’s an excellent opener as the groovy metal riffs reverberate through everyone, the oppressive drums and bass pummelled or very senses. The standing floor quickly turns into a sweaty skirmish which leaves you amazed that people are somehow still standing as fans were seen with bruised faces and bloody noses. You’d think that would sway them, but it only spurs them on to go even hard. 

Malevolence play with such a furiosity, it’s genuinely impressive to watch as you’d think they’d run out steam, yet somehow they don’t. Hits like Life Sentence and Slave To Satisfaction have the audience in a chokehold as frontman Alex Taylor’s lyrics are bellowed back at him with the same level of furiosity. Whilst the songs do fall into that trap of sounding the same, MALEVOLENCE play so masterfully that it is easily forgiven. As the venue continues to resemble that of a warzone, songs from their second album, Self Supremacy, somehow takes things up a notch as they deliver heavier songs. Severed Ties is a blistering effort that leaves no prisoners as Taylor commands the crowd with ease. Higher Place brings a much needed moment of respite for both band and audience. The tinkering piano that beings the song sends a feeling of relief throughout the crowd, who are now able to take a moment and sing along to the ballad type song instead of giving out bloody mayhem. The grandiose guitar riffs, thunderous drums and anthemic chorus give off the feeling we’re in a huge arena and not a small club venue. It’s a beautiful moment to behold as the shredding guitar returns to batter our senses once more. 

Turning things back up to eleven, chaos reigns once more as MALEVOLENCE brings out the wonderfully heavy track; Self Supremacy. It ignites the audience into the biggest circle pit of the night. Sucking more and more audience members into its gaping maw. Throughout the song they’re the loudest they’ve been so far all night. Clocking in at 12 songs, it’s a short gig by some standards, however as they bound toward the finish line, MALEVOLENCE make every second count before eventually reaching the end of their set with the incendiary; On Broken Glass, giving the audience one final chance to take part in the chaos before the gigs end. 

MALEVOLENCE are definitely a band that you need to experience live instead of listening to on record. Whilst not for the faint hearted, the messages in their songs are defiant and reach out to those who struggle which is incredibly important within the metal and rock communities. Being from a city with such a rich musical heritage can be difficult, but MALEVOLENCE will have no difficulty joining the pantheon of metal titans such as BRING ME THE HORIZON, DEF LEPPARD and WHILE SHE SLEEPS from the Steel City of Sheffield, if anything they’re only going to improve the city’s culture of music in all the best ways possible.

Rating: 9/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Liverpool from Ellie D Photo here: 

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