They present themselves as being one of UK’s fastest rising crossover bands and by that they mean: “the hype around our band made us go up a few stair steps and that was translated to loads of pressure for our debut full length”. Being that the “circus” surrounding the release of Reign Of Suffering (Siege of Amida Records), their debut album, there was an expectation and important question that needed to be asked: will the album justify all the hype? The answer for that question is… No! The quintet from Sheffield is far from being what we were expecting.
These eight tracks, with 35 minutes of pure groove and technicality, are, for the most part, just a simple emulation of their influences with little hints of hope, because of the evident talent that they carry and offer. Showing mad love for bands like Hatebreed, Lamb of God, Terror and At The Gates, the band made a record that’s an amalgam of their most direct influences, ruling out the possibility of Malevolence having a sound that truly stands out of the crowd. Even their most compelling and exciting track, the seven minutes epic that’s ‘Turn To Stone’, has other bands names written all over the place. This time we can talk about Pantera and Down. Basically with Reign of Suffering we have a band with talent that’s trying to find the character that will be essential if they want to be the leaders of the metal-hardcore-crossover genre. They need time to mature, that’s for sure.
5/10
Tiago Moreira