Gary caught up with Charlie and Alex from MALEVOLENCE before they sent a packed Dogtooth stage into a frenzy. He asked them about a bio that described them as "friendly violence & insanity', they'd never heard that before but admitted that they wanted to turn their gig into a warzone! Here's how he got on....
You broke onto the scene in 2013 with your debut Reign of Suffering. You played at Download in 2014, how does this prepare you for today?
We're more mature and know what to expect a little more this time. We're gonna turn it into a war zone! Last time we had the power pulled part way through the set. Some kid fell down in the pit and miscommunication back stage meant the power got pulled in a complex part of the song but we got through it. A bit of Rock n' roll infamy doesn't ever do a band too much harm!
The Download 2018 bio describes you as 'Brutal and Eclectic', is that how you see yourselves?
Not heard that before but we'll take it! (Laughs)
In 2017 you released Self Supremacy, how has it been received?
Really well, we definitely had momentum building after Reign of Suffering and we spent 2017 touring and building the fan base. People loved the energy and intensity of our shows. We pushed up the level of interest with the release of new music. Four years is longer than we would like but there's been production detail that needs to be sorted before it's ready.
Your track Self Supremacy has over 250k Spotify hits, is that something you pay attention to?
Absolutely. We had over 2 million streams in total the last we saw so that's something we're really happy with. We use Facebook extensively to gather fans feedback, questions like "What were you most pleased with?"
What challenges have you faced in the past?
Touring in the US was tough., we spent a month sleeping in a van in car parks getting five bucks a day to live on. It's the only time we've ever thought "why are we doing this?", but then you play a gig and fans throw themselves off the stage, It all makes sense then! The boys are really pleased with the fans response to the new music and how things are going for us so far.
You've just finished a bunch of European gigs, any highlights?
We enjoyed touring with Despised Icon who were a huge musical influence on us. It was great to hang out with them and become friends.
Kerrang did a feature on you, how did that make the band feel?
Being featured in Kerrang is one of those things that makes you pinch yourself and realise what we're achieving. Big shout out to Natalie Wood at Kerrang for the support!
So what next for Malevolence?
We've got more festivals through the summer and autumn which we're really excited about.
How did you come together as a band in the first place?
Charlie was looked after by Alex's Nan (Hi Nan), the lads all knew each other from school. We were in other bands but then got together. We were hoping to be finished here to get out and see you. We did and they smashed it and had the audience enjoying the insanity.
Interview by Gary Williams
Keep up to date with MALEVOLENCE at the following social media sites