Malevolence offer an almighty jolt for the jaded
Sylosis are at the peak of their powers
JAKE OWENS
AFTER ADECADE grinding in the underground, Malevolence have finally got their big break, and this triumphant run of shows has them pulling out all the stops. Replete with unique, limited-run merch per city alongside their usual humorous designs and a giant movie poster-esque wrap on their double-decker tour bus, they’ve swung for the fences, with three brilliant supports in tow.
Aussie beatdown bruisers JUSTICE FOR THE DAMNED sport a sizable crowd for their early set, as moshing starts almost immediately. It’s a short, sweet lesson in violence and thuggish riffs. Signed to Malevolence’s MLVLTD imprint, Manchester’s GUILT TRIP embrace chest-beating metallic hardcore with a hefty dose of groove, bringing almost as much fury as the pits that threaten to take over the venue.
With a retina-searing light show and a frantic Poison For The Lost, SYLOSIS announce themselves to aroom more than ready to lose their minds. They’re phenomenally tight, delivering the titanic groove of Pariahs and cataclysmic Sands Of Time and making it look easy. “I need your phone lights out,” frontman Josh Middleton calls during I Sever’s emotional crescendo, which goes mostly answered before it’s back to the towering riffs they’re best known for, and they delve right back to 2008 with The Blackest Skyline sending people wild. The overwhelming amount of strobe lighting onstage makes it hard to see much else, but it’s the only drawback to an otherwise stellar, headline-worthy performance.