Malevolence Close Out Their Biggest Tour in London
Earlier this summer, Sheffield’s own Malevolence dropped one of the hardest records of the year with their fourth album, ‘Where Only The Truth Is Spoken’. Fast forward to Sunday, November 9, and they proved once again why they’re leading the British metal scene right now. At a sold-out O2 Academy Brixton, they tore through a set that left the crowd buzzing.
With SPEED, Dying Wish and PSYCHO-FRAME on the bill, the night felt like a full celebration of heavy music: loud, wild and full of real friendship. The second the lights went down, the whole room started moving and everyone knew something big was about to happen. London wasn’t just another date either. It was the final stop of the tour and you could feel that “last night” energy as soon as things kicked off. Malevolence were at their absolute best. I’d never seen them live before, but this show instantly became one of the most memorable I’ve ever been to. The lineup, the crowd and that sense of something special happening all hit at once.
PSYCHO-FRAME opened the night with a straight-up deathcore hit to the face. From the first note, the pit exploded, bodies flew and the energy was nonstop. The Florida band tore through their set with total chaos and confidence, with vocalists Colter Cuthbertson and Michael Sugars storming Brixton’s massive stage like it was their battlefield. Their debut album ‘Salvation Laughs in the Face of a Grieving Mother’ came out earlier this year, and those riffs and harsh vocals sounded massive live.
Dying Wish came next, and honestly, they were one of the highlights of the night. Hearing Emma Boster’s vocals in person was unreal. Her range and power filled the whole venue. Even SPEED’s Jem Siow joked that no one could top her voice. They blasted through songs from ‘Flesh Stays Together’ and ‘Symptoms of Survival’, plus a few older tracks that kept the pit moving.
Then SPEED hit the stage fast, loud and, as expected, ready to cause chaos. They’ve earned their spot as one of hardcore’s biggest names, and they showed why. They also made it clear that hardcore is about community, shouting out the friendships made on tour and the connection with the crowd. Jem Siow kept pushing the energy higher, yelling again and again, “Open it up! Open that shit up!” and the room went wild. They ripped through songs from ‘Only One Mode’, each one hitting harder than the last. Halfway through, they dropped ‘PEACE’, a new track from their EP ‘All My Angels’, and the crowd already knew every word.
But the night still had more to give. The energy jumped again when Alan Ford (aka Bricktop) showed up as the hype man for Malevolence, his thick British accent immediately grabbing everyone’s attention and from the first riff of ‘Blood to the Leech’, Malevolence went all in. They tore through songs from ‘Where Only the Truth Is Spoken’ with precision and that signature groove that sets them apart, mixing in fan favourites like ‘Keep Your Distance’, ‘Life Sentence’ and ‘On Broken Glass’. The pit didn’t just open — it erupted. It was the kind of set that showed exactly why Malevolence are at the top of UK heavy music lately.
This was definitely a night I won’t forget! Surviving the chaos of the SPEED pit, witnessing Emma Boster absolutely own the stage with that phenomenal voice and closing it all out with Malevolence, who sealed the night with so much power. I walked out drenched and grinning ear to ear. Malevolence are now firmly on my repeat list — because damn, they were good!
