MALEFICE

We write whatever we want

British MALEFICE is the one of the latest additions to Metal Blade's roster. “Dawn Of Reprisal” - their sophomore full length album (released just a few days ago) will offer you a powerful mixture of thrash and metalcore. If you call yourself a fan of such bands as LAMB OF GOD or PANTERA, don't hesitate to listen to the newest offering of these UK's hottest youngters. Three weeks before band's upcoming UK tour I got an opportunity to talk to MALEFICE guitarist Ben Symons.

-How do you see the development of the metal scene in the UK nowadays compared to the 90’s and the 80’s? Could you elaborate on this?
Well, having been born in '85 I missed out on quite a lot of the good stuff that happened in the 80's so by the time I was growing up and getting into metal we were slap bang in the middle of the NU-Metal craze.. So it was all.. Limp Bizkit, Korn, Dry Kill Logic... and the list goes on and on! It wasn’t until I matured I started looking back though the ages and discovered bands like Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath! I don’t think the scene is all that different.. I think that new music, especially up and coming unsigned bands, is a lot more accessible now since Myspace came along, and obviously music has evolved and there are lots of different genres now with-in the metal bracket, but essentially it’s still 3,4,5 or sometimes 9 guys together playing heavy music!

-What particular bands or musicians have influenced you to start MALEFICE? Did the worldwide popularity of metalcore with bands like KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, HATEBREED, LAMB OF GOD, AS I LAY DYING have an impact on you to start your own group?
It was never that we heard other bands doing metalcore or thrash, so we then figured we'd start a band and do the same thing.. When we were starting up we hadn’t really heard of any of these bands, we knew we wanted to write metal and that was about it.. Our sound is how it is now because that’s how, we as a band have evolved, and I’m sure 5 years down the line we won’t sound the same! We are all individually influenced by bands and artists, for me Metallica are who made me want to play guitar.. and at the time Malefice was starting up I was very into Unearth and God Forbid which probably influenced me to write heavy, melodic thrashy shit, but you can’t start a band to try to sound like something... being influenced by something is perfectly fine but make it your own!

-In recent years metalcore has become the most popular genre in heavy, extreme music. Many bands from this genre undoubtedly achieved a great success in the music industry. Do you see any problems with extreme music achieving this kind of commercial success?
I think it’s great that Metal is doing so well whatever sub-genre it might be! I think in the last few years real heavy bands have been getting more and more of the lime light mainly thanks to bands like Lamb Of God, Killswitch Engage, Unearth for bringing metal back into the spot light and giving the hungry, hard working bands like us the chance to get recognized and maybe one day join them!

-Go back to MALEFICE. Your new album "Dawn Of Reprisal" was released on February 27. How do you feel about this record?
Is REALLY FUCKING GOOD an answer? .. We’re all really proud of this album it’s an album all of us can listen to and not be bored or cringe at sections! We put a lot of time into it and its come out sounding great! We just wanna get out there now and play it to the world!

-Metal Blade recommends the album especially for LAMB OF GOD fans. Can you agree with that? Is it a good way to introduce MALEFICE to fans who have never heard about this band?
If there is one band to be getting compared to right now its Lamb Of God.. That band is going from strength to strength, with every album they release they get bigger and bigger, they’re doing stadium tours in the US!... if we can achieve anything like what those guys have done then that’s awesome!

-Do you think that MALEFICE can offer anything out of ordinary, anything fresh and new? Is there a “hole” in the European metal scene this band could fill?
One thing people always say to us is that its hard to pigeon hole us to a certain genre within metal, or to compare us to any 1 certain band! I think we differ that way in the sense that Dawn Of Reprisal is an album with lots of different styles of music in there that we love.. Its thrashy, groove laden, progressive, epic, death.. you name it! We’ve not sat down and said... "let’s write a thrash album" we just write whatever we want! And it just so happens what we want is a lot of things! We are a European band, with American influences.. And it’s all mashed up into one heavy ball of awesome!

-Your debut album "Entities" was released in 2007 through Anticulture Records. Some time ago you signed a deal with famous Metal Blade Records. Did the release of "Dawn Of Reprisal" under MB wings open any new doors for the band? Do you feel any differences in promoting this album compared to your previous record?
A lot of doors are being opened.. we still have to be patient.. It’s one thing to be signed to Metal Blade, but it’s crazy to then expect to be the biggest band in town straight away! We’re happy we’ve given them a good album, and now it’s our time to get out on the road touring and show em what we’re made of! Promotion wise... there’s a lot more of it! I know Dale's been swamped with them so that’s a good thing, and we’re working with the best in the business!

-Did the songwriting process for your new album differ from the previous album? What are the main differences between “Entities” and “Dawn Of Reprisal” musicwise, lyricwise?
Musically we gave our selves more time to write this album... on Entities it was our first attempt at writing a lot of songs in a short space of time so this time we had more time, we’ve all grown up a bit and we knew what we were doing so it got written pretty easily! Lyrically... the story is similar. I know that with this album, for Dale, his lyrics are a lot more of a personal insight into what he thinks about the world and how his mind works! So I guess you could say the album is more true to us as people this time around!

-Let me ask more about writing process. Does an MALEFICE song usually start with a riff, a melody line, or does it change from song to song? What is the golden rule to write a good song? Who's mainly responsible for the songs featured on “Dawn Of Reprisal”?
It can vary.. most of the time it starts with a riff, then another riff will come then you jam it with Craig, then the song kind of builds its self around a few ideas.. Some times Craig will have a pattern or a beat that he's written and it’s our job to build the riffs around that pattern... The golden rule for writing a good song is that there are no rules! Don’t think about what you’re going to write just sit and play guitar or drums.. or whatever, until something comes out you like, then work at it until you have a song!