"We used to only dream about playing Download, and we’ve done it. Now we want to do it every year..."
Altsounds: Do you think it's easier now in the social networking era to break through into a scene?
Dale: Much easier man. Now anyone, anywhere in the world can get to your music through the likes of myspace etc. Although hits on websites never amount to important things like record sales, it’s definitely something labels look at nowadays. Metal Blade first approached us through Myspace, true story!
Altsounds: You're a band with a strong work ethic, do you think bands need to be more proactive in order to succeed past the initial 'buzz' stage?
Dale: Fuck yeah. You have no idea how hard is it to break through in the industry. Especially if you’re a metal band! It’s almost a last man standing situation, you’ve got to buckle down and work hard, and the bands that survive the hard years are the ones that always benefit in the end. We believe both in ourselves, and as a band, sure it gets hard and you question why the fuck you bother to kill yourselves for what sometimes seems a thankless cause, but this is in our blood. From day one we were always gonna win this match!
Altsounds: You're part of a smaller scene within the metal scene itself; do you feel a sense of community with the bands you've toured with and grown around?
Dale: Definitely. Like I said earlier, when you get to a certain level everyone knows how hard you’ve had to work to get there, and how much you’ve sacrificed to actually live your dream. In my book anyone that has the balls to stand up on stage and express themselves musically, whether it’s their first gig or they’ve sold out Wembley deserves my respect!
Altsounds: Is there competition with you and any bands out there?
Dale: There always seems to have been a Malefice vs Sylosis situation out there, that I’d like to add hasn’t been instigated by either of the bands. We’re both from Reading and a lot of people are dicks that love talking shit, especially about people that are doing well. So of course we’ve been played off of each other for years, hence the fact we’ve never actually shared a stage. That’ll change in the future!
Altsounds: 'Entities' was the sound of a young band out to make a name for themselves, then 'Dawn Of Reprisal' hit and was the sound of you showing what you could really do. How did you manage to produce two albums of such quality and diversity in such a short space of time?
Dale: Haha wait until you hear the 3rd! We’re still young man, we’re still perfecting our song writing, and we’re a long way off where we want to be. Malefice has a sound that is always going to evolve as we grow older and wiser, we don’t limit ourselves musically so it gives us the opportunity to do whatever we want to do. The next album is going to make a huge statement about what we can actually do!
Altsounds: Which album did you find harder to write?
Dale: Probably "Dawn" because it was our first major release. "Entities" was always supposed to test the waters, see if people liked what we did, and they did, a lot! It got amazing reviews and was openly received all over the world, and to follow that up was a daunting prospect, but we did it! Now we’re doing it again!
Altsounds: You've toured with bands like Devildriver and Soulfly, you also opened the second stage at Download in 2008. What did these experiences teach you about being a live band?
Dale: Everything man. To be the best you have to learn from the best. When we tour with these bands we always try and take something back home with us. Dez Fafara taught me everything I know about being a front man, from commanding a crowd to how I deliver myself in interviews.
Altsounds: You recorded a show at the Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth for a live DVD. Why this particular show?
Dale: Our Portsmouth shows have always been some of the best in the band's history so we wanted to give something back to them by acknowledging that! They’ve been behind us from a very early age, and every time we go back it gets better and better!
Altsounds: You have accomplished a lot in a short amount of time. Do your goals as a band change the further things progress?
Dale: Yeah,all the time. We’re fortunate enough to have done some pretty big tours, appeared on some amazing festivals so the goal posts change sometimes from week to week. But I think that’s only healthy, it shows we’re progressing as a band and it always gives us something to work towards. We used to only dream about playing Download, and we’ve done it. Now we want to do it every year, it’s amazing how things can change in such a short space of time.
Altsounds: You've been on 3 different record labels now, with each one the band becomes a little more confident and things get a little bigger. Do you think that all this changing around has done you good?
Dale: It was our plan from the beginning man. A band like us was never gonna jump on a big label straight away, so we knew we had to take steps towards one. Our two previous labels supported us into where we wanted to go and helped us achieve that. Metal Blade has always been a company we were eager to work with and we’re so fucking proud to have got that chance!
Altsounds: You worked with Justin Hill and Dan Weller from Sikth on 'Entities', who else would you like to work with?
Dale: I’d love to work with Rick Rubin one day. He is, in my opinion, the best producer in the world, he’s worked with pretty much everyone from Slayer to Jay-Z that shows how talented the guy is. I like producers that are not afraid to tell you something is shit, and to turn away Metallica and tell them to write better material for "Death Magnetic", definitely drops him in that category for me.
Altsounds: Do the same things still influence you, or do your influences change?
Dale: A bit of both. Life influences my lyrical content, and life changes every day I suppose. But as a unit we’re still driven by the will to succeed, and to show everyone that doubted us how fucking wrong they were. I don’t want to be one of the faces in the crowd; I want to do something with my life so I’ll be remembered.
Altsounds: When can we expect a new album from you?
Dale: Certainly we should be recording this year, probably September/October time. We never stop writing and we already have some killer ideas down and some brutal new songs well on the way to completion.
Altsounds: You're playing the Metal Hammer sponsored Hammerfest in March, any other touring plans lined up?
Dale: We’re obviously gearing up things for New England, but we’re also putting a tour together for May, and we already have shows booked through until September, not all announced yet, so I think we’ll be pretty busy right up until when we hit the studio for album 3!
Dale: Much easier man. Now anyone, anywhere in the world can get to your music through the likes of myspace etc. Although hits on websites never amount to important things like record sales, it’s definitely something labels look at nowadays. Metal Blade first approached us through Myspace, true story!
Altsounds: You're a band with a strong work ethic, do you think bands need to be more proactive in order to succeed past the initial 'buzz' stage?
Dale: Fuck yeah. You have no idea how hard is it to break through in the industry. Especially if you’re a metal band! It’s almost a last man standing situation, you’ve got to buckle down and work hard, and the bands that survive the hard years are the ones that always benefit in the end. We believe both in ourselves, and as a band, sure it gets hard and you question why the fuck you bother to kill yourselves for what sometimes seems a thankless cause, but this is in our blood. From day one we were always gonna win this match!
Altsounds: You're part of a smaller scene within the metal scene itself; do you feel a sense of community with the bands you've toured with and grown around?
Dale: Definitely. Like I said earlier, when you get to a certain level everyone knows how hard you’ve had to work to get there, and how much you’ve sacrificed to actually live your dream. In my book anyone that has the balls to stand up on stage and express themselves musically, whether it’s their first gig or they’ve sold out Wembley deserves my respect!
Altsounds: Is there competition with you and any bands out there?
Dale: There always seems to have been a Malefice vs Sylosis situation out there, that I’d like to add hasn’t been instigated by either of the bands. We’re both from Reading and a lot of people are dicks that love talking shit, especially about people that are doing well. So of course we’ve been played off of each other for years, hence the fact we’ve never actually shared a stage. That’ll change in the future!
Altsounds: 'Entities' was the sound of a young band out to make a name for themselves, then 'Dawn Of Reprisal' hit and was the sound of you showing what you could really do. How did you manage to produce two albums of such quality and diversity in such a short space of time?
Dale: Haha wait until you hear the 3rd! We’re still young man, we’re still perfecting our song writing, and we’re a long way off where we want to be. Malefice has a sound that is always going to evolve as we grow older and wiser, we don’t limit ourselves musically so it gives us the opportunity to do whatever we want to do. The next album is going to make a huge statement about what we can actually do!
Altsounds: Which album did you find harder to write?
Dale: Probably "Dawn" because it was our first major release. "Entities" was always supposed to test the waters, see if people liked what we did, and they did, a lot! It got amazing reviews and was openly received all over the world, and to follow that up was a daunting prospect, but we did it! Now we’re doing it again!
Altsounds: You've toured with bands like Devildriver and Soulfly, you also opened the second stage at Download in 2008. What did these experiences teach you about being a live band?
Dale: Everything man. To be the best you have to learn from the best. When we tour with these bands we always try and take something back home with us. Dez Fafara taught me everything I know about being a front man, from commanding a crowd to how I deliver myself in interviews.
Altsounds: You recorded a show at the Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth for a live DVD. Why this particular show?
Dale: Our Portsmouth shows have always been some of the best in the band's history so we wanted to give something back to them by acknowledging that! They’ve been behind us from a very early age, and every time we go back it gets better and better!
Altsounds: You have accomplished a lot in a short amount of time. Do your goals as a band change the further things progress?
Dale: Yeah,all the time. We’re fortunate enough to have done some pretty big tours, appeared on some amazing festivals so the goal posts change sometimes from week to week. But I think that’s only healthy, it shows we’re progressing as a band and it always gives us something to work towards. We used to only dream about playing Download, and we’ve done it. Now we want to do it every year, it’s amazing how things can change in such a short space of time.
Altsounds: You've been on 3 different record labels now, with each one the band becomes a little more confident and things get a little bigger. Do you think that all this changing around has done you good?
Dale: It was our plan from the beginning man. A band like us was never gonna jump on a big label straight away, so we knew we had to take steps towards one. Our two previous labels supported us into where we wanted to go and helped us achieve that. Metal Blade has always been a company we were eager to work with and we’re so fucking proud to have got that chance!
Altsounds: You worked with Justin Hill and Dan Weller from Sikth on 'Entities', who else would you like to work with?
Dale: I’d love to work with Rick Rubin one day. He is, in my opinion, the best producer in the world, he’s worked with pretty much everyone from Slayer to Jay-Z that shows how talented the guy is. I like producers that are not afraid to tell you something is shit, and to turn away Metallica and tell them to write better material for "Death Magnetic", definitely drops him in that category for me.
Altsounds: Do the same things still influence you, or do your influences change?
Dale: A bit of both. Life influences my lyrical content, and life changes every day I suppose. But as a unit we’re still driven by the will to succeed, and to show everyone that doubted us how fucking wrong they were. I don’t want to be one of the faces in the crowd; I want to do something with my life so I’ll be remembered.
Altsounds: When can we expect a new album from you?
Dale: Certainly we should be recording this year, probably September/October time. We never stop writing and we already have some killer ideas down and some brutal new songs well on the way to completion.
Altsounds: You're playing the Metal Hammer sponsored Hammerfest in March, any other touring plans lined up?
Dale: We’re obviously gearing up things for New England, but we’re also putting a tour together for May, and we already have shows booked through until September, not all announced yet, so I think we’ll be pretty busy right up until when we hit the studio for album 3!
