Interview: Monday Magazine July 31-August 6/03

The Unholy Trinity: Malefaction merge hardcore, metal and radical politics
by Greg Pratt

There's a world of difference between Malefaction and any other metal band, a fact which becomes clear on many levels when talking to vocalist Travis Tomchuk from his Winnipeg home. Be it issues of money ("We got a royalty check, once," he laughs good-naturedly) or extreme metal's infamous unemotional Cookie Monster-style vocals (I mean, whoever thought that was a good idea?"), it's clear Malefaction operate in a world of their own.

"We exist in some kind of netherworld. I don't know where we fit in with things," he says, mentioning that when the band tours, they usually stick to the underground all ages DIY hardcore circuit, not the route of most metal acts. But metal the band is, no doubt about it - their new CD, Where There Is Power There Is Always Resistance (produced by Propagandhi's Chris Hannah and released on Winnipeg's activist record label G7 Welcoming Committee), blasts through 14 tracks in barely 25 minutes. To the untrained ear, it sounds like short blasts of ludicrous chaos; to the discerning metal listener, it's a perfect mix of grindcore and aggressive hardcore, absolute release through pure chaos.

But there's a method to Malefaction's madness, and it's another reason they stick out like a sore thumb in the metal world: the band's lyrics are fueled not by metal stereotypes, but by extreme leftist politics. "The past two years, there's enough information there to write six records worth of lyrics," says Tomchuk. "This time me and [bassist] Mike [Klassen] split the lyric writing. It was because I was really busy, but also because I had to calm down enough to write something that was worth using. We're talking about the bullshit war in Iraq, the bombing of Afghanistan for no particularly good reason, issues about child labour, just getting involved in causes you believe in. People are always pissing and moaning about how you can't change anything, but you can work towards it."

But there is one thing Malefaction have in common with most metal bands of today. When I ask Tomchuk (currently in a masters program specialising in Canadian labour history) what people can expect from a Malefaction show, his answer could easily be coming from a member of Slayer or Cannibal Corpse. "I want them to be destroyed on all levels. I want them to be musically punished. On all levels, just total devastation."