Interview: Uptown July 24/2003

'Power' Play: Malefaction's latest album a killer mix of music and message
by Kari D.

Bands achieving bona fide metal standing are never immune to overuse of hilarious adjectives by writers looking for the perfect way to describe that particular outfit's "bone-crushing sonic assault." Winnipeg quartet Malefaction is no exception as terms like "headache-inducing," "blazing" and "fearsome" pop up all too often in the stacks of press the band has collected over its 12-year existence.

With the release of Where There Is Power There Is Always Resistance, Malefaction is gearing up to receive a whole new wave of hardcore accolades. The band's fourth full-length CD is stacked with its near-trademark intensity. Fast, tight, technical instrumentation is paired with politically driven lyrics by vocalist Travis Tomchuk and bassist Mike Klassen. The combination has served the band well; it helped establish them as one of the most respected presences in the underground DIY hardcore scene and brought them to the attention of Winnipeg collective label G7 Welcoming Committee.

"[Signing to G7] does seem really right, and when it happened it made sense - it just wasn't something that I'd really expected to happen. Maybe I'm a bit of a pessimist or something," says Malefaction guitarist Clint Chiarella. "I think we'd always hoped someone would want to put something out for us. We'd had labels put out 7 inches and stuff like that for us, but I think obviously it's been really beneficial for the band, and who knows where we'd be if this hadnĠt happened. Gives us the drive to keep going and stuff like that."

While Malefaction have no intention of slowing down, the band is taking time to enjoy a pause in output after wrapping work on Where There Is Power There Is Always Resistance. While their last release, 2001's Crush The Dream, took all of five days to record - a "nightmare," says Chiarella - Where There Is Power... was afforded more production time.

Working in a home studio with Propagandhi's Chris Hannah manning the record button, Malefaction spent time working out bugs and refining the sound of the album, but unanticipated hinderances holed them up in the studio longer than expected.

"This record was a pretty long process in getting it all done," Chiarella says. "The recording took a couple of months - we'd start and get stalled. It took a while to get everything rolling really well. Then when we had the record done, we realised the guitar sound wasn't quite as good as it should be, so I had to go back and re-record all the guitar a month after everything had already been finished. It probably took three months for the whole thing to get done, which was a long process. For us, anyway."

Malefaction aren't exactly known for doing anything the long way. After Crush The Dream was released, minds were blown that the album's 23 tracks were compressed into a 25-minute running time. In comparison, Where There Is Power... is a leisurely stroll, dividing he same amount of time into 15 tracks. Chiarella attributes the change to the way the album was constructed.

"The writing process was a little different for this album," he says. "On the last album it was like Mike or I would have a song and the two of us would get together and learn it, then we'd bring it to [drummer] Cory [Koss], put it together with drums, then the vocals would come after that. This time, most of the record, musically anyway, was formed by the three of us together, jamming it. I think that maybe in turn lent itself to longer songs.

"Plus this time, with Chris and recording at his house, it was great because we could afford to deal with setbacks and take a little extra time to make it as good as we could."

While Malefaction are known for their music, their message resounds just as strongly with much of their audience. The band's highly political, to-the-point lyrics pull no punches, tackling everything from racism to child labour. In a genre where vocals are known for being heavy, loud and distorted, Malefaction finds a way to make sure their audience is aware of the word's coming out of Tomchuk's mouth.

"That's a huge reason why the lyrics are there [in the liner notes] for people to read," Chiarella says. "Maybe I'm just so close to it, but I can understand Travis' vocals. I don't know if we're really going for a lot of clarity in the vocals, in an understandable sense, because really, with extreme music like this the vocals are another instrument, I think. But we do always print the lyrics so people understand what weĠre trying to get across.

"I've got 14 years of listening to the guy screaming as background for myself, so maybe I've just immersed myself in it so much that I can pick it up, but a lot of people don't know what the hell he's saying."

For all the recognition Malefaction are acquiring, both for their staunch political views and bone-crushing sonic assaults, Chiarella insists his band presents a simple message.

"We'd like to be known as a really strong band that had something good to say."