James spoke to Anterior before their show supporting Malefice in Birmingham to talk about their long break, new album and current tour?

You’re on tour Sylosis and with label mates Anterior, does it feel good to tour with people you are quite familiar with?
Yeah, we’ve been out with Anterior before this is our second time. We get on like a house on fire we always have so it’s good to be back out with those boys. Malefice and Sylosis are one of those tours that nobody would ever thought would happen, there’s always been this bullshit about us not getting along but we don’t really know each other, it’s just because we are from the same place and haven’t played but it’s a good thing.

Do you have any plans for when the tour comes to an end?
Us and Sylosis are doing some big shows together actually, we’ll be hitting Europe early next year, there’s not much about in Europe the end of this year so we’ll take some time off for writing then make a new album.

How have the shows been so far?
We’ve absolutely smashed it every single night. First time we’ve been to Bristol and some guy dislocated his shoulder and blood all over my legs from the front row. That’s just a typical Malefice show we attract the people that like to get busy in that pit so we encourage it as long as people have fun.

Are there any shows in particular you’re looking forward to?
London because it’s as close as us and Sylosis get to a home show, it doesn’t have a big scene so we have to come out of reading because we have nowhere to play even though a massive amount of bands come out of there. We get to see our girlfriends and have a drink without worrying.

How has your new album gone down with the press and fans?
It’s changed this bands future. We’ve always been the darlings of press, we’re lovable and the underdogs that have just been fighting for everything, we’ve now given the press some ammo to run with because we changed our sound completely and now we’re loved in Germany and everyone seems to be vibing it.

How does the new material go down live in comparison to the old material?
All the new stuff is a sonic assault live. All the samples and sub drops like all the theatricals we do live. We play to a click and an iPod so everything is tight, the orchestral sections and the sub drops are all tight too.

Is it hard to pick a set list having 3 albums worth of music to pick from?
It’s hard with a half an hour support slot. The way we pick our set is based on how well we can deliver them live. We know that by the third or fourth song the crowd will be getting a bit tired so we put something a bit slower to headbang to so we take all of those considerations and our material allows us to pick crafty sets.

What are your thoughts on the current status of the British metal scene?
I would have said the British metal scene was dying until we came on this tour. We’ve had 300-400 people per night and they’ve all really loved it. Evile and The Rotted are playing over a few miles away so that tells you the scene is alive and kicking

Do you feel illegal music downloading has hurt young British artists?
It has but the industry is evolving, I’d rather a kid download our album then come and buy a t-shirt off us. It’s the record labels fault this happened they didn’t do anything about it, iTunes has been around for fucking ages and they did nothing about it! So that’s my view on that.

If you could be an animal, either a zebra or a giraffe which would you be and why?
Giraffe, have you ever seen them fight? Fucking whipping their necks at each other, I’m up for some of that and also they twat lions about when they try to kill them. Zebra’s are just stripy horses they don’t really do anything.

Thanks for your time is there any message for your fans reading the interview?
Keep supporting British music and keep coming to shows.

Interview by James Webb