Bristol’s Mallavora have arrived with a debut album and supporting headline tour that puts much bigger metal bands to shame.

On Monday 21st September our team had the privilege of watching Mallavora close out their headline tour at The Lower Third in London, having also performed in Glasgow, Manchester and Leeds the previous week. Curating the tour with accessibility as a founding principle, and only playing venues that were wheelchair accessible, the band invited those with access needs to watch from the front row. The show also began with an immersive installation developed with support from PRS Foundation in the form of a ten-minute soundscape built from the stems from their debut album What If Better Never Comes? alongside beautiful, entrancing visuals ensuring the audience felt blown away before the band had even stepped on stage.

Mallavora formed in 2019 in Birmingham before moving to Bristol, and the band have already caught the attention of major players. In February 2024 they won Kerrang! Radio’s The Deal, scoring themselves an EP release with Marshall Records and an opening slot on Download’s Avalanche Stage. They went on to open the main stage at 2000 Trees in 2025, and were invited back to Download this summer after their triumphant and devastating debut album was released in March 2026 on Church Road Records, immediately garnering glowing reviews across the metal press.

Described by vocalist Jessica Douek as a conceptual exploration of personal and societal sickness, guitarist Larry Sobieraj wrote the instrumentals as a way of processing his own chronic illness. Jess’s lyrics throughout explore her own struggles with fibromyalgia, as well as drawing inspiration from her Jewish and Middle Eastern heritage, with a vocal range that stretches from beautiful singing to extreme roars, both tender and savage. Such a vocal talent is Jess, that she even provided the sound of a banshee scream for a challenge on The Celebrity Traitors, with Stephen Fry attempting his best imitation.

Balancing professional technicality with raw and brutal honesty, Mallavora are already a firm favourite of those in the know. We put some questions to the band to find out what inspires them to aim so, so high:

We think Mallavora are a sick band! Is that an apt description?

Who are some of your main musical inspirations?

Tell us about the creation of your fantastic debut album What If Better Never Comes?. Had the songs existed for a while or was the record conceived as a whole?

Can you take us through the concepts and themes on the record?

How hard has it been to find accessible venues, and what can other places do to improve things?

Can you tell us about the creation of the installation that appeared at the start of the show, and what you were hoping to convey with it?

We’re massive fans of Church Road Records here at Sherwood. How did they find you, and how have they been to work with?

What were some of your favourite moments from your recent tour with Sixth Wonder?

You’ve already played the UK’s biggest metal festival twice, what would you like to tick off the list next?

What is the ultimate goal of Mallavora?