The UK alt metal group Mallvora are this week’s featured Meet The Band artist. Their debut album is What If Better Never Comes?. Guitarist Larry Sobieraj introduces us to his band.
Chad Bowar: Give us a brief history of Mallavora.
Larry Sobieraj: Mallavora formed in 2019 when we were students in Birmingham. We’ve come a long way since then, being Bristol-based since 2020. Our song “Disorder” went viral on TikTok in 2023, and it has all been a bit of a whirlwind ever since. We’ve toured the UK, played Download festival, and this year we are releasing our debut album What If Better Never Comes? on Church Road Records. This is just the beginning, though!
Describe the songwriting process for What If Better Never Comes?
The writing for WIBNC started, strangely enough, at the end. I wrote the instrumental for the title track as a way of processing my experience of becoming chronically ill unexpectedly. A difficult and complex experience that I found impossible to put into words, so I put it into music instead. Once Jess had added the vocals, we knew we had captured something real, that could be really impactful for people listening who’ve experienced similar things in their life.
Once Jess first sang the words “What If Better Never Comes?”, the concept for the album formed and everything else followed from there. We’ve used writing this album to explore the concept of sicknesses in society, from many different angles. There’s ableism, misogyny, radicalization, and many other societal sicknesses in there. The album explores how these are interlinked, resulting in a society where burnout, poor mental health, isolation and loneliness are inevitable. Hopefully, listening to this album will provide solace and connection to those who feel affected by these issues.
What will be your strongest memory of the recording of the album?
Recording this album was a real challenge for us, and it required 100 percent effort from everyone involved. For me, I remember it was right at the end of recording rhythm guitars, on one of the last days of the session. I was totally exhausted and really struggling, and felt like I only just about made it over the line to record the last part. When I finished, I just sat in my car in the car park and sobbed for about 10 minutes straight. It’s hard to put into words how much this album means to us, and how dedicated we are to making it as successful as we possibly can. We’ve never believed this much in anything we’ve ever done, and we’ve put a level of consideration and effort into every tiny detail in a way that took us right to the edge of what was possible.
What was the biggest challenge in its creation?
Once we’d set out to make a concept album about sickness in society, we found ourselves at the bottom of pretty huge mountain. Where do you even start? What perspective do you take? Such a huge task was quite overwhelming at times. But, once we realized that the truth in the music ultimately had to come from within ourselves, it all flowed pretty naturally. We always say that the best music is a window into the minds of the songwriters, through which the audience and writer have a unique connection. That’s always driven our approach to songwriting for this album.
How would you characterize its style/sound?
It’s mostly “alternative metal” – whatever that means. It’s so hard to distill an entire album into a few easy descriptions. But, there’s elements of metalcore, progressive metal and even
atmospheric music. Think of a combination of Spiritbox, Gojira, Opeth, Loathe and Architects, and you might get somewhere close. We wanted to write an album that flows as one coherent listening experience, rather than a collection of individual tracks. It really feels like we’ve achieved that – something we are very proud of.
How did you come to sign with Church Road Records?
Once we’d written the album, we wanted to find a label who was the right fit for what we’d made. Church Road were our first thought, because of what we’d seen from their album campaign with bands like Lowen. We actually met Lowen while they were recording Do Not Go To War With The Demons Of Mazandaran, during the first WIBNC recording session back in December 2023. Their album campaign went so well that, we figured, these guys must know what they’re doing. And, they do! Such lovely people to work with, and their love for heavy music shines through everything they do. We are very glad to be working with Sammy and Justine on this album!
What are your goals and expectations for the album?
Our main goal is for the music to connect with people who need the album in their lives. People who get it, and for whom the album can hold real purpose. We know this is already happening from the singles we’ve released, which is heartwarming and affirms the purpose of our music. Beyond that, we hope it allows us to reach new people, and grow the Mallavora project even more. We have lots of Mallavora fans around the world who haven’t been able to see us live yet, as we’ve only ever toured the UK until now. So we’d love to play some shows in Europe, the US and beyond. We have big ambitions with this band, and we’re certainly not stopping when the album is out.
You filmed several videos for the album. Which was your favorite shoot?
They were all great, but the most recent shoot, for “Host”, was definitely our favorite. We hired a disused RAF hangar that was a jet engine test facility during the Cold War. It’s a huge space with a sci-fi looking tunnel and control room, like something out of a dystopian film (which is exactly what we were after). We filmed for about 10 hours and felt like the cast of Mission Impossible the entire time.
What has been your most memorable Mallavora live show?
It’s a toss-up between playing Download Festival in 2024 and opening the main stage of 2000trees in 2025 – both huge moments for us. Being able to play your own music on stages that big is a dream for a lot of people, and we will never take it for granted. That being said, we’re far from done with those festivals. We very much intend to be back as soon as we can.
What are your upcoming show/tour plans?
We’re playing an album release show in Bristol on Friday 8th May at Exchange. Our biggest ever headline show, and it’s already looking like it’s going to sell out well in advance. We’ll be playing the album in full for one night only, and there’s a lot of work behind the scenes going into making this a very special show, that will be an unforgettable experience for anyone who likes our music.
What led to your advocacy for accessibility, and how have venues responded?
It came from our own experiences of disability and chronic illness, as gig-goers ourselves. We are all too familiar with the ‘accessible’ area being hidden off to one side of the venue, with poor visibility, mushy audio and being trapped in without access to facilities. And that’s when the venues are accessible to enter, which they usually aren’t. After years of experiencing these frustrations, once we started to build our own following and put on our own headline shows, it became pretty obvious that we needed to do something to ensure our fans are able to attend our gigs safely, and to have a good experience while they’re there. Sounds pretty obvious, but so many shows still do not meet this basic requirement.
What are some of your non-musical interests and hobbies?
One part of becoming chronically ill that a lot of people in a similar position to myself are all too familiar with, is having to give up aspects of your life that you once loved. Outside of
music, rock climbing used to be a huge part of my life. But, as illness took hold, I’ve have had to let go of that, for now. I still like being outside though, and I enjoy going for long
walks when I can.
What’s the best thing you binge-watched lately?
Probably Stranger Things! Any fan of Stranger Things who’s watched our music video for “Hopeless” will probably see the inspiration there.
Anything else you’d like to mention or promote?
Our debut album What If Better Never Comes? was released on March 27th – order your copy now!
(interview published March 28, 2026)
Watch Mallavora – “Hopeless” Video
