Malevolent Creation - The 13th Beast (2019)

I can only imagine the amount of  hard work Malevolent Creation mainstay and guitarist Phil Fasciana had to put into The 13th Beast to make it manifest. Not only did original growler Brett Hoffman pass away tragically to cancer, but the rest of the lineup had also changed since 2015's well executed effort Dead Man's Path. So as I'm sitting here listening to this record it's a real testament to the Fort Lauderdale band's professionalism and resolve. I say that as one who has always followed the band for their importance as one of the Florida scene's enduring, guttural voices in the death metal medium, but also one that's never been terribly taken with a lot of their material, which falls into the 'passable' zone a lot more than the 'memorable' one. With the exception of the weird Joe Black EP back in 1996, Malevolent Creation has never failed at kicking you firmly in the posterior, even if they don't always do it with sticky, timeless songwriting and dynamic range.

The 13th Beast is a bit more brutal and monotonous than its predecessor, bouncing between their usual bootstrapped blast beatings and roiling Bolt Thrower/Brutality-like mid-tempo material. The footwork is intense as usual, the guitars fast and true to the form, or moodier when they slow down and feel reminiscent of stuff you might hear off an album like The IVth Crusade. Leads warp in and out with ease, often adding some genuine thrill to what can otherwise be a duller rhythm riff set, and the bass and drums sound like they need to for an intense battery such as this. Unfortunately, while there are a good number of riffing progressions flying around, too many of theme seem run of the mill and forgettable when assimilated into Malevolent's body of work as a whole. I mean a tune like "Mandatory Butchery" really goes for the throat, giving the listener the entire range of their style, but even then the guitars feel sort of familiar and unsurprising. The rhythm section performance feels slightly more of a mechanical thing, competent and in lockstep but not adding much personality.

As for the new vocalist/guitarist, South African-born Lee Wollenschlaeger, he's got some pretty huge shoes to fill. While his straight brutal vocal is competent and not unlike Hoffman's, there is likewise a bit less charisma in how he delivers it, with far less variety. Gone are a lot of the shifts between snarls and gutturals, here you just feel like you're being beaten repeatedly with a dull hammer. Not that his predecessor was the most unique in the genre, but these feel as if they could have been replaced by any number of other 90s-style death metal vocalists and there wouldn't be a huge difference; whereas experience had really sharpened Hoffman's delivery. Still, Lee's a competent player and growler, fits right into the mold here and with after settling a bit more into the material, should turn out fine. I'll ultimately liken this record to Cannibal Corpse's Vile, a new album from a heavily entrenched death metal band with a new vocalist, which doesn't quite live up to the material just before it, but is not at all much of a dip from the stuff Malevolent Creation has been consistently churning out for nearly three decades. If you're a big fan of Invidious Dominion or Doomsday X then I don't think you'll be too disappointed with this, but I'm unlikely to return to it much.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10] 

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Malevolent Creation - Dead Man's Path (2015)

Dead Man's Path is likely to go down as a fond remembrance as the last Malevolent Creation record fronted by the band's late growler adept Brett Hoffman, but it should also go down as being one of their better offerings, reaching far into the past for the pummeling death thrash of The Ten Commandments, but also taking a few chances on something a little outside their typical wheelhouse. In full disclosure, while this a band I've long respected since their inception on the burgeoning Florida scene decades past, they've never quite been a favorite. I largely consider the 1991 debut to be their best, but then again they've put out a pretty long string of albums that turn out 'decently' if not really inspiring beyond the violent moshing primacy that they espouse.

Dead Man's Path is that and a fraction more. You're still getting the same, machine gun battery driven blend of roiling blasts and breakdowns, smothered in Hoffman's sustained snarls and growls, but I find something mildly more atmospheric than their norm. Perhaps this is anchored by the opening title track, a slow, doomed build which uses strange narrated vocals which almost sound like the guy has some sort of strange accent...ascending into these atonal, but memorable guitar harmonies. But it's also through the confidence and certainty with which they execute the heavier shit through the rest of the proceedings. Few if any of these riffs are of the variety you've never heard before, and they're just as predictable as you might believe, but the production and balance of speed and groove here are very well managed, and it remains pretty exciting throughout. Tracks like "Corporate Weaponry" are able to develop strong lead guitars, melodies in the verse and chorus riffing as well as a nihilistic, warlike atmosphere somewhere between Bolt Thrower and their own Warkult.

Hoffman effortlessly shifts between a number of different harsh vocal timbres, without ever coming off as too overbearing or jarring in their transitions. It sounds exactly like a bunch of psychos having a board meeting over the apocalypse should sound, and he dials it back often to let those guitars breathe their necrotic tremolo picked nightmares. The bass has just the right level of bombast and swerve to it to carry the rhythms, and Justin DiPinto puts on an almost untouchable performance behind the kit, one that would probably still be fun to listen to if you muted the other instruments. It's almost a pinnacle of Malevolent Creation professionalism, an exhibition of their better qualities across a quarter century of writing, recording and touring. Don't get me wrong, this album is still pit ready enough to sate the barbaric lusts of the hardcore and 2nd tier death metal fanatics looking for a fight, but as the closure to such a massive chapter of the band's history, it's worthwhile, and their best material in at least the decade leading up to it.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10] (dark souls shuffle by)

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Malevolent Creation - Australian Onslaught (2010)

It seems like a third Malevolent Creation live album in the space of a decade would be about the last thing anyone could want, and yet it exists in Australian Onslaught. Having already hit the North (Live at the Whiskey a Go Go) and South American (Conquering South America) audiences, the Florida fivesome now turns its broken and battered husk to the Down Under, a lively crowd who had never before gotten the chance to see the band on their home turf. And a show they shall have, with over 67 minutes of recorded material here and the best production of the three such albums released through the Arctic Music Group. But does anyone care?

Apparently, somebody must. Like the Whiskey a Go Go album, this features the vocals of the original frontman Brett Hoffman, and he spends quite a bit of time between tracks chatting up the audience. Often, this is your typical f-bomb dropping 'n shit, because after all, all BRUTAL fucking death metal bands are fucking too fucking insane not to, right? Fuck yeah. But there are also some moments of honest humor, like Hoffman mentioning that gray hairs have grown on his head and balls in the time it took to get over to Sydney. The track list has quite a number of redundancies from the Whiskey live: "Blood Brothers", "Living in Fear", "Coronation of Our Domain", "Manic Demise", "Eve of the Apocalypse", and "The Fine Art of Murder" all rear their trampled heads again, while a few surprises manifest like the "Memorial Arrangements" intro from The Ten Commandments. There are also a handful of tracks taken from the band's latest effort (Doomsday X) by the time of this recording: "Deliver my Enemy" and "Cauterized", the latter being one of the most exciting on the disc with its thrashing rhythms.

Like its predecessors, you're getting an adequate if not excessively exciting set list from one of the hardest working (if not standout) acts in the field. And this time, it sounds better, in that the ferocity of the guitars, the vocals and drums all measure up with one another. But that shouldn't imply that Australian Onslaught warrants a purchase, because its fresher tone is dragged under by the very redundancy of its existence, and the selection of songs that, despite their competent execution, feel a little rundown by 2010. A new studio album (Invidious Dominion) had come out several months prior to the live, and its more worth your time, but if you absolutely must own a Malevolent Creation live album, this is certainly no worse than the others. Perhaps if they decide to issue a European, Asian or African live there will be a bit more to it.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

http://www.myspace.com/malevolentcreation

Malevolent Creation - Live at the Whiskey A Go Go (2008)

Live at the Whiskey a Go Go is the second of three Malevolent Creation live albums released through the Arctic Music Group in the 21st century (to date, anyway). One might question how a band of such second string stature might warrant such attention, but I can assure you that this disc has one thing over its predecessor, 2004's Conquering South America: Brett Hoffman. Originally, this was intended as a DVD/audio effort, which would have been a notable plus in value, but somehow the video transfer got mucked up, so it was released solely as a live audio CD, with sound quality that is admittedly short of ideal, even if its a pleasure to hear their classic front man in action.

And he sounds great, slathering and growling over a selection of newer and older tracks. I was most excited to hear him in the material from The Ten Commandments and Retribution, and these are represented in the set with "Impaled Existence", "Multiple Stab Wounds", "Eve of Apocalypse", "Slaughter of Innocence", "Coronation of Our Domain" and "Monster", a pretty healthy array of the music that matters most. There are a handful of tracks from Eternal ("Blood Brothers", "Infernal Desire"), which he didn't appear on, and then the rest are culled from The Fine Art of Murder ("Mass Graves", "Manic Demise", "To Die is At Hand", "Scorn" and the title track). Perhaps a bit heavy handed there, but it does make sense: Hoffman was just back in the band, and they wanted to highlight material he was most familiar with. The audio itself was recorded in 1999, so that was the latest studio effort at the time, and a pretty good one, with some atmosphere and stylistic variation that is balanced well with the oldies.

Unfortunately, the sound itself is just not that special. The band's performance is tight here, and the vocals grisly, but the guitars and drums feel a little washed out. The stage banter is loud and violent, and the run-ins to a few songs ("To Die Is At Hand") are quite incredibly and packed with energy to get the crowd slamming and their minds exploding, but you lose a lot of the intricacy of the guitars in the puerile thrust of the mix. Overall, it's a slightly better experience than the last live album, with Kyle Symons singing, but it's not entirely satisfying, and I honestly preferred the mix of instruments on that one. I'm all for a great Malevolent Creation soundboard session with a clarity of brutality, the classic singer, and so forth, but neither of the offerings have fully delivered it, and thus I'd recommend them only to the diehards.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

http://www.myspace.com/malevolentcreation

Malevolent Creation - Doomsday-X (2007)

Doomsday-X is another of those Malevolent Creation releases which musters just enough courage and independence against the band's bland but punishing history to merit some attention, even if only a minimal amount. There is nothing great happening here, but the band manages to incorporate enough variation and death/thrash propulsion to keep the listener on edge through both the double bass heavy slam segments and the hyperactive streaks of splatter and speed. The band had orchestrated a subtle shift towards prominence with the previous record, Warkult, and I had hoped for some strong capitalization upon its momentum, which this is not, but at least they don't really lapse into mediocrity.

Doomsday-X is an album that does reek of 'process', and whenever that process is even slightly alleviated, it begins to grow stronger (sort of like The Fine Art of Murder). It begins on a note of surprise with the blissful leads of "Cauterized", but then pummels and channels through a slew of pretty average, faster paced mayhem until the morose, thoughtful muted melodies deep within "Culture of Doubt". It's these sparse moments of baited elegance that help break up enough of the monotonous brutality to make a functioning record, and Phil Fasciana and company are wise to persist in such dynamics, so you'll have the grooving, potent thrasher "Dawn of Defeat" right up against the lead-glazed chuggernaut "Prelude to Doomsday", or the spiky, searing "Strength in Numbers" following up the springy, semi-tech balance of "Upon Their Cross". Doomsday-X is hardly possessive of those gorgeous, destructive riffs that make for a death metal legend, but at the same time it succeeds in never growing boring, perched upon the listener's attention span even if it never drills straight through his/her brow.

The mix of the album is direct and workmanlike, a characteristic the band is well regarded for. You don't listen to Malevolent Creation for atmosphere, you listen to them for a punch in the face, a kick in the groin to remind you that this music is about aggression. Hoffman's familiar, blood drenched and gnarled vocals do tend towards monotony, but they'll do. The lyrics aren't the best of their career, but they've got a good meaning to them that often tackles the social and political construct head on rather than just dabbling solely in serial killers and stalkers. Perhaps the most important factor to this album, though, is that the longstanding Florida maniacs show no real signs of aging. They sound like they had just sprung up in the 80s, fists flailing about as they teach the young whippersnappers a lesson in pain.

Verdict: Win [7/10] (from walls of the damned)

http://www.myspace.com/malevolentcreation

Malevolent Creation - Retrospective (2005)

Alright, people. Enough is enough. What the fuck is this? The 4th Malevolent Creation compilation in under a decade? With all due respect to the band itself, is there really any purpose to such a fiasco? The answer is no. The fact is that Malevolent Creation are a pretty good death metal band. They've never written an album of total shit, even if they've never written a masterpiece. They've shifted a few labels over their career, understandable for any act that wants to survive in the long term but doesn't push a lot of record sales. Apparently, each of these labels wants a double dip into the licenses they hold, reprinting material from the studio albums just to sucker a few of the most rabidly obsessive fan/collectors, or those without the proper clue as to which of the band's full lengths to absorb.

Joe Black involved some rarities, demos, odds and ends, so I'm not going to dump too messily upon it. Sure, it sucked, but the band probably had something to do with it, and it was saintly compared to the next pair of molesters: 2000's Manifestation (through Pavement music), and 2003's The Best of Malevolent Creation (through Roadrunner). Both worthless pieces of plastic intended to subtly pad the pockets of the investors and label execs. And now Crash Music, the band's latest label, has added its greased phallus to the assault, with Retrospective, a gathering of Malevolent Creation cuts from the mid to latest period...in other words, well past the classics (The Ten Commandments, Retribution). But here's the catch: Crash Music is the label which absorbed Pavement. THEY ARE THE SAME LABEL. So basically, not only are you being spoon fed rehashed studio material, but you're being spoon fed material that was already used for the Manifestation comp! Oh, what foul times are these, when passing label thugs can foist death metal redundancies upon harmless old ladies. You'd think Phil Fasciana and his troops were the Beach Boys of death metal at this rate...

68 minutes and 17 tracks ordered chronologically, starting with material from 1995's Eternal ("Blood Brothers", "Living in Fear", "Alliance or War") and ending with 2002's The Will to Kill ("The Will to Kill", "All That Remains", "Rebirth of Terror", "Divide and Conquer"). Seven of the tracks had already appeared on the Manifestation comp, and there's only one exception on the entire track list: "Confirmed Kill", a rehashed song from MC's demo days, under 2 minutes of death/thrash slaughter that just do not add up to a great time. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Sometimes a ripoff is just a ripoff. This is the latter. You can't even smoke it. If you lit it on fire, the booklet and tray card might alight for a few blessed seconds, but the plastic would just melt down in an unimpressive, underwhelming exhibition of boredom that mirror the release itself. Not worth the ink or casing. Not worth your time, or mine. Certainly not worth our money.

Verdict: Epic Fail [.25/10]

http://www.myspace.com/malevolentcreation

Malevolent Creation - Conquering South America (2004)

Though they'd released snippets of their live action through earlier, peripheral releases like the Live Death 4-way split (with Cancer, Suffocation and Exhorder) and the bonus disc on the anno 2000 Manifestation compilation, Malevolent Creation can be credited for brooking their time until it was appropriate for a long form live record. This happened in 2004, after 13 years of releasing albums, through the Arctic Music group, and it was called Conquering South America. A far better alternative to Monstrosity's Brazilian live record, this was also recorded in that considerable nation during the band's 2003 tour (their first in that country), and though the fans' shouts of appreciation might feel somewhat repressed next to the music itself, they were certainly content by the material being battered into them.

To boot, Conquering South America actually sounds pretty exciting. The guitars are fibrous and thick, while you get a strong taste of the bottom end base and concrete drumming (courtesy of Tony Laureano). Kyle Symons' vocals here are acceptable, but perhaps the weakest element of the mix in summation, and the vibrancy of the guitars does barely enough to compensate. There are about 60 minutes and 15 tracks here in the album set, spanning most of their career, from cult classics like Retribution ("Eve of the Apocalypse", "Coronation of Our Domain", "Slaughter of Innocence", "Monster") and The Ten Commandments ("Multiple Stab Wounds", "Malevolent Creation"), through the middle years of Eternal ("Blood Brothers", "Living in Fear", "Infernal Desire", "Alliance or War") and The Fine Art of Murder ("To Die is At Hand", "Manic Demise") and the more recent Envenomed ("Kill Zone") and The Will to Kill ("All That Remains", "Rebirth or Terror").

I was actually quite pleasantly surprised that some of my least favorite Malevolent Creation albums, Stillborn and In Cold Blood were omitted entirely. They stuck with the good stuff, and that counts for a lot. In particular I found the muted, chugging sections on the albums seemed choked with energy where they otherwise might seem boring, and the band leads into the set well with the intro to "Eve of Apocalypse" and then systematically shifts between rhythmic poles to keep the set violent, fresh and interesting. Granted, I'm not a huge fan of all their material, but aside from perhaps the too splatter-pasted vocals of Symons, (which hold it well back from the ranks of good or mandatory live recordings), this is not so disappointing an experience, and one that was released in its own due time.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

http://www.myspace.com/malevolentcreation

Malevolent Creation - Warkult (2004)

2004 was a busy year for active Floridian firing squad Malevolent Creation, who not only released a half-decent live offering in Conquering South America, but also a new album that proved to be their best in many years. In fact, outside of the dynamic one two punch of The Ten Commandments and Retribution which kicked off the band's career, Warkult is the first I'd recommend to anyone seeking a good cross-sampling of the band's urban armaments and incessant brutality. The strength lies in the songwriting, the devil in the details, and where so many of their intermittent releases lacked scope and dimension, Warkult gives us a strong level of variation centered around that oh so elusive principle: the good riff.

Yes, the 11 originals here offer a veritable smorgasboard of good guitar lines that span the realms of both their faster paced thundering material and thick, chugging breakdowns. For example, the belligerent inauguration of "Supremacy Through Annihilation" with the great drum fills, arching and descending mutes that hook the listener straight into the concrete grooves. The explosive death/thrashing behind opener "Death March", or the raw, slight and tasteful hints of melodic death metal within a "Captured" or "Preemptive Strike". A few dull and faceless brutes do solicit the depths of the album, like a "Ravaged by Conflict" or "Merciless" which I'm very hard pressed to remember against the band's catalog, but then there are also some tight pieces like "Shock and Awe" and "Tyrannic Oppression" that serve to compensate for the less inspired.

Another treat here is the cover of "Jack the Ripper", an obscure death/thrash classic from the Australians Hobbs' Angel of Death. Not just a great selection on principle alone, but Phil Fasciana and crew work it deftly into their own, hammering context with ease. Warkult has a very workmanlike, honest production to it which captures the drums, bass and guitars equally, while Symons gives a deeper, neanderthal impression than he came off on the 2004 live album. Surprising is that the album seems superior wherever it's NOT just blasting off mindlessly (as in a few of the less memorable titles I listed above). Where the band take their time to hone in on the distinct guitar riffs, the songs become much more interesting, sort of a halfway point between Eternal and The Fine Art of Murder, and as a 'warfare' concept album it works well enough into the psychology of slaughtered and slaughterer.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10] (adhere to the sovereign rule)

http://www.myspace.com/malevolentcreation

Malevolent Creation - The Best of Malevolent Creation (2003)

As if The Best of Deicide was not enough of a perverse molestation of the Floridian death devotee, Roadrunner also put together a similar piece of plastic refuse for Malevolent Creation, who had been off the label for nearly a decade by its release. So, yes, that means the collection covers only their 1991-1993 period. Which is to say, two good albums (The Ten Commandments, Retribution), and then this other thing called Stillborn. Admittedly, this does feel more like a 'Roots of' collection as the sideline insists, since you're only getting the formative pieces of Phil Fasciana's puzzle, but once again I am prompted to remind the reader that this label had long since fucked and abandoned Malevolent Creation, and long since since turned out real DEATH METAL.

Face it, if your music was not selling like hotcakes (*crickets*), or not selling hotcakes but perpetuating off your band's name (Deicide), or not shifting gears fully into hardcore, groove (Obituary) and nu-metal (Sepultura) territory, you were no longer a part of Roadrunner's scheme; Malevolent Creation, who were never exactly one of the forerunners in the Florida scene despite their efforts and geographical placement, had not been part of the equation for quite some time. Their album sales were not up to muster and the band didn't review well. But in some sentimental twist, they now wanted to sell the audience (presumably the fans of Fasciana's firing squad) shit we already owned? Bollocks!

The length of the Best of Malevolent Creation is comparable to that of the Deicide release, with 18 tracks and 63 minutes of content, not presented in chronological order but with the tracks scattered fairly evenly across the Roadrunner releases (6x The Ten Commandments, 6x Retribution, and 4x Stillborn), and then there are two 'unreleased' tracks. But wait, they're NOT unreleased. The forgettable cover of Slayer's "Piece by Piece" had been released on the 2nd At Death's Door label compilation, and the demo version of "Genetic Affliction" (Stillborn) made it out through the miserable Joe Black compilation on Pavement. So rest assured, this is lock, stock and two smoking barrels: 100% bullshit. Not even of value to collectors.

If you've never heard this longstanding Florida outlet, then make a beeline straight for the first two records, also through Roadrunner, and offer your hard earned currency that way. Or buy a few copies from the band directly at a gig. They're the best Malevolent Creation has ever recorded, even if not the most brutal, and listening to either will provide a more fierce, fulfilling experience than The Best of Malevolent Creation, a shiny beer coaster haunting the bulldozed excess of an indifferent wasteland.

Verdict: Epic Fail [0/10]

http://www.myspace.com/malevolentcreation

Malevolent Creation - The Will to Kill (2002)

As cliche would have it, the apple does not often fall far from the tree. When that tree is Malevolent Creation's back log of reasonable riffing onslaughts and street stalkings, then its fruit must bear fists of frenetic violence. The Will to Kill is the band's 8th studio album, and frankly not a whole lot different than a number of their previous offerings: The Ten Commandments (1991), Retribution (1992), and Envenomed (2000) all come to mind as direct references to the songwriting. Simplistic old school speed pickings parsed with concrete chugging sequences bent on snapping marrow. This album marks the debut of Kyle Symons to the fold, after Brett Hoffman would once again take a leave of absence from the lineup, but unlike Jason Blachowicz who fronted the albums Eternal and In Cold Blood, Symons is quite close to Hoffman in his stark lethality.

The Will to Kill is essentially your 'stock' Malevolent Creation album. Tight performances all around, and a few snippets potent enough to whip your ass into a frenzy, but very little to write home about, and even less to look back upon. There are a handful of tracks I admire: "With Murderous Precision" seems to me what Slayer might manifest if they took a slight turn towards a more brutal death/thrash hybrid, with a central riffing momentum that would have been a solid match for any of the Bay Area gurus' 80s efforts. "Assassin Squad" balances a deadly clinical precision with pummeling breaks that catapult the listener into the pit before the dense thrashing of the bridge and its snaking, feral lead. "Superior Firepower" is another machination of high paced warfare, conjuring ample tension and release through its barbaric notation, and the closer "Burnt Beyond Recognition" is also nothing to limp out on, about as straightforward and sadistic as this band has ever been.

Sadly, like so many of their releases, there just doesn't seem to be enough to launch it to the upper echelon of memorable death metal classics. The first handful of track possess the same canter and brutality of their peers, but they never serve up even one riff that to stake my attention, and later there are tunes like the moshing "Divine and Conquer" with promise potential and then deliver about 50% empty, filler riffs. I think Fasciana and Barrett do a good job of capturing the pernicious pace of 80s thrash (Slayer, Dark Angel) within the more bludgeoning context of Symon's vocals, while Justin DiPinto floors the listener with his muscular expedition. But at the end of the day, I don't just want my ass kicked in such predictable fashion, I want it done with a subtle malignancy, a shred of nuance and distinguished horror regardless of whether I'm listening to tech, slam, old school death, what the fuck ever. The Will to Kill does not peddle such wares, it remains too straight on its slaughter-course, with no element of surprise and very little enduring extremity. Better than a Stillborn or In Cold Blood, but not among their strongest outings.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10] (now unstoppable, this storm of murder)

http://www.myspace.com/malevolentcreation

Malevolent Creation - Envenomed (2000)

After the surprisingly creepy turn of The Fine Art of Murder in 1998, Phil Fasciana and Malevolent Creation would return to the more forceful, banal concrete aggression of their early years upon their 7th full-length, Envenomed. Brett Hoffman's services were once again retained, and the band dialed the brutality back up, sacrificing some of the atmosphere of the previous album for what must be the closest approximation of their debut, The Ten Commandments to manifest since 1991. Pummeling death/thrash grooves collide with Brett Hoffman's brash, lashing serious killer vocals and driving old school speed picking death metal rhythms. The band was working with both the Pavement and Arctic Music imprints for this record, but would this move and their renewed violence brook them their first smash in nearly a decade?

Not exactly. In truth, Envenomed is just another of the band's many releases which hover at the margin of quality without actively disappointing or inspiring anyone. There are a handful of cuts on this album that I truly enjoyed. "Halved" offers far more than the usual dose of Malevolent mysticism through the tyrannical opening sequence, effective hyper riffing, and breakdowns that you can actually feel in your gut. I love the freakish sequence near the close with the shrill wails as the cleaner intro guitars return. "Conflict" and "Viral Release" are likewise a lethal one-two combo delivered deep into the track list, the first a storm of Arabesque brutality with more tight breakdowns, the latter another fresh burst of momentum with penetrating, thick riffs reeking of implied, spooky melody. Also, the leads throughout Envenomed are especially well conceived, especially in the opener "Homicidal Rant". Fasciana and Barrett are on fire within these confines, though it would be hard not to credit Dave Culross' blinding solidarity as the performance of the album.

Alas, the majority of the songs are simply not that impressive. A taut, thrashing riff will emerge here or there, but so many of the guitars during the blast patterns are conjured with forgettable filler notation that fails to sink in. The production is finely balanced for the razor speed and punctuation which the band executes with the best of them, but it's also pretty dry. If one is truly in love with the band's first two albums, The Ten Commandments and Retribution, then this is probably one of the first of their later catalog that I'd advise turning to. It's a similar experience even if the overall quality falls somewhere short of the novelty and songwriting of those formative works. But if one is waiting for that long anticipated knockout blow masterpiece from a band that by this point should have had at least one, it's not to be found here.

Verdict: Win [7/10] (deaf to the weak)

http://www.myspace.com/malevolentcreation

Malevolent Creation - Manifestation (2000)

After boning fans in the wallet with the lackluster Joe Black comp four years prior, Pavement decided it was time to release a 'proper' collection of Malevolent Creation's works, packaged with quite an effective cover image that would have been better saved for a new full-length or a live experience. There are two discs contained with Manifestation, the first being a selection of reprinted studio tracks from the band's Pavement output (1995-1998); the second a bonus live disc with all of four tracks. Take a guess which of them has more value? If you guessed the latter, then have a cookie, because disc one is so stupendously worthless that they've even rehashed some of the material from the Joe Black release!

Let's face it. If someone was interested in a Malevolent Creation compilation, about the LAST thing they're going to want is repressed material from the band's most recent string of studio efforts that were still rotating in print. Pavement has answered the age old question of how one might sodomize a piggy bank. The track list starts as early as Eternal (1995), with "Living in Fear", "Infernal Desire", "Alliance or War", "Blood Brothers" and "Impaled Existence". "Joe Black" and "Self Important Freak" are incorporated from Joe Black (1997), and then the proceedings move onwards to In Cold Blood (1997), from which the title track, "Nocturnal Overlord" and "Condemned" have been drawn. Strangely, the most recent album The Fine Art of Murder (1998) gets top billing with SIX selections: "Bone Exposed", "Mass Graves", "Scorn", "The Fine Art of Murder", and "To Die Is At Hand". You just bought these! Buy them again!

It's really quite obvious why the band's first three albums are not covered here: the songs were in the legal possession of Roadrunner, their earlier label. However, this does not extend to the live material, and thus "Multiple Stab Wounds" appears in its supposed stage smashing glory along with three cuts from Retribution: "Monster", "Slaughter of Innocence" and "Eve of the Apocalypse". Unfortunately, none of these sounds that great here. The drums sound intensely mechanical, the guitars and bass reduced to the background while the vocals cut straight out across the top. It's far from the worst live recording I've heard, mind you, but not worth hurling forward the cash to pick this up unless you've made Malevolent Creation some twisted fetish.

Manifestation is a rip off, and the sad thing is, it's not the one a label will be molesting us with for this particular death metal band (Roadrunner will take their turn at the glory hole a few years later). The cover art is the best thing about this! The live tracks might be more fun than hearing the same shit you've already paid for with the past few studio records, but no real incentive is added. I may not be the biggest fan in the world of Fasciana's seasoned slaughterhouse, but certainly Malevolent Creation deserves better than this, and so do you.

Verdict: Epic Fail [1/10]

http://www.myspace.com/malevolentcreation

Malevolent Creation - The Fine Art of Murder (1998)

Few bands have such a substantial track record of committing faceless beatdowns to tape as the mighty Malevolent Creation, but I am happy to say that The Fine Art of Murder is not one of them. It’s close, sure, but that only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. No, this is a decidedly interesting twist on the formula the band had been transgressing for nearly a decade prior, a swerve towards old school, primal death aesthetics that lend it a more ominous character. Perhaps this came with the re-acquisition of front man Brett Hoffman, who was present on their first (and still best) album The Ten Commandments. In fact, aside from Phil Fasciana, the Eternal Constant of Carnage, none of the parties responsible for the ultra brutal and ultimately bland In Cold Blood.

Robb Barrett returns on guitar, Dave Culross to the drum kit, and newcomer Gordon Simms joins Phil in the axe department. Together, the quintet very nearly makes magic, magic of the ‘malevolent’ sort that I had not previously been able to associate with a band whose nomenclature you’d think might assure it! Regardless, The Fine Art of Murder is successful in toning down some of the bands urbane/crackhouse dichotomy to a mesh of fibrous evil and a prior unvisited melodic space. A reactionary to the outpour of Swedish aristocracy that had taken the underworld by storm at this time? Perhaps not, but Brett Hoffman’s hoarse snarling resonates wonderfully over the sanguine speed of an “Instinct Evolved”, “Purge” or “Bone Exposed” like no one’s business beyond the mortuary. They were still occupying a space between their neighbors Deicide and Morbid Angel here, and this is an album I’d very highly recommend to Altars of Madness devotees

The band still conjures their signature street moshing violence through chuggers like “Mass Graves” and “Scorn”, but they also explore a more atmospheric territory through the creepy doom drawl of “Fracture” or the somber, fell glory of “Day of Lamentation” which even opens with acoustic guitars. I can’t promise that either has much in store for the necronaut, but it’s interesting that they even exist after an album so stubbornly brutal and sadistic as In Cold Blood. It’s this willingness to adapt and try their hand at such marginal variations of their past that has always kept Malevolent Creation in the game. This is not one of their best albums, perhaps, but its by no means a misstep, and with slightly more consistent writing and more standout individual riffs, it might have graduated into the field of the cult classic.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://www.myspace.com/malevolentcreation

Malevolent Creation - In Cold Blood (1997)

If there's one thing I admire the most about Malevolent Creation, it's the fact that they've never swerved in their efforts to deliver the most sincere brutality imaginable, for over 20 years. Granted, this very often comes at the expense of memorable songwriting, and I'd be hard pressed to distinguish the majority of their full-lengths from one another if you handed me some jumbled playlist, but apart from a few swerves towards groovier material and back again to breed a faster lethality, they've played it consistently straight and are not likely to change in this lifetime. In Cold Blood is yet another of those near featureless excursions, a self-propelled battering ram of primal musculature, but it's ultimately pretty average.

Most notable as the debut of the tireless, acclaimed skinhammer Derek Roddy to the band, and guitarist John Paul Soares (who also worked with Jason Blachowicz in Divine Empire for a spell), In Cold Blood rifles through 13 tracks in 42 minutes, the majority of which hang around the 2-3 minute mark. Caustic, explosive thrashing guitar rhythms are wound into a lattice of near death grind, as if a fusion of Deicide and Napalm Death not unlike the early works of Dying Fetus or Internal Bleeding. Fasciana and Soares jam pretty hard here across picking schemes that reek of exhaustion, but they never quite develop into hooks that remain for long in the brain. Pieces like "Violated", "Nocturnal Overlord" and "Millions" make similar impressions to a car crash fatality: fast, efficient, choked with carnage, and over within minutes once the last of the lifeblood empties the human host. However, the Floridians are also equipped with some variation in the slower grooves of the title track, or the crushing chug-thrashers "Compulsive" and "VII".

Roddy is both renowned and reviled as a mercenary of the form, yet he's nonetheless a maniac to experience on most fronts. There is certainly some value to tuning out the rather monotonous vocals of Blachowicz and the underwhelming guitars and just reveling at the sheer strength and ability this guy brings to the table. But Scott Burns also does it justice for the most part, giving these hymns the murderous eminence they deserve. In Cold Blood might just be the most focused and destructive album for Malevolent Creation at the point of its release, a band on a mission to match fist for fist with the more extreme acts of their day, an inverse of the the lockup and aging that other bands might have experienced. Unfortunately, its qualities just do not hold up to many repeated listens. The guitars unanimously filter through the ears of the listener and back into the malicious atmosphere. Its almost as if this were the blueprint for non-distinction in US death of the nineties (though the aforementioned Fetus and Bleeding performed with the same forceful ennui), another pummeling poster child for my enduring theory that brutality simply is not everything, in death metal or anywhere else.

Verdict: Indifference [6.25/10] (too deafening to ignore)

http://www.myspace.com/malevolentcreation

Malevolent Creation - Joe Black (1996)

Four albums deep into their career, Malevolent Creation and their newly adopted Pavement imprint obviously found it was time to assemble some random audio odds and ends and foist them upon an unsuspecting audience. Joe Black is ultimately a fan package, I just can't think of a fan who would ever appreciate it, since the band still seemed miles away from maximizing the potential they wrought on the debut The Ten Commandments, having since released three albums of decent but lesser quality; and nothing on this compilation even comes close to matching those in execution. Demo material, a cover, some remixes, some unreleased tracks, basically like taking your garbage out a day early and trying to sell it off to a neighbor before the dump truck comes along to claim it.

I wish there had been some undiscovered gems in the selection, but sadly we've got no such luck. "Joe Black", "Self-Important Freak" and "Sadistic Perversity" are all pretty predictable pieces that weren't good enough for Eternal. "Joe Black" itself feels like a mix of Sepultura and Morbid Angel without memorable riffs, while the others are admittedly more brutal. Then we've got the 'remixes' of three other Eternal tunes, electrified with cheesy house and jungle beats not unlike Fear Factory's rather pathetic Remanufacture album. I am not at all opposed to electronica or industrial music within the metal spectrum, having written and recorded such styles for about 15 years myself, but there must be something better one can do than just tack on some puerile, stock beats and lame ghetto samples, then mix the chugging and guttural vocals over them. "To Kill" has a mildly more manic atmosphere than either "No Salvation" or "Taste the Agony", but it's no more impressive than the worst KMFDM song you've heard.

Next, a demo recording of "Genetic Affliction" which is little more appreciable than that found on the band's 1993 album Stillborn; and a cover of Slayer's "Raining Blood", also recorded when they were tracking that album but not released with it. I can understand why, as it's a dull manifestation with only the echoed grunting offering any individual atmosphere, but it's not suddenly more interesting just because it's found here. Lastly, we've got what might arguably have been the best draw on the disc, a reissue of two tracks from the band's 1990 demo. You get "Remnants of Withered Decay" and "Impaled Existence" ("Decadence Within" is strangely absent), both decent at the demo level. But then, both of these were also rerecorded for The Ten Commandments, and in my opinion better there, so the mileage once again varies.

So why bother with Joe Black at all? Don't. It's simply not worth it. Not a single mix found on this album is superior to its official studio counterpart, the cover is bland and the techno remixes are cheesy as fuck. Malevolent Creation might have slapped their two demos together with some covers, live tunes, and the unreleased Eternal material for a better result aimed at the completist or collector. This was devoid of any thrills whatsoever, and did not bode well for the band's future.

Verdict: Fail [2.75/10] (still free upon the earth)

http://www.myspace.com/malevolentcreation

Malevolent Creation - Eternal (1995)

After Stillborn failed to meet expectations, no new deal was brokered between Malevolent Creation and Roadrunner, so the band hopped over to the Pavement imprint. Eternal was the first result of this union, a work of strong initiative but little lasting resonance that would further cement the reputation of this band as solid second stringers. This was also the debut for Jason Blachowicz on the vocals and bass, who would hang around for a pair of albums before venturing off into his own realm of brutality: Divine Empire. He's got a filthy, caustic, towering presence, almost redolent of L-G Petrov during Wolverine Blues, if slightly shorter on character, but well suited to Fasciana's bruising rhythmic sensibility.

I can see how this effort might have a divisive effect on the audience. It is heavily front-loaded with a lot of straight slamming death with an almost hardcore underpinning, and frankly rather formulaic. Incredibly tight, driving double bass is slathered in a mix of palm muted grooves and uppity old school rhythms. It's very 'tough guy', especially the opening combo of "No Salvation", "Blood Brothers", and "Infernal Desire", but things start to pick up once you get deeper into the track list. "Living in Fear", "Enslaved" and "Hideous Reprisal" are more my style, the latter with some spry, Pestilence-like "Trauma" chords slung over the shifting more of mosh below. In fact, the entire closing quarter of the album is solid: "Eternal" with its incessant warlike muted grooves, "Tasteful Agony" ranging from an accelerated opening onslaught to a series of open chord grooves that once again stir the restless pit fiends.

The production values here are a step up over the underwhelming Stillborn, and aside from the debut The Ten Commandments, I feel like this album is the quickest to incite violence in the listener. Alas, Eternal suffers the same frustrating roadblock that so many of their albums face, and so many brutal death albums in general: lack of memorable content. It's a soulless if tightly executed exercise in moshing force, with almost no atmosphere whatsoever. None could question the brutality here, but would it be too much to ask for a few menacing melodies or acrobatic impressions, above and beyond the sheer exertion of physical force? Malevolent Creation could write six of these albums per week, but they'd never surpass this plateau of methodical, mechanical functionality. Eternal is fine for ass kicking or getting your ass kicked, and I enjoy that Fasciana and company maintain their thundering street cred, but it's hardly the first album I'd turn to on a hunt for compelling music.

Verdict: Win [7/10] (void beyond hellfilled fate)

http://www.myspace.com/malevolentcreation

Malevolent Creation - Stillborn (1993)

I'm not sure if it can be attributed to creative constipation, or a dead set determination to maintain stylistic consistency through a career of diminishing returns, but Malevolent Creation are a band that peaked early and then proceeded to write what is essentially the same album through several decades. Okay, not the exact SAME album, there are minor deviations here or there, shifts in their production paradigms, altered rosters, curving apertures of slower and faster based material, but you catch my drift. I don't mean to hate on the band, because there is a positive side to this strategy (or lack of a strategy): the band has never, to my knowledge, released a stinker of a record, at least not a full-length under this particular moniker (the side band Hateplow is another story).

Stillborn was their third and final album through Roadrunner, and had absolutely nothing going for it over its predecessors. There were a few personnel changes, with Rob Barrett (guitar) and Jason Blachowicz (bass) exiting and Jon Rubin (guitar) coming on board, but other than that, it's a facsimile of the concepts the band were already utilizing. Perhaps this is a little more 'slamming' than the first two albums, as tracks like "The Way of All Flesh" and "Genetic Affliction" have some tremendous, concrete cracking breakdowns, but this was not at all unusual for US death metal as such chugging grooves strode hand in hand with a largely crossover audience. All the riffs are performed here with competence and energy enough to compete with any of their Florida peers, and yet the music just never seems to stick. Bruising the listener, but never really breaking skin.

I enjoy the lead breaks throughout the album, and a few tracks like "Dominion of Terror", "Ethnic Cleansing" and the desperate, thriving finale "Disciples of Abhorrence" offer more or less what you'd expect from an active, touring band like this: dynamic awareness and decisive, taut brutality. Alas, the sound here is just not all that great. I felt a greater disparity between the volume of Brett Hoffmann's vocals and the music pummeling beneath them, and there are very few interesting or exciting rhythm guitars I'd ever desire to puzzle out or revisit. Most of the Malevolent Creation full-lengths inhabit the same breadth of the qualitative spectrum, but there's nothing on Stillborn you can't get elsewhere, and better, even from Fasciana and co. themselves. This is one of the band's studio lows. The Ten Commandments, Retribution, and a number of the Malevolent albums since this one simply have more to offer from both the songwriting and production perspectives.

Verdict: Indifference [6.25/10]

http://www.myspace.com/malevolentcreation

Malevolent Creation - Retribution (1992)

Through their 1991 debut The Ten Commandments, Malevolent Creation managed to define an aesthetic, urban brutality that was virtually unknown to the other Florida death metal acts. This was honestly their biggest contribution to that scene, because otherwise the music felt like a pastiche of ideas Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse and Deicide had already explored. Retribution partially serves to expand the band's lyrics beyond the streets of unrest, but the central focus is still on cold blooded murder ("Iced", "Slaughter of Innocence" and forth) upon the pavement of conflict. In all, though, this album is really just more of the same that we experienced on the debut. More tightly wound, perhaps. More brutal, but less cutting and explosive. A good sophomore, but not enough to evoke the same level of worship among the audience as some of their statesmen.

"Eve of the Apocalypse" opens with the Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer theme before bursting into its level headed, deeply thrashing gutter of chug, tailor made for intense moshing below the forceful vernacular of Brett Hoffman. "Systematic Execution" uses more double bass and a rapid, blasting break to vary the dynamics, and then "Slaughter of Innocence", which is possibly my favorite song on the album, returns to some grisly, bouncing rhythms that are almost pure, punishing thrash metal with intensified drums. Very similar to what Deicide were doing with Legion, only more muscular. The remainder of the album continues along with the same, brick faced mentality, seeking to bludgeon the listener so hard that he fails to notice that there is no nuance or subtlety to be had within miles of its creation. "Monster" has a little more momentum than most of the songs, and "Iced" is one of the best at the construction of flailing, bludgeoning grooves fit for kicking in asses, but none are any more compelling than what you'd find on their debut.

Thus, Retribution becomes another of those albums which is all brute force and little dynamic, memorable insinuation. Great for when you just want to turn off the signals from your brain to your limbs and circle pit with the genre jocks, but not ultimately that interesting when faced with any other situation. The leads are decent, and the lyrics and music display a reasonable level of confidence and effort, but it seems to be another case where a band has all the tools for survival (great cover art, good label, strong musicians) but wallows in the exhaust of its own extremity. So thrilled at the spectacle of mock violence that would inevitably erupt at its live exhibitions that it ignores the songwriting element, and there is very little distinction among the constituent tracks. No personality of note other than serving as a kid brother to The Ten Commandments, and this is a trait that will plague Malevolent Creation through much of their considerable amount of output, an incessant parade of punishment that never penetrates the A-list. Stock muggings without lasting repercussions.

Verdict: Win [7/10] (achieving attack mode)

http://www.myspace.com/malevolentcreation

Malevolent Creation - The Ten Commandments (1991)

Gaze into the crystal ball of this band's past, and you'll witness a familiar fable. A pissed off group of adolescent Floridians for whom the thrash metal genre was simply not excessive enough to vent its myriad frustrations. Admittedly, Malevolent Creation has never been numbered among the elite of the death metal genre, but they've nonetheless had a successful go of it, touring and releasing a large number of albums, sticking it out for the long run, a revolving door of members circling an axe slinging central figure: Phil Fasciana. But during those formative years of the scene, what exactly did this band have to offer those of us who were affixed on the conquests of their more highly regarded peers?

I'll tell you: Malevolent Creation offered an urban, ass-kicking alternative, a more immediate threat to the sanctity of your bone structure. While Morbid Angel and Deicide were consorting with Elder Gods and being in return broadcast intense waves of reeking apocryphal miasma, Nocturnus was performing a careful moon landing on alien soil, and Death and Obituary were emerging from the crypts and graveyards, Malevolent Creation was standing right on your street corner, pimping hos and collecting drug fees at the cost of blood money or human teeth. This was the brutality one was most likely to encounter when one strode out into the stinking night of the inner city in the 80s or 90s, fearing for one's wallet and more importantly for one's goddamn existence in a world of thugs and pushers. That said, stylistic comparisons are inevitable with other bands of the scene, in particular Deicide, who utilized a similar congruence of battering speed and neck breaking mosh splatter.

This album opens almost like some forgotten gangsta rap epic, "Memorial Arrangements", as last rites are narrated over some fallen friend or associate; the one difference being the biting despair of the guitars and drums, which open with chords and a warlike march against the lashing winds, then mutate into a thrash-like christening before the dire melody rings out. And then it's time to duck, as the bullet storm of "Premature Burial" comes howling at you, its projectile percussion seeking to permeate your vitals. Vocalist Brett Hoffman possessed a tone not unlike Chuck of Death, only carried further to a more grisly extreme, like a pissed off mortician who had seen one too many fallouts from a gang war or cocaine strung serial executioner. Drummer Mark Simpson is also tight, one of the more forceful strikers alongside Asheim or Sandoval, and he brings a particular weight to the deep thrashing matrix of Fasciana.

This band was also incredibly good at writing wild but punctual leads that helped whip the muted pummeling into an added frenzy. Malevolent Creation were very apt at creating a momentum here and then following it through, even when the breakdowns occur you just know they're about to fire back into a storm of onrushing traffic. Songs like "Multiple Stab Wounds" and the frenetic "Remnants of Withered Decay" seem like a natural and welcome extension of the brutality inherent in extreme California thrash like Dark Angel. The musicianship is so intense that even if the individual riffs weren't all that catchy, the band still delivered thorough excitement. That said, there are a few wildlings to stand out here like the arching, twisting guitars throughout the verses of "Impaled Existence" and charnel house romp of "Sacrificial Annihilation". All told, The Ten Commandments is like an instrument of blunt AND bladed compulsion that you might bring to bear against your enemies, an excise tax of eradicating force.

No, it wasn't exactly brilliant, and aside from the concrete and syringe strewn warfare implied in its lyrical musings, it did not bring as much fresh gore to the arena as the band's more affluent, influential statesmen. However, this debut is still a lot of fun 20 years later, and the band's no prisoners attitude towards extremity has absolutely stirred up a following. The mix is not so great here, one of Scott Burns' less impressive feats among the early wave, but I do like how the vexed vocals resonate like street vultures over the crashing undertow, and the leads sound like heroin addicted vipers. Sporting one of my favorite Dan Seagrave covers, it's a solid package that in my opinion, the band has yet to surpass, even though they'd tread darker, occult lyrical paths over the course of the next two albums (returning some years later to the pavement pounding aesthetics). Ugly, aware and determined. The Scarface of death metal.

Verdict: Win [8/10] (termination's tool bites unwilling flesh)

http://www.myspace.com/malevolentcreation

Malevolent Creation - Invidious Dominion (2010)

As far as the initial wave of Florida death metal is concerned, veteran Malevolent Creation has always been one of its less celebrated acts, a band with over 20 years of history, double digit studio output and a fair share of touring beneath their collective belts. They've had many of the same opportunities as peers Deicide, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and Obituary, but don't seem to share that same level of infamy or visibility. Most of those outfits have had very inconsistent careers, and Malevolent Creation is no exception to this, with several forgettable albums dominating the late 90s and early 21st century, but they've also wrought some decent efforts upon us that provided at the very least an impetus to bang heads until cramps developed.

For Invidious Dominion, their 11th full-length offering, the band is once again fronted by Brett Hoffman (he's been on and off with them since their inception), and this is a plus, because his vicious, almost thrash-like vocal tone is one of the few characteristics that have always allowed the band to stand apart from the crowd, like a more intense death metal alternative to the breakneck aggression of early Dark Angel. My preference for Malevolent Creation has always run back to the first two albums, The Ten Commandments and Retribution, and this latest record seems to follow straight in their footprints, focused on tightly wound intensity and an incessant barrage of death/thrash riffs that rarely afford the listener a chance to breathe. This is not an atmospheric album, its very straightforward in its punishing intentions, but despite itself, the rampant guitar onslaught somehow manifests this street-level brutality which bristles with spikes, knives, chains and bats that constantly apply themselves to the listener, like an attempt to set a Guinness world record for the longest death metal mugging in history.

Granted, 35 minutes is not all that long, and the tracks all fly past in around 3.5 minutes, but when you're on the receiving end, it seems like an eternity for a band to play music this hate charged and violent. At best, they dish out tracks with fairly memorable levels of carnage and superb song titles like "Target Rich Environment", "Lead Spitter" and "Compulsive Face Breaker", and the entire middle segment of the record starts to kick elevated levels of ass as it pummels through all of these in succession. Additionally, "Corruptor" and the closing title track seem to have much dismay to offer, with furious hyper thrashing rhythms, bleeding speed and a strict disregard for subtlety.

Of all these tracks, I cannot say that there are many individual riffs which stand out or beg for repeat plays immediately, but as far as joining the constituent parts together into a whole of punishment, glazed with well constructed leads and a crude but effective lyrical belligerence, Malevolent Creation prove yet again to be enjoyable artisans of this craft. It's essentially The Ten Commandments on a crack binge, cutting and battering everything in its path until it finds that final fix. It stabbed me quite a few times, but the wounds were sadly not deep or fatal this time around, and though its wonderful to hear this band plugging away with such fierce determination and frivolous intensity, this is not quite the masterpiece I hope to one day hear from such a seasoned firing squad.

Verdict: Win [7/10] (feeling blows raining hard)

http://www.myspace.com/malevolentcreation