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The Ten Commandments (1991)
Malevolent Creation's debut L.P. was released by R/C Records, in April 1991. With The Ten Commandments, the band delved deeper into death metal, though without completely shedding their thrash roots. The overall result is a rather scathing and intense album. It took me quite a long time to get into this one for whatever reason. When I first got it I was expecting pure death metal and there was some mental block against accepting this for what it was. Some years later, it just clicked one day, while listening to this alongside various death/thrash albums.
There were two main factors that made this more difficult for me to fully appreciate, initially. First was the fact that the album was recorded at Morrisound and produced by Scott Burns. Around the time that I acquired this album I had overdosed on years of this clown's efforts to make every death metal band sound nearly identical with the flat and lifeless production that affected so many releases from this period. The second thing was the vocal performance. Hoffman's voice sounds strained and keeps going from the harsher death metal vocals to more of a thrash metal style, as he utilized on the previous demo. This was something that had to slowly grow on me over time, especially considering that I knew he could pull off pure death metal vocals quite well.
The highlight of the album has to be the first real song, "Premature Burial". After a doom-laden intro, it bursts forth with very palpable fury. It features dynamic songwriting, memorable riffs and enough testosterone to kill a horse. The band's thrash metal roots are quite evident throughout this recording, though when compared to the likes of Devastation's Idolatry or Demolition Hammer's Tortured Existence (both of which were also recorded at Morrisound around the same time), it is easy to see that Malevolent Creation were leaning much more toward death metal than thrash. The rest of the album maintains a similar atmosphere of intensity and violence, with "Impaled Existence" and "Malevolent Creation" managing to stand out a bit more than others.
If you're looking for a Death or Obituary clone, this isn't it. Personally, I find that more enjoyment from listening to The Ten Commandments amid several other thrash and death/thrash albums from the late '80s and early '90s. Either way, this is the very best album that Malevolent Creation ever released and nothing else they ever did even comes close. Recommended!
There were two main factors that made this more difficult for me to fully appreciate, initially. First was the fact that the album was recorded at Morrisound and produced by Scott Burns. Around the time that I acquired this album I had overdosed on years of this clown's efforts to make every death metal band sound nearly identical with the flat and lifeless production that affected so many releases from this period. The second thing was the vocal performance. Hoffman's voice sounds strained and keeps going from the harsher death metal vocals to more of a thrash metal style, as he utilized on the previous demo. This was something that had to slowly grow on me over time, especially considering that I knew he could pull off pure death metal vocals quite well.
The highlight of the album has to be the first real song, "Premature Burial". After a doom-laden intro, it bursts forth with very palpable fury. It features dynamic songwriting, memorable riffs and enough testosterone to kill a horse. The band's thrash metal roots are quite evident throughout this recording, though when compared to the likes of Devastation's Idolatry or Demolition Hammer's Tortured Existence (both of which were also recorded at Morrisound around the same time), it is easy to see that Malevolent Creation were leaning much more toward death metal than thrash. The rest of the album maintains a similar atmosphere of intensity and violence, with "Impaled Existence" and "Malevolent Creation" managing to stand out a bit more than others.
If you're looking for a Death or Obituary clone, this isn't it. Personally, I find that more enjoyment from listening to The Ten Commandments amid several other thrash and death/thrash albums from the late '80s and early '90s. Either way, this is the very best album that Malevolent Creation ever released and nothing else they ever did even comes close. Recommended!
(11 May 2017)
Retribution (1992)
Malevolent Creation's sophomore effort, Retribution, was released in April 1992. By this point, death metal had exploded in such a manner that far too many bands were overflowing into the scene, most of them just incredibly mediocre. I recall hearing this band's name mentioned along the likes of Death, Obituary, Morbid Angel, Deicide and so on, all those years ago. This album, in particular, received high praise every time. Yet, when I got my hands on the cassette version of this album, it just fell flat.
The majority of the music here is quite dull and tedious. One of the things that differentiates metal from simple rock music has always been the emphasis placed on the riffs, generally with most bands having two guitarists. Nonetheless, neither Rob Barrett nor Phil Fasciania are the stars of this production. Neither is Brett Hoffmann (whose voice is fairly good but still displays no talent for making the vocals properly fit the music). No, the central figure of Malevolent Creation's second L.P. is the drummer, Alex Marquez.
This entire album is ruined because of the immensely overactive percussion. death metal is supposed to create a dark atmosphere; instead, Retribution offers useless groove riffs and breakdowns and criminal overuse of double bass that undermines most of the very few decent riffs that did manage to slip onto this record. Tracks like "The Coldest Survive", "Mindlocked" and "Iced" are a bit more primitive and straightforward than most of the rest, certainly the best parts of this album, yet the drums still do their best to spoil things as much as possible.
Of course, the list of complaints could not be complete without mentioning the absolutely atrocious Morrisound production job. This possesses the same generic, sterile sound as almost every other album recorded there during this period. To hear a random snippet from Retribution, without vocals, one would be hard-pressed to correctly identify the band. With the likes of Obituary, Death, Pestilence, Napalm Death and others all recording at the same studio and having their works wrecked by incompetent hands of Scott Burns, it all just blends together. Coupled with the fact that their songwriting is sub-par, it's no surprise that Malevolent Creation never managed to reach the same heights as some of their peers.
Many cite Stillborn as the point when Malevolent Creation proved their ineptitude, but it was already on full display, here. Death metal is not supposed to be driven forward by the percussion, with the guitars taking on a supporting role. Retribution might be best used as a gateway album to gently lure Pantera fans into harder music, but it is entirely worthless to those seeking pure death metal. Avoid this garbage.
The majority of the music here is quite dull and tedious. One of the things that differentiates metal from simple rock music has always been the emphasis placed on the riffs, generally with most bands having two guitarists. Nonetheless, neither Rob Barrett nor Phil Fasciania are the stars of this production. Neither is Brett Hoffmann (whose voice is fairly good but still displays no talent for making the vocals properly fit the music). No, the central figure of Malevolent Creation's second L.P. is the drummer, Alex Marquez.
This entire album is ruined because of the immensely overactive percussion. death metal is supposed to create a dark atmosphere; instead, Retribution offers useless groove riffs and breakdowns and criminal overuse of double bass that undermines most of the very few decent riffs that did manage to slip onto this record. Tracks like "The Coldest Survive", "Mindlocked" and "Iced" are a bit more primitive and straightforward than most of the rest, certainly the best parts of this album, yet the drums still do their best to spoil things as much as possible.
Of course, the list of complaints could not be complete without mentioning the absolutely atrocious Morrisound production job. This possesses the same generic, sterile sound as almost every other album recorded there during this period. To hear a random snippet from Retribution, without vocals, one would be hard-pressed to correctly identify the band. With the likes of Obituary, Death, Pestilence, Napalm Death and others all recording at the same studio and having their works wrecked by incompetent hands of Scott Burns, it all just blends together. Coupled with the fact that their songwriting is sub-par, it's no surprise that Malevolent Creation never managed to reach the same heights as some of their peers.
Many cite Stillborn as the point when Malevolent Creation proved their ineptitude, but it was already on full display, here. Death metal is not supposed to be driven forward by the percussion, with the guitars taking on a supporting role. Retribution might be best used as a gateway album to gently lure Pantera fans into harder music, but it is entirely worthless to those seeking pure death metal. Avoid this garbage.
(9 Mar. 2017)
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