Malevolent Creation
The Fine Art of Murder

THE REVIEW

They were formed in the city of Buffalo, New York, in 1987; fellow citizens of the much more well-known Cannibal Corpse. They soon moved to Florida, the homeland of the then emerging U.S. Death Metal scene (Death, Morbid Angel, Obituary, just to name three bands that are the ABC of the genre). And the state of sunshine and hurricanes became the headquarters of Malevolent Creation.

They have not yet stopped weaving their horrible musical webs, releasing their latest work in 2015; the twelfth in chronological order.

But today I will focus on "The Fine Art Of Murder" from 1998; a monstrous tour de force, almost reaching a full hour in length. The album title directs us towards the themes of the lyrics: heinous murders, putrescent corpses, censored sexual practices.

I'll say it right away: we are at exquisite levels, terrifying in terms of ferocity and interpretative frenzy. Just slightly below their acclaimed masterpieces from the beginning of their career "Stillborn" and "The Ten Commandments"; for the highest ratings, in my opinion, they just needed to "prune" the excessive length of "The Fine Art of Murder." Really too many 57 minutes divided into a good 13 tracks.

Brett Hoffmann returns to the vocals after a forced exile of a few years; his scream is one of the key elements of the album. A venomous and erosive growl, always understandable, that is supported and massively amplified by the blinding work of the two guitars. A continuous and precise construction of infinite riffs; dark, gloomy, degenerate. The contribution of the drummer is no less: hallucinatory tempo changes, intricate plots, insane execution speed. A disruptive force that constantly maintains levels of intensity that can hurt during the interminable listening of the album.

A primitive, raw, slippery Death Metal that overflows with Thrash outbursts; no concessions, no breaks except for a chilling acoustic intro (not even too successful) at the beginning of the penultimate track. Coherence and absolute dedication from Malevolent Creation; a cornerstone, for thirty years, of all American extremism...BONE EXPOSED...

Ad Maiora.