Malevolent Creation
The Fine Art of Murder (Pavement)
by Tim Den
There are certain things in life that you can always count on: good fights at bars, great video games from Capcom, and brilliant death metal from Malevolent Creation. Face it, when have these guys ever put out a bad album? Even 1994’s Stillborn with its crappy production and shitty singing was packed with brutally catchy songs. So you can imagine my excitement when I got my hands on this baby.
The Fine Art of Murder is everything you’ve come to expect from these masters of flesh. Break-neck riffing, elbow-swinging grooves, lyrics about decapitation… all the ingredients that make death metal such guilt-free fun. Tracks such as “Rictus Surreal,” “Scorned,” and “Instinct Evolved” pack so much punch that they even make an old-timer like me want to kick in some teeth.
However, as much as I like to praise this great release, I do have my share of complaints. First, the return of original vocalist Bret Hoffman has had both positive and negative effects on the band. While his raspy growls are much better than former vocalist Jason Blachowicz’s, any long-time Malevolent fan will be able to tell that Hoffman is really out of practice. He struggles with phrasing, breathing, and just sounding like the inhuman beast that he used to be. He no longer choreographs his vocals playfully around the riffs, and even his lyrics are becoming tiresome. How many times can you sing about “bodies falling down?”
I shouldn’t put all the blame on Hoffman, though. At times his lack of creativity is the direct result of the music. Guitarist Phil Fasciana, band leader and main composer, has begun to show signs of fatigue on this album. Songs like the title track, “Fracture,” and the semi-ballad, “Day of Lamentation” (yes, acoustic guitars are malevolent, too), signal Fasciana’s failing attempts to “experiment” with songwriting. Sure, certain six-minute songs can be a pleasure to listen to, but not when it’s six minutes of one riff being played really slow with the conviction of your Coal Chamber-worshipping little brother. After more than a decade of muscular palm-muting, I can’t help but feel that Fasciana is beginning to lose his grip.
Which brings me to my next complaint: the lack of input from Rob Barret. Any metal fan who has been familiar with Barret’s work with Cannibal Corpse, Solstice, and especially Malevolent Creation’s Retribution (which is still their best) will wonder why this man of pure songwriting genius did not contribute more to the album. Just the presence of his sophisticated playing and sense of melody has bumped the material up a grade, but he should really get in there and help write. If he and Fasciana could split the creative duties, Malevolent Creation would be trampling the competition.
Finally (yes, I know I’ve complained a lot more than I’ve praised – it’s only out of my love for these guys. Mind your own fucking business), there is the issue of the production. Whereas their previous album, In Cold Blood, was overly low-ended, The Fine Art of Murder seems to have no low-end at all. New bassist Gordon Simms might as well be a stand-in puppet, ’cause the bass is buried deeper than Jimmy Hoffa in the mix. Yes, I know this new “thin chainsaw” sound is in right now (i.e. Deicide’s Serpents of the Light), but Brian Griffin (guitarist of Broken Hope) did a good job recording his own band and must’ve shut his ears during the mixing. The guitars sound like backyard twang compared with the old Malevolent trademark crunch. What a shame.
Enough nit-picking. Most of the songs, when you get down to the ideas and delivery, are tastefully written and executed. It’s just technical enough to satisfy the riff-maniacs out there, and it certainly carries more weight than all the Korn wanna-bes.
(102 South River Dr., Suite 102 Tempe, AZ 85281)
