MALEVOLENT CREATION – Invidious Dominion CD review

MALEVOLENT CREATION – Invidious Dominion CD
Nuclear Blast Records

After 2007’s Doomsday X release I pretty much covered this band’s face with a sheet and called a time of death. MALEVOLENT CREATION was always the spare tire of the Florida four wheeled Death Machine. You know which four bands I’m talking about and even though the fearsome foursome of Florida Death Metal haven’t had sparkling clean careers themselves they’re more consistent then MALEVOLENT CREATION. I used to feel sorry for guitarist and mainman Phil Fasciana in that if anything bad could happen it would happen to MALEVOLENT CREATION. They put out two incredible releases back in the early nineties and then their troubles started. Whether it was the revolving door of band members, label problems or wondering if vocalist Brett Hoffmann was gonna stick around, it all made for a on again off again creative mode. Maybe their survival up to this point in time was for a reason because Invidious Dominion is probably the best thing they’ve released in years.

First and foremost this is one fast release as if the recording studio was on fire when they recorded it. Hell just listening to it makes my room here feel slightly warmer. Invidious Dominion is around thirty five minutes in length with ten songs plus a thirty second intro. There’s only one cut over four minutes in length. It’s as if Fasciana and revolving door vocalist Brett Hoffmann melted down copies of their first two releases, The 10 Commandments and Retribution, then injected the liquid into their veins. Wait till you hear Hoffmann’s extended guttural gut busting screams on some of these cuts.. I’ll bet they set fire to the studio themselves just to inspire the rest of the band. This release is thrashier then anything put out by the thrash revivalists of today. Their latest in a long line of drummers, Gus Rios, is a fuckin maniac behind the kit. With breakneck drumming, riffs fit for a drive-by murder spree plus Hoffmann reinvigorated behind the mic, this dink is insanely great. There’s not even time enough for standout soloing except on cuts like “Compulsive Facebreaker”, “Conflict Finalized” and “Slaughterhouse” but what’s left is simply generic Florida DM bursts at best. It’s the riffs and blasting drums plus the vocals which will crush your pitiful world.

After the thirty second opening “United Hate” grabs you by the throat and with the rest of the cuts, never lets loose until the end of this dink. The first time I blasted this everything flew by so quick that I couldn’t get a hold of an opinion. Ten plays later and I wouldn’t mind seeing them perform this whole release live. What’s amazing about Invidious Dominion is that the intensity builds up with every song from beginning to end. By the time you get to “Leadspitter” at the midpoint it’s as if you’re on a fuckin death coaster out of control at the carnival holocaust. For some people that might not sound like a lot of fun but to this psycho it’s fuckin heaven in black and blood. Raise the body count!

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