Malevolent Creation – Invidious Dominion

The mighty Malevolent Creation are back with a cold-blooded murder set to claim vengeance after three long years of absence. The finalized result of this release leaves dismembered corpses on its wake and brings things back to where they belong. Explanation? Right on. The New Yorkers (don’t mistake their Florida basis, they formed in Buffalo) are one of the very few that have been constantly releasing albums, despite the changes in musical trends. They have delivered us monumental records in their beginning and some albums that made many heads roll back in the day. This one, is for sure one of the best they have done, and surely the most complete since ”The Will To Kill” in 2002, being the successor to ”Doomsday X” which was also very well made and solid.

This time, the band focuses in one certain goal: Slaughter! Sounding more ready than ever, they managed to make ”Invidious Dominion” sound so tough as a sum, that it will sure grab each listener from the very beginning with ”United Hate” and Conflict Finalized”. The band is in top form. Bret Hoffman spits acid in every lyric, followed by insane guitar work by the leader Phil Fasciana, accompanied by Gio Geraca. They build mountains of rolling riffs, just to create massacre. Tracks like ”Slaughterhouse” and ”Compulsive Facebreaker” help in this, with the album flowing more easily than expected and making the middle fan want even more. The fact that while reaching the end, the result gets even better, happens one in fifty times (maybe more).

The rhythm section of the ”old” guy Jason Blachowicz on bass (he had also done the vocals on ”Eternal” and ”In Cold Blood” albums) and the ”new” guy Gus Rios, follows the guitars in every riff from very close distance. Especially Rios proves his worth and that he’s the right man behind the drum kit. Malevolent Creation were always a band having great drummers and his playing stuck very well with the rest. That’s why the album sound both old school, but also modern and ready to adapt to the likes of the year 2010. ”Lead Spitter” and ”Target Rich Environment” prove that the aggression of the album is not only in the music, but also the song titles. To make matters worse, follows the destructive two-piece of ”Antagonized” and ”Born Again Hard”.

It is really so good to listen how much some veterans tend to deliver lessons to younger ones. There is no doubt that many newcomers would die to have such an album in their discography. But if you want to create something like that, first of all you must have the knowledge, then the feeling, and in the end, the right people holding and torturing the instruments. The quintet not only has the knowledge and the feeling, but also proves that experience may be the best ally in such cases. Formed in 1987 and releasing albums since 1991, they could do nothing less than leave us with jaws open once again. It’s a little naive to try and express how I love the fact that they bring out their thrashy roots every time, making the result even more brutal.

And as the record ends with ”Corruptor” and the title track, there is nothing you can do. At first I guess some of you may try and relax or wonder what happened the previous 36 minutes. Little is the importance, as we live in seasons that the outcome matters the most. So, instead of trying to make your brain cells work properly, push the play button and you will forget the problems, the hard day’s course and all that make your mind busy in the wrong way. Malevolent Creation are not back because they never left. They just found right this time to make a statement. A statement declaring that whatever comes in their way, will have the luck of the skulls of the cover, being pushed down by this demonic presence. Masters for one more time, one of the three best albums this year.