Malevolent Creation

Originally hailing from Buffalo, New York, Malevolent Creation emerged in the early 1990s from Florida’s intense heavy metal environment and helped establish the core characteristics of American death metal. Their 1991 debut, the gore-soaked Ten Commandments, marked an early milestone, after which lineup shifts and a move toward progressive, technical death metal shaped later releases including Eternal (1995), Warkult (2004), Invidious Dominion (2010), and The 13th Beast (2019).

Drawing initial influence from Slayer’s sonic and lyrical extremity, the band secured a Roadrunner Records contract at the start of the decade with vocalist Brett Hoffmann, guitarists Phil Fasciana and Jeff Juskiewicz, bassist Jason Blachowicz, and drummer Mark Simpson. The Ten Commandments quickly became a landmark underground release by building on Slayer’s early output and that of fellow Floridians Death. Retribution followed in 1992 with comparable strength after guitarist Rob Barrett (from Solstice, replacing Juskiewicz) and drummer Alex Marquez joined the lineup. Stillborn arrived in 1993 featuring guitarist John Rubin (an original member returning) and “Crazy” Larry Hawke on drums in place of Barrett and Marquez, yet the album left many longtime supporters dissatisfied and contributed to the group’s contentious departure from Roadrunner.

Those contractual setbacks nearly dissolved the band, but they reappeared on Pavement Music in 1995 with Eternal, adopting a more progressive, technical direction and a revised roster. With Hoffmann absent, Blachowicz handled vocals while Fasciana and Rubin remained on guitar and ex-Suffocation drummer Dave Culross joined. The 1996 collection Joe Black compiled remixes, outtakes, and demos, after which In Cold Blood surfaced in 1997 with guitarist John Paul Soars replacing Rubin and drummer Derek Roddy replacing Culross. The Fine Art of Murder followed in 1998, bringing Hoffmann, Barrett, and Culross back alongside new bassist Gordon Simms as Fasciana added keyboards. Manifestation, a Pavement retrospective, appeared in 2000 and preceded that year’s Envenomed; its sequel arrived two years later, and The Will to Kill became drummer Justin DiPinto’s final recording with the group. Productivity continued with Warkult in 2004 and Doomsday X in 2007. Invidious Dominion, their eleventh studio album, emerged in 2010. An international deal with Century Media was signed in 2014, leading to Dead Man’s Path in 2015—the final Malevolent Creation release featuring Hoffmann, who departed the following year and died in 2018 from colon cancer complications. The 13th Beast, their thirteenth studio LP, was issued in January 2019 with drummer Phil Cancilla, bassist Josh Gibbs, guitarist Phil Fasciana, and new vocalist/guitarist Lee Wollenschlaeger.