Customer Reviews

Doomsday X

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Malevolent Creation fans had something to rejoice about with the release of 2007's "Doomsday X", not only was Brett Hoffmann back on vocals, Jon Rubin stepped in to do secondary guitar work, Jason Blachowicz returned on bass and Dave Culross stuck around to do the drums. MC has had more lineup changes than Spinal Tap (no joke), so it is always nice when they do these "return to form" albums like what happened with "Envenomed".

From the first note of the first song, the listener notices top notch production that gives MC an even punchier sound. The reason Brett Hoffmann is liked by so many Death Metal fans is his perfectly intelligible, raspy, yet powerful vocals. In the early 90s the trend with death/grind vocalists was to be as guttural and incomprehensible as possible. Hoffmann bucked the trend and went in the other direction. Culross sounds more inspired than ever (or at least since "Eternal") refusing to blend in the background and blast the time away. The guitar work is much more inventive than the prior few efforts.

The first track is a little slow but picks up during the half way mark. "Culture of Doubt" is simply amazing even though the introduction is somewhat standard DM fare. The promo track for the album "Deliver my Enemy" is varied yet simple but still amazingly catchy in that way that only the MC guys can do.

The rest of the album is okay and all the tracks standout apart from each other. The middle of the album delivers a little lull that it doesn't really recover from. MC here sounds as inspired as they were during the early nineties and their slight attempts to branch out musically are welcome (for example the track with a wild solo for the intro) even if the results aren't great.

If they could keep this lineup, maybe MC (who never seem to be mentioned in discussions about early 90s DM) could keep some of the respect they most certainly deserve. However the achilles heel of the band, the fact that they can't keep the same lineup for more than a few moments, may be their undoing. This was further evidenced by the "Death by Decibels" tour with Vader in late 2007 where Blachowicz and Culross were replaced with Marco Martell and Fabian Aguirre. Even if MC don't create anything great for a while after this, this album should quench any metal fan's thirst who wants something from the old school-thrash/death metal-South Florida-mold.

Thats how I would describe this CD. I think Malevolent Creation is awesome and this CD was definately worth the buy. Their early death-metal style is cool, and as a musician it is nice to learn from some of the original bands of this genre. After all, not many other death metal bands have 10 albums.

rock on

For reasons I don't understand Malevolent Creation never get the respect they deserve and have always been denied their place within the top tier of classic DM with such bands as Death, Morbid Angel, and Obituary. "Doomsday X" features much of the classic MC lineup and is one of their best efforts. They have updated the classic DM sound with extra aggression and thrash and the results are a brutal 12-track assault. Dave Culross's drumming is perfect as usual and Brett Hoffmann's vocals are awesome. And, of course, Phil Fasciana (of the most talented guitar players around) and John Rubin exhibit furious first rate axe work throughout the CD. I have a hard time comparing old school DM (even updated) with current styles, but within the sub-genre of classic DM "Doomsday X" is definitely a five-star album. I hope this lineup stays together and delivers again with their "XI".

What a shame these guys don't get the accolades of other major death bands. Great band, great musicality. Just awesome kick 'em in the head metal. Opening riff is a real head bender. There are many stand up and mosh moments to be had here. Big fan of this band and this album.

Malevolent Creation has released a real juggernaut with this album. as with every Malevolent Creation album, expect a beatdown on your ears. Mick Thompson of Slipknot does the second solo on the song "Deliver My Enemy" and his solo is awesome, considering that I am not a fan of Slipknot. this album deserves a 5 star rating. I recommend this album to those who appreciate real metal.

This is the metal of yesteryear that we've all been missing. I'm not saying that this is the most mindbending & unbelieveable album of the year, but it does hold it's own against the top tier. 'Doomsday X' is straight forward, hard hitting metal that you can chug a beer to & swing your hair around. The resurfacing of Hoffman is a plus too, giving the tunes the specific Malevolent sound. The instrumental "Prelude to Doomsday" is a great track midway through also. These guys definately can shred with the best of them. Production is top notch; great for a quality stereo. If your into good old fashioned Florida thrash, you already know of Malevolent Creation. Spend the bucks to keep this band going...10 albums in and they still have the same passion/angst you'd here on the earlier albums.

Alright, while I dont always like progression in some bands (see Ulver and Carcass), MC have basically been aping themselves for the past few releases. Warkult was good, even though Kyle "OmgBr00talJumpDa**ckUp" Simmons was a little out of place, but the only diffrence between this is that A) Kyle is gone and B) the band sounds even more modern. Which is not a bad thing at all, as the band sounds better live, especially now that Kyle is gone. I have to say that the best songs are the last three and Culture of Doubt.

However, whats with Mick Root making a guest appearance? Hes not only a terrible guitarrist (Phil Fasciana owns him 20 times over), but the solo is nothing more then a Kerry King-esque shred, a.k.a any guitarist whos been playing for a year can do it.

Overall though, I cant recommend it or dismiss it entirely, there was some parts I enjoyed, and some parts I could care less for. Listening to this made me have an irrestible urge to go and listen to Envenomed, however. Oh well, I recommend this over any metalcore garbage anyday.

See them live if able, definately much better.