Customer Reviews

Warkult

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

 

 

This band's last album, "The Will to Kill" came out just in time for the US invasion into Iraq. With songs like "Pillage & Burn", "Superior Firepower", and "Divide & Conquer", it made the perfect soundtrack for anyone watching enough CNN or actually driving a tank through sand filled battlefields. I think the band caught on to this concept and released "Warkult" in that flavor. I could be wrong, but c'mon, coincidence?

Malevolent Creation has never been one for an "Intro Track" that is more of a mood builder than an explosion, as most of their albums open up with something that would give people heart attacks, but "Death March" is nice because it leads straight into "Pre-Emptive Strike", which is exactly like it sounds. This album is extremely brutal, and definately sticks with the "war" theme.
I have noticed that Rob Barret had a lot of influence writing on this album (as opposed to Phil Fasciana, who is the primary song writer/band founder). I can say that his stuff has a lot of energy and does the album justice.
Like most MC albums, this one took a while to grow on me. I have such high expectations for these guys, especially after The Will to Kill, and I can say that this is one of the heaviest f*ing murder-riots that they have ever released.
I'm also glad that Dave Culross (drummer)is back. Justin did a great job on the last album (I was really impressed), but you can tell that Dave just gets bored if he's not playing something over the top, and that's why he's so much fun to listen to.
"Section 8" and "On The Fields Of Battle" are the two slow songs of the album, and, back to back, create kind of a lull in the action. Personally, I would have spread these two out, but what follows definetly blows the tempo of the album back up.
Memorable tracks include "Pre-Emptive Strike", "Supremecy Through Annihilation", "Tyrannical Oppression", and "Shock & Awe". "Ravaged by Conflict" is the probably in the top 3 heaviest songs by MC, ever. It is like a pneumatic pile driver blazing through concrete (if there actually was such a thing, sounds cool, huh?).

Malevolent Creation, in my opinion, never lets a true death metal fan down. "Warkult" (the bands 9th studio album, not including Joe Black and Manifestation) continues where "The Will To Kill" left off. When I first heard this release, I thought it was a good solid MC album. I couldn't decide whether it was better than the previous album (TWTK). But, as with every MC release, these songs keep on growing and growing on me. Everyday, I begin to realize this album is even better than "The Will To Kill".

This album doesn't hit you with an instant classic, such as "The Will To Kill", but instead opens with sort of intro type song called "Dead March". Very cool intro that kind of prepares you for the war that awaits. "Preemptive Strike" is the first real song on this album and strikes as an instant MC classic. The riffing is awesome on this one and features a melodic riff that sounds like something Amon Amarth would have wrote. The solos that follow are sick as well. "Supremacy Through Annihilation" and "Murder Reigns" come next. These two songs do the most damage, going back to back. Both songs are extremely brutal, catchy, and memorable. "Captured" features another melodic type riff that you would hear from a Swedish band. Experimental for MC, the song ends up being very catchy again. "Merciless" ends up being just that. Its a flat out brutal song with sick as hell drumming courtesy of Dave Culross. Having him back on the drums was the best thing to happen to MC in awhile. The next two tracks, "Section 8" and "On Grounds Of Battle", slow things down. "Section 8", though a good song, tends to be alittle dragged out, but still is very catchy. "On Grounds Of Battle" is the better of the two. Sort of seems epic to me with cool melodic riffs. "Tyrannic Oppression" is my favorite song off this album. Every riff in this one is sick! I love the lyrics too. Kyle really makes these songs twice as catchy as they already are. "Ravaged By Conflict" is 2 minutes long of sheer brutality. I tend to play this song the most off this album. Drumming is superb, yet again, on this one. "Shock and Awe" may be the most catchy song off this album. Awesome riffs, with catchy as hell vocal patterns, make this an MC classic again. The cover of Hobbs Angel of Death's song, "Jack The Ripper", is a cool bonus, but I rather hear the orginial material.

I would give this album a 4.5 out of 5, but I rounded it off to a 5. This not the most original release this year or this short lived century for that matter, but I think everyone should definately buy this album. Malevolent Creation were never about being the most original or most technical band ever. These guys are superb musicians and songwriters and deserve respect because they have 8 other awesome death metal releases that not many people know about. Phil and co. KEEP IT BRUTAL FOREVER \m/!!!!!

After the lackluster "Will to Kill", MC still returns less than 2 years later on a new label with an album that has only one original member: Phil Fasciana. He is the glue that keeps the tenuous DM ship known as Malevolent Creation together. Rob Barrett (beginning from Retribution-era MC) didn't jump ship which was nice and they even got Dave Culross back on drums which should've been a plus. "Warkult" doesn't even match the previous album and may go down as the most bland, effortless, most hastily made Malevolent Creation album.

The guitars chug endlessly along, often indecipherably and with the signature crunchy tone that peppers every MC album. Symons vocals are even more flat than before. There are much worse Death Metal vocalists to be sure, but even Jason Blachowicz was more convincing on vox. The only good thing I can say about him is that he has some degree of range, if only he'd use it more. Culross (drums), easily the best instrument on this album, is the only thing that saves this album from becoming a one star review. The songs blend too much together and there are no stand out tracks. The album concept...what, are they trying to jack the Bolt Thrower concept?

Malevolent Creation is a great Death Metal band, and their persistence has paid off before with the likes of great albums like "Envenomed" and the more varied "Eternal" and the classic "Retribution". All you have to do is wait for Hoffmann to come back, get some of the original members and you'll have a worthwhile album. I can only recommend this to the MC completist, which you will inevitably become if you check out their earlier works.

MALEVOLENT CREATION-WARKULT (NUCLEAR BLAST)
It's amazing to see that after so many years this band is still releasing some of the most punishing death metal without losing their edge. Despite the fact that they're still using the same formula, it manages to work so effectively well to their advantage. What makes their style of death metal listenable is their ability to employ basic song arrangements, which at times can make the material sound predictable. Practically, if you've heard the 2 minutes of a song, you''ll know the rest of it. You'll know when a blast part will kick in, or when they'll venture into midpaced territory. But as it was said, this works in their favor, and you can actually call these 'songs' as opposed to a band that throws in a bunch of riffs together but sounding unconnected from each other. Malevolent Creation has always employed a rough vocal style, which has helped them stand apart from the guttural brutal death bands. Tracks like "Supremacy Through Annihilation" and "Section 8" are among some of the best work this band has ever created, while hearing their rendition of Hobb's Angel of death "Jack The Ripper" was a welcomed surprise. Going mostly at full speed (Dave Culross is still a drum-god), but never afraid to slow things down a bit here and there, this band shows that they're still at the top of their league and this record should be a worthy addition to your collection.

Unfortunately there are few time changes and the vocals, sound awesome, but are very repetitive, nothing catchy. I know many disagree but I thought Blachowicz was the best vocalist in Malevolent Creation.

Hats off to Dave Culross...

These guys get better and better in my opinion. This is a great Cd. This band is one of my favorites anyway and they didn't dissappoint with this one. Awesome music with killer vocals.Let the annhilation begin. Great job by the Creation.

Reviewers have complained about the production of the CD, but I really dont have a problem with it. If you ever liked Malevolent Creation, you will probably like this CD. Their ability to write memorable songs clearly is what puts this band over the top compared to a band like Disgorge or Deeds of Flesh. Not to knock those two bands, but a song like Section 8 or Shock and Awe easily sticks in your mind more than any song by Deeds or Disgorge.

Recommended !

Warkult is actually Malevolent Creation's most accessible album. However, that is not saying much because not many Death Metal bands have the idea to make their albums accessible. Exceptions to this are Cannibal Corpse and Dying Fetus, who are the most accessible Death Metal bands (somewhat for Dying Fetus, though).

The music is a little different this time around. Kyle Symons, the HatePlow vocalist who provided vocals for The Will To Kill and a couple of songs in Envenomed, assumes the role as lead singer. Performance-wise, he's actually the worst of the 3 vocalists in Malevolent Creation. His growls are so generic albeit decipherable that he can't even come second to Jason Blachowicz in vocal duties and both definitely can't hold a torch for Brett Hoffmann, who is easily the best vocalist of this band.

The sound production of this album is quite unbalanced. The guitars are too loud and the bass is nearly inaudible. The drums are okay sounding. I can now hear the frequency of solos in this album, a work rarely done in their past albums since The Ten Commandments and Retribution. However, only 5-7 songs have solos. The best song in this album is Tyrannic Oppression. I admit that Symons' performance is above average in that song. Warkult also features a cover track of a highly obscure Thrash/Death Metal band from Australia called Hobbs' Angel of Death. The cover song is quite well done for a Death Metal band.

After hearing all the songs in this album, this isn't considered one of the best that Malevolent Creation has to offer. But they are still an impressive Death Metal band even though they are quite underrated. Recently, I have heard that they are making a new album called Doomsday X and they have brought back the original vocalist Brett Hoffmann(!), Jon Rubin, and bassist/(at times) vocalist Jason Blachowicz while Dave Culross, Gordon Simms, Rob Barrett, and Kyle Symons left the band, leaving Phil Fasciana (who I believe to be the most impressive DM guitarist) to be the only consistent member of the band. This is good news, but without Dave Culross (who I believe to be the most talented drummer in Death Metal in terms of precision, originality, and speed), I don't know if there will be impressive drumming in their next album.

This is not a bad album per se but Malevolent Creation are capable of so much more. If you claim to like Malevolent Creation yet have a strong distaste for Brett Hoffmann's vocals and like either Kyle Symons' or Jason Blachowicz's vocals, you are not considered a true fan of Malevolent Creation (Deathz Head, you're one of them).

79/100

First off, I like Malevolent Creation. Envenomed was very good. But to be honest, there's no post-Hoffman material worth listening to. Yeah, there's an image of a tank on the cover and it's heavy and br00tal and anyone who doesn't like it is a mallgoth poser [or whatever], but this album is simply boring. Kyle Symons proves to be one of death metal's most uncharismatic vocalists album after album, and more importantly, the band's sense of creativity and life has seemingly departed. It's easy to string together some chugging palm-muted guitar licks and call yourself death metal, but if those riffs can't serve a higher artistic purpose, it's a lost cause. I gave this album multiple chances, and whenever I hear it, I just hear one-dimensional, generic death metal. Even the awesome Dave Culross couldn't save this one.

Malevolent Creation never fails to release a good album. case in point: the "Warkult" album. they gone astray from the path they usually walk on, which is murder, to a new path: war. they managed to cover "Jack the Ripper" by an obscure Australian band, Hobbs Angel Of Death, which definitely made a nice touch on this cd. how ironic, they have a song called "Shock and Awe" which seems to be their program with every album. they don't exactly cause peoples' mouths to drop to the ground (that's Krisiun's job) but they still impress.