The last time I spent my money on a Malevolent Creation release was back in 1998, shortly after the group released The Fine Art Of Murder, and I was so disappointed with the effort, I gave up the band completely and gave away all of my earlier CDs of theirs. A few weeks ago I came across Warkult in a local music shop and decided to pick it up on a whim. After giving the album a few listens, I have to admit it’s a lot better than I was expecting. In the 6 years since The Fine Art Of Murder, the line-up has remained relatively intact, with the exception of the departure of vocalist Brett Hoffmann, who was kicked out for the umpteenth time for his serious drug-related issues, replaced by Hate Plow/ex-Sickness vocalist Kyle Symons. The last time I heard Kyle’s vocals was in the mid-90s when I was sent a Sickness CD to review. I just remember the album being terrible, but the vocals were pretty damn good, and that statement remains true to this day. Malevolent Creation’s overall sound has changed a bit since their 1990 debut, The Ten Commandments, as the band has undergone major line-up changes since then, and the music today has an occasionally strong Swedish death metal vibe to it, done in a Florida death metal style. The songs generally remain at mid-tempo, with a few faster bits strewn out, but the songs are fairly catchy and pretty well written, which is definitely a huge improvement in quality. The drumming of Dave Culross is top-notch on this effort and easily his best work since Suffocation’s Despise The Sun. The vocals are a gravel-sounding snarl and a sharp, but good, contrast to the later-work of Brett Hoffmann. This is easily the best Malevolent Creation release since Retribution, but still doesn’t quite match up to the aforementioned release, or any of the band’s earliest works. Though I do like this album, it doesn’t impress me as much as newer releases by other Florida-based death metal acts like Monstrosity’s Rise To Power and Capharnaum’s Fractured. I doubt Warkult will stay in my stereo for long, but I’m not disappointed I bought it, though I am starting to kick myself for giving away Ten Commandments, Retribution and Stillborn. What the hell was I thinking? I need to get those ones again.

Written By: Teufel