ALBUM REVIEW: The 13th Beast – Malevolent Creation
Few geographic scenes boast the level of pedigree and longevity in heavy metal as the Florida death metal scene. From the essential bands that helped spearhead the genre to notoriety like DEATH, MORBID ANGEL and OBITUARY to more obscure outfits that have remained slightly more underground such as BRUTALITY, SOLSTICE and HELLWITCH, Florida has played home to a legion of death metal bands since the genre’s inception. MALEVOLENT CREATION never quite achieved the same level of success as their peers in DEICIDE or CANNIBAL CORPSE, yet the Fort Lauderdale outfit released two of the Florida scene’s most beloved albums with The Ten Commandments and Retribution, and after plodding through the late ’90s and 2000s with a series of mostly-solid records, the quartet are back with the aptly titled The 13th Beast.
After losing the rest of MALEVOLENT CREATION in 2016, last founding member and guitarist Phil Fasciana had to rebuild the band from the ground up. South African death metal veteran Lee Wollenshlaeger joins Fasciana on guitar, also handling vocal duties, while Philip Cancilla (ex-NARCOTIC WASTELAND) and Josh Gibbs (ex-SOLSTICE) handle drum and bass duties, respectively, for MALEVOLENT CREATION‘s 13th full length. With a fresh line-up and new personalities contributing to the song-writing, The 13th Beast harnesses an energy that puts much of MALEVOLENT CREATION‘s post-Retribution catalogue to shame.
Taken individually, the majority of the songs across The 13th Beast range in quality from solid to brilliant – throughout, the song-writing is typically well executed. However, when listening to the record as a full package, it becomes clear that there’s a bit of a lack of variation and memorability at play here, with much of the album blending together in a blur of brutality. That said, The 13th Beast has it’s share of stand out moments. Opening track End The Torture has a horrifying intro before kicking into one of the catchiest riffs on the album and an all-out assault of pure old-school death metal, while single tracks Mandatory Butchery and Decimated show MALEVOLENT CREATION at their most thrashy and most crushing.
The first half of The 13th Beast is definitely the strongest. Following from lead single Mandatory Butchery, MALEVOLENT CREATION deliver a series of absolute ragers. Agony Of The Chosen and Canvas Of Flesh showcase some of the best riff work The 13th Beast has on offer, perfectly oozing the old-school death metal style MALEVOLENT CREATION‘s style is built on. Born Of Pain offers a slight change of pace, bringing a stompier, more groove-focused style to play, while The Beast Awakened bring the ferocity and intensity to the forefront. By this point in The 13th Beast, however, the constant barrage of aggression is beginning to turn the record into a blur, and you can’t help but feel the album would be stronger if a couple of the B-side fillers had been left on the cutting room floor. That said, MALEVOLENT CREATION save some of their best work for last with a serious contender for the album’s strongest song: Release The Soul. Mixing the more crushing groove of Born Of Pain with the ferocity the majority of The 13th Beast offers and an evil atmosphere, Release The Soul brings the album to an excellent close.
At it’s best, The 13th Beast showcases a glorious throwback to what made the heyday of the Florida death metal scene so fun, and while it lacks much deviation from a tried and tested formula, it puts to rest any fears MALEVOLENT CREATION fans may have had about the band’s future in recent years. Wollenshlaeger in particular has truly smashed it with his vocal performance across The 13th Beast, maintaining a high energy and clarity, despite the guttural nature of his voice. However, the album is burdened by a lack of memorability, and a few filler tracks – that said, this is a promising look at what the future may hold for the old-school legends.
Rating: 7/10
The 13th Beast is set for release January 18th via Century Media Records.
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