Review of the Album "the Ten Commandments" by Florida Death Metal Band Malevolent Creation

Malevolent Creation is a death metal band from Tampa, Florida that I would hear about back when I was in high school but I just started to browse their material. Their 1991 studio album called The Ten Commandments is their debut studio album and features the rough, yet raspy vocals of the late Bret Hoffman who passed away in 2018.

In terms of the song titles, they are similar to other extreme metal bands of that era such as Cannibal Corpse. But then again, that’s extreme metal for the fans.

The album begins with the song called “Memorial Arrangements” as there is the sound of wind blowing plus the heavy, slow riffing. The sound is very much like what you will hear on these early death metal albums in the Florida death metal scene of that day. This first song has riffs that repeat so it may not seem like much at first. Then there is narration about laying a man to rest but they are mocking him as you can clearly tell by the narration alone. Premature Burial features the death metal growl of Bret Hoffman as lyrically, Malevolent Creation resembles Cannibal Corpse. How can someone be deceased before they are dead? Musically though, these guys resemble the band Death founded by the late Chuck Schuldiner and that’s a good thing because he was one of the finest guitar players of the entire Florida death metal scene. Even Malevolent Creation as a band is still better than bands such as Obituary that lacks anything impressive. Anyway, on the topic of this album The Ten Commandments, this is a decent start to this album.

This sounds like I am repeating myself here but when I suggest that these bands stay away from cheesy, violent, over the top song titles, there is good reason for this. It is bad for our subconscious minds and these titles aren’t good for our youth but music is a huge form of entertainment that makes lots of money.

Stylistically though, let’s give these guys credit for their technical skills and this sounds like music we would have heard from Individual Thought Patterns which would be released in 1993, not long after this album was released. There is a Chuck Schuldiner style growl from Bret in the song called “Impaled Existence.”

Some of you may be wondering since this is the first album from these guys, are there any pros to this album? In terms of speed, decent drumming, and good death metal vocals, this album is not lacking in that way which is very good. Overall, “The Ten Commandments” is a good release and in terms of death metal albums I have heard better ones but I write this review with gratitude for the Southern US heavy metal scene!