It's like a non-stop roller coaster ride through the pits of Hell and back, drenched in sweat, you try to emerge from your seat but you're stuck there in a state of mental anguish and your mind rotted away from all the torture and torment of the preceding catastrophe that leads you out of your presumed normal life into a decaying and lifeless shell! Well. I was taught to say the first thing that comes to mind when preparing to write about a particular subject, and I defy anyone to conjure up anything even remotely different after hearing this. and we're only two songs in! I've never really been up on these guys but this is about what I expected-a full on speed metal massacre led by insurmountable double-bass and fronted growling enough to unsettle even the calmest of stomachs! Nothing fancy, nothing even remotely resembling a groove to latch onto, just unimaginative unearthly noise that'll drive you to your knees in pain or ecstasy depending on your outlook I suppose. and mine just grew incredibly dim! Now the lifespan of this band goes all the way back to the late '80s which surprises me because how many death bands arrive from so far beyond to produce something so state of the art as this is-not in the traditional sense you understand; no new age nuances or street scenes to cloud the picture, but a bleakly presented tale of sorrow, death, and eternal damnation. It figures they had to be a Roadrunner artist at some point in the past-before they basically went contemporary. So what we're looking at here is about their sixth or seventh album I believe and follows up on their "Fine Art of Murder" release from a couple years back-same band, same concept, same time honored destructive principles! What separates Malevolent Creation from the rest of the world's Death Metal breed? Damned if I know but they stick to tradition for one thing-they take the knife and not only do they plunge it into the heart of cliché, but they twist the bastard and run it all the way through in the name of all unholy! Had to do a double take for a moment skimming over the lyrics and seeing "Night of the Long Knives" as track two and immediately thought AC/DC, but no. not even close. Awfully gracious of these guys to include their lyrics, as many are prone to do. as if we can't figure 'em out for ourselves! After enough of this stuff though, you won't even care about the fact that they're "singing" about blood, death, corpses, severed bloodlines and other assorted evening news tales-soon you'll be making up your own as the evil and sadistic images that formulate in your blackening mind won't yield to that previously known measure of what once was referred to as better judgment. "Halved" is definitely the "hit" of the record so far-great lyrics, mercilessly fast and believe it, as with many, the chase is always more interesting than the catch but when you finally do "catch" it, there's a whole lot more happening than just the overstated obvious. Fans of brutality, b-movie horror and butchers of all ages will want to add this to their collection-quickly, before the world goes to Hell in a hand basket, you won't want to miss your chance at a front row seat!