Stillborn

The third album by any death metal band is usually a disappointment. There are exceptions, but the best death metal is made by bored youngsters in their late teens or early twenties. Key ingredients include naivety and ambition, the latter bolstered through scene competition. Great bands tend to ascend over a series of demos, and peak on a classic debut album (which tends to feature the best songs from the demo period). Most death metal bands decline after that, either relying on genre tropes or overthinking things.

The third Malevolent Creation album was given the apt title of "Stillborn". It indicates the prototypical decline better than almost any other record I know. When this came out in 1993, the band had made two death metal classics ("The Ten Commandments" and "Retribution"). This album features a near-identical line-up to the latter, though guitarist Rob Barrett was replaced by Jon Rubin (from Monstrosity). Unfortunately, this resulted in the band repeating the cliches they had invented on their previous material. Even the superb Dan Seagrave artwork cannot disguise the abject pointlessness of the whole exercise.

The majority of “Stillborn” feels like a shadow from the band's past. Generic death metal songs like "Geared for Gain" and "Carnivorous Misgivings" comprise the bulk of the album. Tracks like these are so dull and formulaic that they barely warrant description. They are lifeless shells of superior songs from “Retribution”. Elsewhere, there are more interesting moments that show the band experimenting with melody and tempo. The title track is one example. It (almost) sounds like a death metal ballad, featuring some Testament-ish lead playing. It doesn't quite work but at least it sounds original. The best song on the album is "Disciple of Abhorrence", a longer, stretched number with excellent soloing.

Even at its best, the album is still hindered by lethargy and boredom. Brett Hoffmann’s vocal performance has none of the nastiness and urgency of the first two albums. Alex Marquez’s drums are decent, but he doesn’t sound as powerful as he once did (both would leave the band soon afterwards). The production doesn’t help. This was recorded at Pro Media Studios, which also recorded Demented Ted's "Promises Impure" and Atheist's "Elements" in the same year. "Stillborn" suffers from the same issues as those albums, having a lifeless snare sound and a brittle guitar tone. Both those albums were interesting records stifled by bad productions, “Stillborn” is a bad record worsened by a bad production.

Sure, you could argue that this is a solid album that delivers all the tropes of the death metal genre (hard riffs, fast drumming, decent soloing, lots of growling). People who are happy to reduce death metal to a checklist exercise might enjoy it. Personally, I cannot abide this kind of thing. “Stillborn” was redundant before it even existed. There are no circumstances where anyone should listen to this instead of “Retribution”, ever.

I'm not sure if it can be attributed to creative constipation, or a dead set determination to maintain stylistic consistency through a career of diminishing returns, but Malevolent Creation are a band that peaked early and then proceeded to write what is essentially the same album through several decades. Okay, not the exact SAME album, there are minor deviations here or there, shifts in their production paradigms, altered rosters, curving apertures of slower and faster based material, but you catch my drift. I don't mean to hate on the band, because there is a positive side to this strategy (or lack of a strategy): the band has never, to my knowledge, released a stinker of a record, at least not a full-length under this particular moniker (the side band Hateplow is another story).

Stillborn was their third and final album through Roadrunner, and had absolutely nothing going for it over its predecessors. There were a few personnel changes, with Rob Barrett (guitar) and Jason Blachowicz (bass) exiting and Jon Rubin (guitar) coming on board, but other than that, it's a facsimile of the concepts the band were already utilizing. Perhaps this is a little more 'slamming' than the first two albums, as tracks like "The Way of All Flesh" and "Genetic Affliction" have some tremendous, concrete cracking breakdowns, but this was not at all unusual for US death metal as such chugging grooves strode hand in hand with a largely crossover audience. All the riffs are performed here with competence and energy enough to compete with any of their Florida peers, and yet the music just never seems to stick. Bruising the listener, but never really breaking skin.

I enjoy the lead breaks throughout the album, and a few tracks like "Dominion of Terror", "Ethnic Cleansing" and the desperate, thriving finale "Disciples of Abhorrence" offer more or less what you'd expect from an active, touring band like this: dynamic awareness and decisive, taut brutality. Alas, the sound here is just not all that great. I felt a greater disparity between the volume of Brett Hoffmann's vocals and the music pummeling beneath them, and there are very few interesting or exciting rhythm guitars I'd ever desire to puzzle out or revisit. Most of the Malevolent Creation full-lengths inhabit the same breadth of the qualitative spectrum, but there's nothing on Stillborn you can't get elsewhere, and better, even from Fasciana and co. themselves. This is one of the band's studio lows. The Ten Commandments, Retribution, and a number of the Malevolent albums since this one simply have more to offer from both the songwriting and production perspectives.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Stillborn is Malevolent Creations’ most emotionally hard-hitting and disturbing moment. A lot of fans and even Phil himself say this album isn’t up to par with the previous two.. I don’t know what the fuck they’re listening to because Stillborn slays.

“Dominated Resurgency” kicks things off with one of the eeriest intros ever made before bringing the heat with a killer riff that couldn’t have been written by anyone but Malevolent. Once they really get into it the dark and unnerving atmosphere sucks you in and sets the stage for the rest of the album. The first guitar solo in “Dominated” is GODLY and if you don’t feel the need to rewind and hear it again then your love of metal is questionable at best. The second solo in this song continues where the first left off and brings it together making this one very unified and fulfilling track, and the fun’s only just begun. This isn’t a one-off either, tons of solos are scattered throughout Stillborn and Phil Fasciana is the master of short but sweet and moving solos.

Stillborn is filled with intense, powerful riffs, as well as the smooth shifts in song structure that hold a distinctive sound no other band can duplicate. “Carnivorous Misgivings” is one of the best examples, they do a ton of shit in this song but it comes together so smoothly and is founded on one of the most memorable riffs around. The vocals are a little different from the previous two albums, losing that pained, semi-clean thrashy tone in exchange for full-on death metal vocals, although the style of singing remains the same – mostly shouting as opposed to grunting or growling as you see with other death metal vocalists. Not for the worse, either, the vocals are different but in no way inferior to those on The Ten Commandments or Retribution.

And the so-called issue with this album? Murky production.. it’s hard to deny that Stillborn sounds muffled, not only compared to the other Malevolent albums but compared to any high-quality death metal album, especially what you’d expect from a label like Roadrunner! It’s no secret there was a little heat between RR and the band at this time, you could say the sound on Stillborn is symbolic of that. However, the poor production adds an ominous feel to the music. I doubt Stillborn would’ve been as unsettling in its atmosphere if it had a cleaner sound, and unless you’re listening to this alongside some other album I have never understood why the sound quality is such an issue for listeners. I guess I forgot to mention it’s DEATH METAL, so why not grow some balls and enjoy Stillborn for what it is instead of bitching about its unpolished sound?

Another thing people take issue with is the musicianship, that the band members don’t sound like they’re on the same track. Well I’m here to tell you that’s slander and where I’m from, you get both your ears cut off for slandering something as awesome as Stillborn. The drumming is a little awkward at times, but even that doesn’t depreciate the music, and if you’re so nitpicky about everything being “just so” then you should just stick to the robo-music of the modern technical death metal bands. Or better yet – go bake your head in the oven.

Stillborn is some excellent old-school death metal with a crushing atmosphere and tons of personality. A unique album in the Malevolent catalog and death metal in general, even its so-called shortcomings make Stillborn perfect in its own way. When I hear the unsettling ambient sounds and spoken vocals injected into the end of “Disciple of Abhorrence” and thus finishing off Stillborn, I can only describe this album as amazingly disturbing. What an original album, and what a shame that it gets overlooked as imperfect. Stillborn is one of two albums that solidified me as a Malevolent Creation fan and remains a favorite, this will always be an album with personality and a powerful sound no matter what people find to complain about.

The lights dim and the chattering winds down, eventually ceasing altogether, replaced by a quiet uneasy tension. The intro begins. An unusually low heavy note creeps slowly into an audible state, setting the mood. The tension is briefly undercut by the sound of popcorn being munched a few rows away and someone trying to stifle a belch…emitting a noise like a humming ogre…but more ominous notes enter the fray as the overall volume rises. The suspense and utter creepiness quickly accelerates as this spooky intro suddenly races towards its climax as haunting moans wash over the audience. The music becomes furiously loud as the intro reveals itself…forming the word…ALIENS.

This intro was also borrowed directly as the opening for Malevolent Creation’s third CD, Stillborn. It’s also unfortunately the most memorable aspect of the entire album, with Dan Seagrave’s artwork coming in second. Yeah, this collection of songs is rough going.

The intro is appropriate in a sense, considering that there is some common ground involving Stillborn and certain ideas and characteristics of the Alien franchise. First off, it becomes apparent right away that Brett Hoffmann is singing through a ‘face hugger’. Muffled, exhausted and generally losing the will to live, his vocal delivery is pretty much a poison cloud that hovers over the entire recording…making it a chore to sit through (like parts of the latter two Alien films). There are a few occasions where he suddenly writhes out of his stupor to unleash an ungodly scream, particularly near the end of Dominion Of Terror, as if the face hugger did its job and now a slithering alien beast is bursting forth through his chest cavity. At least it provides a couple of moments of excitement within this run-of-the-mill offering.

Like the alien queen crapping out identical eggs from her translucent sac, Stillborn spits out each song in a similar passionless manner. The production gives the guitar a rather weak sound with little to nonexistent bass to back it up, while the drums are very much high in the mix yet terribly sterile in tone. Seriously, it sounds like Alex was wailing away on one of those ‘hexagon’ electronic drum kits that seemed cool in the 80’s. After their respective intros, The Ten Commandments and Retribution attacked like a swarm of aliens on unsuspecting marines, yet here, thanks to a lower budget, the impact is more akin to receiving a pout from Newt as she clutches her fucked up dolly.


The playing itself is not bad, but not terribly inspired either. Acting like Bill “GAME OVER MAN” Paxton just wanting to get the fuck outta the place, the guitar solos seem rushed and tacked on as an afterthought, with little of the enthusiasm displayed in earlier affairs. The riffs themselves often come across as rehashed and lackluster, but there are some catchy moments that include portions of the opening track and the title track as well that I can’t deny. Production aside, the drumming is fairly competent, with furious blastbeats and slower sections getting equal time, except that since there’s not much dynamics going on, a robot such as Lance Henrikson’s Bishop could achieve the same results, but even tighter and more precise. There’s no point mentioning Jason Blachowicz; he could have been chomped on by four rows of teeth and torn to shreds before recording began and he wouldn’t have been missed. Maybe he was since guitarist Phil apparently played bass for this recording (or at least it states in the MA that he did since I couldn’t hear any bass).

Unlike the film Aliens, Stillborn’s highpoint is essentially at the beginning and gradually becomes tedious and excitement free as each track, particularly during the latter half of the album, rears its ugly head only to go through the motions required of the death metal genre before sinking back to its gooey abode. There’s no spark, no flame throwers, no suicide grenade blasts…nothing. It’s actually not a terrible album per se, just incredibly mediocre compared what this band could accomplish when they gave a shit.

If I had to compare the first three albums of this band with a character from Aliens, it would go like this:

The Ten Commandments: Pvt. Vasquez. Tough, jacked up chick that seems permanently pissed off. Like the album, there are some flaws here and there, such as why would she carry such an oversized weapon when in an attack her mobility would be dangerously compromised? Still, the power and rage is in full effect.

Retribution: Ripley in that robotic forklift thing. A human machine spouting crowd pleasing one liners and kicking alien queen ass is not something to be fucked with.

Stillborn: Paul Reiser’s Carter Burke. As menacing as a garter snake, but not lacking in devious qualities. Like his character screwing over the rescue squad, getting this album the day it came out based on their previous two albums, I remember feeling completely duped and even betrayed.

So, now that the show is over and the credits are rolling, I’ll just end all this with a quote from Hudson:

"Hey, maybe you haven't been keeping up on current events, but we just got our asses kicked, pal!"

I’ve never understood why this album has been so bad treated by many. Yes, Malevolent Creation is not my favourite band in this field and this album shocked a bit for the raw, essential production but, on the other side, we cannot deny that this album contains good tracks. Even Suffocation had the same “problem” with the production with Breeding The Spawn album and in the same year, but seems to me they’re both filled with good songs and their burden of anger almost never went away. Everything in Stillborn is malevolent, dark and, despite the production, quite heavy.

This is the album to me that marked a new way for Malevolent Creation; a way that is closer to the modern (or simply, more recent) efforts by this band. “Domination Resurgency” alternates fast up tempo parts and blast beats to hyper heavy mid-paced parts where the bass drum is always pounding and brutal. The “low-budget” production contributes in creating a really morbid and apocalyptic aura that surrounds all these compositions. The guitars seem thrasher in the distortion and everything sounds even more pissed-off and sincere respect to the past. The whole band is able to be furious, fucking compact and abrasive.

The essential riffs and the solos on “Way of All Flesh” are very good and the same can be said for the powerful blast beats. The tremolo picking riffs without the too buzzy production of the past albums have acquired something in malevolence too. Sometimes they are reminiscent of a certain form of black metal and the blasting stop and go are really well-done. The vocals are “suffocated”, raw and incredibly pure. It’s like being with Brett in the studio while he’s recording. His scream at the end of “Dominion of Terror” is to remember. In “Geared for Gain” the blast beats always remind me the ones by the first wave of death/grind and the guitars lines are truly evil.

The title track has a good mid-paced beginning with good duets by the guitars. The atmosphere is dark and the crescendo of violence has its climax in the out of the blue fast start. What I always cannot hear is the bass sound and that’s a pity because it could fill the raw sound with more violence. “Ordain the Hierarchy” is remarkable for the long up-tempo/blast beats sections and the nastiness it comes from, like also the following “Carnivorous Misgivings” that, anyway, this time is a bit dull and uninspired in some moments. “Genetic Affliction” is obliterating during the blast beats parts and the furious stop and go.

“Ethnic Cleansing” is the weakest track of the album for its too slow and boring progression. The riffs are bland even during some up tempo parts while the solos are not bad. “Disciple of Abhorrence” is a 6 minute track and shows a return to good riffs and more convincing drumming. The vocals are always quite brutal and the good alternation of fast paced parts to more doom others is good to make this song enjoyable despite the length. Overall, I enjoyed this album. The production is what it is but the tracks are good and to me, better that the ones on the previous albums.

By the way, if you don’t like the too low-budget production and you loved the first albums, it can be shocking for you to listen to Stillborn. Even if liked it, I must admit that it has some flaws and it’s not so required for a death metal band; fortunately Malevolent Creation overwhelmed this obstacle by brutalizing the instruments

There is no such thing as a band that can constantly create masterpiece after masterpiece without a bad release. No matter how strong a band starts out, they'll eventually run out of ideas and make something not up to par with their other releases. Malevolent Creation suffered from this painful reality back in 1993 when they released the disappointing "Stillborn" after receiving incredible feedback from their first two albums. The fans expected another grand Malevolent Creation disc, but what they got was a poorly produced CD with faults up the ass. The title of this album pretty much sums it up: Malevolent Creation tried to give birth to another fantastic record after releasing two legendary CDs, but it was a dead effort before it was born, if that makes sense.

Malevolent Creation's first two albums had brutality and power that tested the limits of death metal and redefined the genre, yet "Stillborn" is the exact opposite of that because of its generic nature and lack of creativity. The guitar work is just a lame collection of repetitive riffs with foreseeable changes and no technical elements whatsoever. There are usually two riffs for each song that switch at predictable intervals with an occasional slow part thrown in. Some of the solos are ok, but most of the guitar work on "Stillborn" is completely forgettable.

Alex Marquez's percussion is severely restricted here because half of his performance is just simple drum patterns. There are many parts of this album that have slow beats during fast riffing, which end up sounding out of place and disorganized. Marquez brings some satisfactory aspects when he lives up to his chaotic potential, but most of those moments are rare and don't come very often. It's rather painful knowing the musical effort here could have been great, but it's instead a poorly written LP with few good features.

This record is also cursed with ghastly production that sounds totally rundown and cheap. Brett Hoffmann's vocals are way too muzzled and distorted whilst his bandmates are shrouded with faded guitar volume with an unnecessary emphasis on the drumming. The loud percussion eclipses most of the riffing and it all just sounds like chaos (in a bad way, of course) when Hoffmann's growls enter the scene. To get a better picture of "Stillborn," just imagine "Retribution" with recycled music, distorted vocals, and awful sound quality.

Knowing the same band that created "The Ten Commandments" and "Retribution" was also responsible for this disaster is a tough pill to swallow. Just about everything else Malevolent Creation has done beats the crap out of "Stillborn," so unless you truly love this band, I suggest you stay away from this album.

This review was written for: http://www.Thrashpit.com

This is Malevolent Creation's third full lenght album, and the title pretty much says it all. Stillborn was actually the first MC album I ever heard, and I didn't completely realize how bad it was until I heard their classic sophomore release "Retribution".

Hearing a band say that the recording of an album was a bad experience is usually a bad omen, and this album proves that theory. Phil Fasciana himself told me they had a terrible time recording this album, and it shows in the music (Suffocation's Breeding the Spawn comes to mind).

You see, MC's first 2 albums ("The Ten Commandments" and "Retribution") were two frantic, savage slabs of thrashy death metal, with some crushing slower moments thrown in for good measure. This album, however, completely lacks that energetic, balls-to-the-wall feel that made those 2 albums so awesome. For one thing, the production is very weak and the songwriting is not much better. Some of the songs don't seem to go anywhere. The vocals are drenched in reverb, and they sound very muffled. It's painfully obvious that Brett Hoffman was not trying at all.

This album does have some bright spots, but they are few and far between. The first 3 songs are pretty decent and the leads are better than those on "Retribution", but other than that, I really can't think of anything positive to say about this album.

Bottom line, skip this one unless you're a die-hard fan.