UMUR
"Envenomed" is the 7th full-length studio album by US death metal act Malevolent Creation. The album was released through Arctic Music Group in October 2000. "Envenomed" features the same lineup that recorded "The Fine Art of Murder (1998)", which marks the first time in the band´s career up until that point that they had recorded two albums in a row with the same lineup. The album was re-titled "Envenomed II" and reissued with three bonus tracks (one Dark Angel cover and two re-recorded demo tracks from the eighties) through Arctic Music Group in July 2002.
The music on "Envenomed" is US death metal with a brutal thrashy edge. That´s of course no surprise if you are familiar with the preceeding material by the band, as they´ve pretty much stuck to their guns since day one. Fast aggressive riffing/drumming somewhere between death metal and brutal thrash metal and a raw/hoarse growling vocal delivery. The last couple of albums have seemed slightly uninspired to me and both "In Cold Blood (1997)" and "The Fine Art of Murder (1998)" also feature sound productions that leave a bit to be desired. Thankfully that´s not the case with "Envenomed", which I consider a return to form. The songwriting is convincing and the sound production is powerful and does the music justice.
The playing is as usual of high quality. These guys are a tight playing unit and deliver the aggressive tunes with conviction. The fact that the band haven´t developed their sound much since their debut is a slight issue but isolated seen "Envenomed" is a great death metal album deserving a 3.5 star (70%) rating.