UMUR
"The Will to Kill" is the 8th full-length studio album by US death metal act Malevolent Creation. The album was released through Arctic Music Group in November 2002. It´s the first out of two Malevolent Creation albums to feature former HatePlow and Sickness vocalist Kyle Simons. Brett Hoffmann only contributed vocals to "The Fine Art of Murder (1998)" and "Envenomed (2000)" before he made his second departure from the band. However he would return to the band again and replace Simons for the recording of "Doomsday X (2007)". "The Will to Kill" also features new drummer Justin DiPinto (Divine Rapture, Pyrexia) who replaces Dave Culross (Suffocation, Pyrexia, HatePlow).
...but of course numerous lineup changes have been a part of Malevolent Creation´s history since day one, but as long as guitarist and main composer Phil Fasciana is leading the band, you can always count on what you get with a Malevolent Creation album. "The Will to Kill" is no different from the rest of their discography in that regard. New lead vocalist and drummer or not.
The music on the album is death metal with brutal thrash metal leanings. No surprises there. New lead vocalist Kyle Simons has a more "regular" death metal type vocal delivery (still intelligible) than the more thrashy/distinct sounding Brett Hoffmann. It´s not necessarily a bad thing though, it´s just an observation. The musicianship is as always on a high level. Fast riffing, mid-paced heavier parts, precision drumming and lots of aggression. Now you can argue that the band haven´t developed much since they started playing music (and you of course wouldn´t be completely wrong), but it´s actually besides the point, as Malevolent Creation have always aimed at staying true to their basic style with only small tweaks and twists along the way.
"The Will to Kill" is overall another strong album by Malevolent Creation. I wouldn´t call it among their best, but there are still very few acts that play US death metal in such a convincing fashion as Malevolent Creation do. Just take a listen to the opening title track for proof of a hookladen, brutal and powerful death metal track. The sligthly "dry" sound production doesn´t enhance my listening experience, but the production is still professional and ultimately it´s probably an aquired taste. "The Will to Kill" deserves a 3.5 star (70%) rating in my book.