The Ten Commandments

In the late 1980s and early to mid-1990s, the small Roadrunner label was home to numerous underground death metal, grindcore and thrash bands, many of which could not have cared less about appealing to rock's mainstream. One of the company's noteworthy grindcore/death releases of 1991 was Malevolent Creation's The Ten Commandments, a dark and morbid effort addressing such topics as dismemberment, torture, the occult and human sacrifice. This isn't a brilliant album, nor is it very distinctive. But it is exhilarating, and one of the things that makes it effective is Bret Hoffmann's tortured, choked lead vocals. While other grindcore singers are difficult or impossible to understand -- and make a point of being that way -- it's usually easy to understand the lyrics Hoffmann is belting out. So when the Florida band tears into such gruesome offerings as "Multiple Stab Wounds," "Remnants of Withered Decay," and "Thou Shall Kill!," one knows just how gruesome they are. ~ Alex Henderson