MALEVOLENT CREATION is one of the best Death Metal bands ever. They have survived massive line-up changes through their carrier but this has been no obstacle for them to release 10 albums along their more than 15 years old history. They have a new album called “Warkult” ready and they are playing some of the most important European festivals this next summer. We spoke by phone with their guitarist, leader and former member Phil Fasciana who revealed us the secret of being still one of the best Death Metal acts of the world…

First of all lets talk about the new album “Warkult”. What´s MALEVOLENT CREATION offering to the audience? Which are the main differences between this new album and “The Will To Kill” ?
I would say that this new album is much more diverse. Every song sounds different from the other, at least that was our intention…to compose an album with different sounds and songs.
We didn´t want to record the fastest album ever, we preferred to record a heavy and straight forward album instead a very fast one.
The main differences between the albums are that with “The will To Kill” we wrote the songs one and a half year before we recorded them and with “Warkult” it was me and Rob writing the songs 8 weeks before recording them…so I suppose this new album is much more fresh.

You repeat again with Jean Francois Degenais from KATAKLYSM on controls. How is it to work with him?
It is really easy to work with Jean Francois because he is a cool guy and a nice friend of us.
He is very nice producer and he knows exactly how we want to sound and we have the same music ideas so everything worked out perfect with him.
We actually recorded the album here in Florida at Liquid Ghost Studio and then he mixed the song in his studio in Montreal…and I think the sound is killer…he did a great mix.

“Warkult” is your second album with NUCLEAR BLAST. How are things working out with this label?
I have no complain with them. It has been really a big step for us to deal with them because they are absolutely professional. It is much better now for us and now I don´t have headaches like with the other labels in the past.
We have a really good and massive distribution, the album can be easily found in every store, we are doing a lot of press work, interviews and we have a great promotion.

You have been a band with lots of line-up changes. How is it now with the actual line-up? Which conditions does a musician need to be a MALEVOLENT CREATION member?
Yeah…in the beginning it was just crazy. During the 3 first albums I was all time watching how people was coming and going from the band and always leaving me alone.
The more important changes have been that now we have Kyle Symons on vocals instead Brett Hoffmann and that Dave Culross is back again behind the drumkit…we noticed that Dave was the best drummer we had and he also was very important for the band to work out fine so we called him again and now we have the better line-up possible.
We all have our own lives apart from the band but when we get together everything must work out ok, so what a musician needs to be part of our band is just dedication and hard work.

“Warkult” is full of lyrics about war, murder, death… What is your opinion about the world´ s military situation nowadays? Do you see the Third World War coming?
We are not a pro war band. We have always have a song about war in every album and with this new one we decided to write a conceptual album about the history of war.
I think the world is fucked up, every time I watch the TV news or read the papers I see all is full of crap and nothing is positive.
I really do hope the Third World War not to come but it is totally true that there are bad times and it is very sad to see that we are living one of the most cruel eras.

You have had problems with this illegal DVD/VHS released by Metal Mind Records. How is it now with all this shit?
Metal Mind Records ripped off a lot of bands and people and it is really bullshit that people like them are into our scene.
We are trying to stop the distribution of this crappy DVD because it is totally illegal, they have released with no permission from us.
We hope everything works out OK but I again say that it is really shit people like Tommy Dziubinski (Metal mind Records boss) should not be working in the metal business.

Because of this you are planning to release a official DVD. When is it coming out and which surprises will it contain?
We were quite fucked up because all the shit with the illegal DVD so we are trying to release our first official DVD ever. It will contain stuff from the 15 years of existence of the band.
We are still compiling stuff for the bonus, but it will contain a live show during the Brazilian Tour last year and also footage from our first show back in 1987…we also want to film some shows during this summer so we could include songs from the new album too. We are trying to get some CD´s together with the DVD, like a whole package.
I hope it will be released for September/October.

You are playing some of the most important European fests this summer…What do you prefer, big open air festivals or club gigs?
I would say club gigs because it is better for us due to the sound and it is to what we are used to.
Big open air fests are cool but it is just crazy and amazing to play in front of 30000 people for example…it is fucking scary in the beginning…watching all the crowd going nuts and we on stage playing fast and brutal …it is really strange for me to play in big stages. I´m not used to see Rob or any other guy from the band so far away from my side…but I think I will get used to this after all these big festivals where we are playing this summer…ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Tell us a bit about this Compilation Cd “Best Of” released by Roadrunner Records. How did this idea come out? What kind of relation do you have with this label?
We have no relation with the label. We didn´t know anything about this compilation until 2 months before it was released. They sent me an email asking for some photos for the artwork and after I sent them the photos they never used them.
Although we are not going to see any fucking dollar from this release I think it is cool because it is hard to find here in the States old album from Death Metal bands and it is great for the kids that are starting in this genre that they now have this release available.
What is a bit strange is calling it “Best of” because it has songs from the firsts albums…Pavement did the same…they released another “Best Of” and we only did 3 albums with them…and we have 10 albums already!!!

You are a cult band in the Death Metal genre. What you think of the success of Death Metal nowadays with all this comebacks?(SUFFOCATION, DISMEMBER…)
For me Death Metal has always being there…it is not like there is a come back of the genre.
What it is cool is that bands are selling records and that´s great.
We never stopped playing an releasing albums. I think now Death Metal is a bit stronger in the USA and in Europe it continues as strong as always.
About DISMEMBER, they are friends and they never went away…they just took a time to rest.
I think they have released a great album and that they have return to their roots and they are killer!!!
I have not hear SUFFOCATION new album but I will see them live during the summer festivals so I could tell you then…

Which new bands would you recommend us?
I am not into new bands but I would say MISERY INDEX although they are not so new…I think they are really creative and their mix of Grindcore, Hardcore, Death and Punk is really effective.
I think they are different from other bands and that´s why I like them so much.

Which band would be the concert of your dreams?
OZZY OSBOURNE with Randy Roads!!! I was 14 years old and it was my first show ever and randy just died like 2 months before…OZZY played with another British guitar player but he was crap…I would sell my soul for seeing Randy alive!!!

Which are the near future plans with MALEVOLENT CREATION?
Playing these festivals this summer: Rock Hard Fest(Germany), Skeleton Bash (Austria), Graspop (Belgium), With Full Force (Germany), Fury Fest (France), Rock The Nations (Turkey), Up From the Ground (Germany)…then also playing some dates together with DYING FETUS and others with EXODUS.
We hope to film a video-clip for the new album…maybe “Preemptive Strike” or “Murder Reigns”…although MTV has a problem with the word “Murder”..ha,ha,ha…I don´t know exactly which song will be…nevermind…all of them are brutal!!!
After that we will do a US Tour next September and a South American Tour next November playing in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Brazil…
And I hope our booking agency is doing a hard work so we could return to Europe after that with a Headlining Tour for the new “Warkult” album.

Which is the secret for being one of the best Death Metal acts ever?
Alcohol and marihuana!!! Ha, ha, ha…That´ s the big secret!!! We just love playing and we feel like kids every time we hit the stage…

Any message for the fans or any last words?
I have a lot of friends in Spain, specially in Madrid and Barcelona and I think that it is a really Metal country!!!