The remixes/outtakes/demos collection Joe Black appeared in 1996, followed the next year by In Cold Blood, which featured guitarist John Paul Soars taking Rubin's place, and drummer Derek Roddy replacing Culross. Hoffmann was gone, with the vocals now handled by bassist Blachowicz, while guitarists Fasciana and Rubin were joined by ex-Suffocation drummer Dave Culross. Those label difficulties nearly broke Malevolent Creation apart, but they eventually resurfaced on Pavement Music with a more progressive, technical approach and a revamped lineup on 1995's Eternal.

Barrett and Marquez were replaced by John Rubin (who had been in a very early lineup of the band) and 'Crazy' Larry Hawke for 1993's Stillborn, which disappointed many of the group's faithful and signaled an acrimonious end to their relationship with Roadrunner. Its sequel, 1992's Retribution, was just as strong, featuring two new members added from Solstice - guitarist Rob Barrett (who replaced Juskiewicz) and drummer Alex Marquez. Their 1991 debut album, The Ten Commandments, became something of a landmark in the death metal underground, expanding on the early work of Slayer and fellow Floridians Death. Initially inspired by the sonic and lyrical extremity of Slayer, the group landed a deal with Roadrunner Records at the dawn of the '90s, featuring a lineup of vocalist Brett Hoffmann, guitarists Phil Fasciana and Jeff Juskiewicz, bassist Jason Blachowicz, and drummer Mark Simpson. After issuing their seminal 1991 debut, the gore-soaked Ten Commandments, the band underwent some personnel and stylistic changes, moving toward a more progressive, technical death metal sound that they continued to mine on subsequent outings like Eternal (1995), Warkult (2004), Invidious Dominion (2010), and The 13th Beast (2019). Arising from the heavy metal hotbed of Florida in the early '90s (but originally from Buffalo, New York), Malevolent Creation helped define the sound and style of American death metal.

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