THE BEAST

From a post this morning by Brian Hoffmans wife Kimberly Karen Hoffman it is confirmed Brian has passed away!

"I had the pleasure of seeing Brett Hoffman with Malevolent Creation live once. I think the year was 1993 I was about 15 or 16 years old it was at a small dive bar in Phoenix Arizona called The Mason Jar, if my memory is correct. 

I had originally bought a ticket to see Overkill that night but when I got there and walked up to the dude at the door with my ticket, he said sorry dude Overkill has cancelled the show. I was like what the fuck?  

As I stood there in confusion and shock and not really knowing what to say next, someone pushes the door open and walks out and I hear this blasting loud death metal sound. I ask the guy what is that?  

He says its Malevolent Creation! He tells me them and some other local bands are playing instead of Overkill. So, I said fuck man, I am going in! I walked in and saw the stage which was almost at ground level.  

I walked right up to it, put one foot up on it and started banging my head with them! 

I remember at one point my hair got caught in one of the guitar players tuning pegs and ripped a few strands of hair out but that didn’t stop me from banging my head! Then at one point Brett was growling something and saw me in front of him growling and screaming he pointed the mic at me and let me give my best war cry into the mic. This was the 3rd concert i had ever been to and it blew my mind how cool they were and I have always loved the classic debut album "The Ten Commandments"   

Anyway, that is my memory of Malevolent Creation. RIP Brett Hoffman!" - Zach Moonshine

A fundraising campaign was launched for former MALEVOLENT CREATION frontman Brett Hoffman , who was recently diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer.

The GoFundMe page , which was started by Brett 's "very close friend/family member" Tina Kuntz Mielcarek , is asking for donations to cover his "medical expenses and treatments."

Said Brett : "I have been in hospital for almost two weeks now. I've had a MAJOR surgery, many proceedures and tests. Have not eaten that entire time and have not even smelled the outside air in that time. I am, however, progressing forward. They do want me out so that I can go home and heal and rehab. That may take weeks. After that, they have a treatment they are confident in for my cancer.

"I know I have a long road and life has changed. I will still finish new album and do music. I just have a bit more important task at hand for the near future. This ,so far, has been the most trying, painful, torturous event that has EVER happened to me.

"I am on the battlewagon and I'm rolling!!! My wife, Kim , has been a rock for me!!! I love her with all my heart!!! My very close friends have all been battling with me and I've needed that support."

Brett performed on the first three MALEVOLENT CREATION releases until he left the band after 1993's "Stillborn" album. Five years later, he returned and performed on "The Fine Art Of Murder" and "Envenomed" before leaving again and being replaced by Kyle Symons . He rejoined MALEVOLENT again in 2006 and appeared on the group's last three albums, 2007's "Doomsday X" , 2010's "Invidious Dominion" and 2015's "Dead Man's Path" . He exited the group once again two years ago and was replaced by Lee Wollenschlaeger .

More recently, Brett has been involved with the FIRE FOR EFFECT project in which he was joined by guitarist and songwriter Gio Geraca ( MALEVOLENT CREATION , ASHES OF ARES ), bassist Tony Choy ( PESTILENCE ) and drummer Mike Smith ( SUFFOCATION ). Smith was later replaced by Derek Roddy ( HATE ETERNAL , NILE , MALEVOLENT CREATION ).

In a 2015 interview with Metal Rules , Brett was asked about how he developed his unique vocal style. "When I grew up, I knew I wanted to sing," he said. "I was playing bass at first and I kind of sucked at it. I tried singing and sucked at it. So I went into my room for like two years and practiced singing old JUDAS PRIEST and IRON MAIDEN with [ Bruce ] Dickinson . I practiced those screams and could do them pretty good. Then when I transitioned over to death metal it worked because I learned the right way how to do those screams. It worked."