Review Summary: Cannibal Corpse's latest album does not dissapoint long time fans
Cannibal Corpse is a band that formed in 1988, in Buffalo, New York. Originally they had a much more brutal style, particularly in the years of 1988-1996, those were the years when Chris Barnes had vocal duties. Back in the Barnes era Cannibal Corpse were known for the brutal vocal approach and their gore filled lyric themes. In 1996 Barnes was replaced by the vocalist that is still currently the vocalist, George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher. Fisher has a fairly wide range. While Barnes used his brutal grunt almost 100% of the time, Fisher mixes his less brutal more powrful growls with high pitched screams. The mix of lows and highs seem to keep the album more interesting.
From the opening scream in The Time To Kill is Now you relize what you've just got yourself into. You've just entered Cannibal Corpse's twisted world. The Time To Kill is Now is the shortest song on the album running just below 2 minutes in time. It is one of the many fast paced songs on the album.
The lyrical style has changed quite a bit since Barnes left the band, it seems as though its been toned down a lot. The lyrics aren't really all that special, this is noticed most by me on the song Necrosadistic Warning, the lyrics overall are just a list of ways to torture people. Fast high pitched solos interrupt the majority of the songs, they fly by so quickly but they aren't just fast messy solos thrown in here and there, they are done percision and mesh well with the songs for the most part.
Corpsegrinders growls are filled with power, his growl truely is amazing. Some of the best vocal performances on the album can be found on the songs Make Them Suffer and Death Walking Terror. These are two total different songs. Make Them Suffer is an extremely fast paced song that is overwhelming with power and kind of catchy.
In Death Walking Terror the band takes a more brutal slowed down approach, I think the band should slow down like this more often, these seem to be their best songs the slower pace just makes them sound creepier. The bass leaks into the mix on the song Murder Worship, I think it would be a wise decision if they gave the bassist more time to be heard he has a great amount of talent.
Cannibal Corpse has definetely became more technical since Corpsegrinder joined, this shows on the majority of the tracks on this album. The guitars can go from crushing almost chugged chords to high pitched squeels in an instant. A lot of the riffs still remain catchy, not as catchy as Hammer Smashed Face, but still fairly catchy and memorable. Some of the riffs on the album can sound recycled though.
The instrumental track Infenite Misery sounds like a standard Cannibal Corpse song just without vocals, which was kind of dissapointing I was hoping with the instrumental they would explore their musical talent more, but to be honest that was the only flaw I found in this album. It's still a good attempt, but it honestly kind of took away from the album, because if your going to have an instrumental at least make it something experimental. I this case it just seems like it is an instrumental because Fisher was too busy playing WoW to show up to lay down vocals.
Overall I give this album a 4.5 out a 5. The album never drags in my opinion, and it has tons of replay value. Corpsegrinders powerful growl is great, and his highs are excellent too. There is enough vocal variation to keep me happy. The guitarwork is technical at times and simple at times with a very good balance. Some of the songs are catchy enough to get stuck in your head. The drumming is your typical blastbeats most of the time, but they mesh well with the music and they are higher in the mix of the music this time around. The production is done well. Sorry if a came off as a fanboy when your reading this but I find this album to be a true classic. *** THE ALLIANCE!!!
