Review Summary: a bunch of good ideas executed in a boring/Cannibal Corpse way.
So with my first listen of Evisceration Plague, I thought for a second that Cannibal Corpse had improved over their career and had finally made the awesome death metal that they had the potential to make, proven on inconsistent but great albums like The Bleeding and Tomb of the Mutilated. After that first listen, however, I remembered one thing, that Alex Webster is a gore-obsessed nut and who soully gives everything his fans want, that gory, slimy, and grimy death metal that they are highly known for. So yes, Evisceration is a slight improvement over the inconsistency of other Cannibal Corpse releases, but it’s only an improvement in that sense. As a whole, it is much more consistent, but it’s more consistent in the fact that’s its also as brutal as it is generic.
Essentially, this is Kill 2.0, with Cannibal Corpse moving into a more technical range. The riffs have a certain frenzied motion to them, and for some tracks, it works. “Scalding Hail” can be noted for its short length and its grind influence in the fact that it punches everything into a single burst. “To Decompose” as well, features this sort of combustible factor, but even more so, with Cannibal Corpse experimenting with a Necrophagist-like arpeggiation. “Evidence in the Furnace” is possibly the fastest track of these, entire starting o with some System of A Down-like riffing and moving into a more de-tuned Slayer sound. However, Cannibal Corpse doesn’t just experiment with quicker, grindier sounds here; Alex Webster instead has also added a hint of metals from all over. The title track maybe one of the few cases of a death metal ballad, and if not that, then it moves in a more doom-like pattern to the music. It’s still heavily Cannibal Corpse, and while the riffs are much slooooooooooooower, they still have a purely CC feel, but its just something completely new for Cannibal Corpse.
However, despite all this experimentation, what went on to make this boring still? Well, while the ideas are all excellent, they aren’t exactly superbly carried out. It feels like Cannibal Corpse went through their book of influences and just made songs spread out and diverse just for the sake of it and it sounds as boring as all hell. Yeah sure, the look-at-us-we-can-do-what-Necrophagist-do-to tracks are fun to listen to, but damn it does it get tiring after a while. With multiple listens you realize this just another Cannibal Corpse album with layers of ‘experimentation’ to make it spicier and fresher. It’s an entertaining listen every once and a while, but don’t expect anything more than that.
Evisceration Plague, again, is a great first listen and its mediocre after that. It’s somewhat ambitious, and that’s only if taking every influence you can while still remaining the same boring band is ambition. It is one of Cannibal Corpse’s better albums, for sure, but it’s still incredibly tiring to listen to and lacks any originality. No doubt, it will keep CC fans incredibly happy, but for people who want something aspiring in death metal, well, you’re retarded if you went to CANNIBAL CORPSE for that. Alex Webster doesn’t give a f
uck about you anyways.
