Okay, here's how it's going down. These guys have quite a history so I'm going to paraphrase best I can. After forming in the mid eighties and hailing from Buffalo, NY, Cannibal Corpse practically set the standard for brutal death metal music. After releasing about ten albums, the band proves that they haven't even come close to burned out after all these years. Despite being attacked by political and overly moral figures including Gore, Lieberman, Dole, and the PMRC, the band continues to feature lyrics violent enough to get them banned in Australia, New Zealand, and Korea - not to mention being forbidden from preforming any music from their first three albums in Germany where Butchered at Birth is banned from store shelves all together!
Savage Butchery - 4.25/5
Sort of a summary of the band. It packs a minute fifty of straight heaviness and their famous lyrics. The rhythm is nice and more flowing comapred to most of their stuff. Despite the length, they manage to cram angry riffs and iller solos into one small space. A great start to an album like this.
Hatchet to the Head - 4.75/5
We should all be excited now. This is another well-flowing song, but manages to keep an equilibrium of being choppy and chaotic with a feeling of "rolling rage" (like that? made it up myslef). This is easily a highlight, what with it's moshable melodies and a length that's is perfect for the song to pwn but not drone on and on. A nice, heavy, well-written song.
Pit of Zombies - 4.5/5
I always loved how this band could take the cheesiest of song titles and make it sound badass. This one flows even better than Savage Butchery, but don't worry, that won't last much longer. The blast beats and heavy riffs carry the song chugging along to the top of the album. There are some great songs, so it's not quite a highlight. Still a great song.
Dormant Bodies Bursting - 4.25/5
Here we go. Choppy, grind-esque death metal. The double bass gives feeling of carniverous urgencies, while the bass makes me feel like a tree is about to fall on me in the woods. And yes, it definitely makes a sound. The growling of "dormant bodies bursting" over and over in a gradually higher voice makes this a pretty energetic tune. Of course, this is an energetic band.
Compelled to Lacerate - 5/5
Great song. It starts out with crazy lead guitars and goes into our favorite growling while the main riffs and chorus consist of rapid power chordage. And yes, the guitar solos here are amazing as usual :thumb: .
This track is pretty unrelenting, but you'de have to hear iot to understand. I now have a sudden urge to severely cut someone...
Drowning in Viscera - 4.5/5
Gore Obsessed keeps going strong with Drowing in Viscera. It's got speed combined with heaviness gained by the rapid blast beats. George's growling seems to hang with me giving a feel of asphyxiation if you catch my drift. :naughty: Oooooohhhh...is it just me, or have the guitarists outdone themselves with both of the solos?
Hung and Bled - 4.75
Starts out pretty **** slow. It goes on instrumentally for a while (nice drumming!) untill it picks up into one of the fastest songs on the album. It's amazing how George's Cookie monster type voice can stll pronounce words so quickly and clearly. Once again we're met with a massacre of blood and decay, this time in the form of music instead of a war.
Sanded Faceless - 4.75/5
:angry: I expected to have gorier lyrics with a promising title like Sanded Faceless. Nobody's perfect. But anyhoo...killer intro! The beginning guitars, while simple and mid-paced, sound great and prgressive in volume slightly untill the whole song breaks out. Lyrically, this song has enough speed to rival Hung and Bled, but let's not get carried away here. Never forget that there's more than one use of a power sander :D .
Mutation of the Cadaver - 4.5/5
This is lyrically the most sophisticated song on the album. The song actually tells a stopry instead of random deaths followed by me bleeding from my eyes (which I have over time grown to enjoy :thumb:)The music is really good too - it's pretty creative with intesting guitar riffs of varying pitch and George holding the world's second longest scream. And - by God - that's one painful guitar solo!
When Death Replaces Life - 5/5
Alrighty then. The music intro sounds pretty evil with the slow guitars and od drum rhythms. It's got a nice long intro and after the drums speed up the song turns to a pretty dark tune. It's a nice highlight of the album. It's kind of a relaxing track after all the flat out ear-bleading music. They turn it down a notch with When Death Replaces Life to just a mild nosebleed. It's a pretty consistent track, and doesn't have their usual random blasts of death and unholy frenzy.
Grotesque - 4.25/5
starts out similar to the precedding song. It's got nice, slow music, and then picks up heavily after the drums speed up exceedingly. George's repeating one line (can't make it out) over and over, each time a higher pitch and more angst ridden, sound pretty **** sweet. It's a nice pre song for the next mindblowingly good track. Don't let the back of the CD case fool you- we still have one more pile of corpses to burn through.
No Remorse (Metallica cover/hidden track) - 5/5
Several things intially stood out that suggested that this was not Cannibal Corpse. 1. Guitar solos. Nothing they've ever done. 2. No blast beats or double bass the whole song. They mix up the drums and match the music nicely. 3. Since when does the band make a six and a half minute song? 4. And finally, George's screaming "NO REMOOOOOOOORSSSSSSSSSE..." at the end gave it away. :D . An excelllent cover and great song, even after being deathisized.
Conc...
To be honest, I love this album. Cannibal Corpse proves that they can still go strong and put out kickass music even after all these years. This is a pretty diverse record with a little something for everyone. It's a good CC CD that one not acquainted with Cannibal Corpse can start with (like I did). I don't claim to be a CC expert, but I have heard some of their older work, and this is right up there with it.
Recommended songs:
Hatchet to the Head
Compelled to Lacerate
When Death Replaces Life
No Remorse
Final Rating - 4/5
A well-rounded album from the kings of modern death
They're an institution that way, and if they tried to incorporate more variety, they'd die.
