Cannibal Corpse Album Review
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Band Name: Cannibal Corpse
Album Name: Evisceration Plague Rating: 4 / 5 User Rating: 0 / 5 Label: Metal Blade Records Buy Album: Amazon.com Rate Album: Rate |
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Tracklist 1. Priests Of Sodom 2. Scalding Hail 3. To Decompose 4. A Cauldron Of Hate 5. Beheading And Burning 6. Evidence In The Furnace 7. Carnivorous Swarm 8. Evisceration Plague 9. Shatter Their Bones 10. Carrion Sculpted Entity 11. Unnatural 12. Skewered From Ear To Eye |
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Like any other musical genre, trends come and go in heavy metal. In the late 80's Bay Area influenced thrash ruled the underground and the early 90's brought on a wave of death-metal bands that inspired legions throughout most of North America and Europe. With the onset of grunge and pop-punk, a lot of the heavier groups either shifted their sound around to adapt to the change or broke up all-together. No matter what was going on at any given point of time, death-metal legends Cannibal Corpse stuck to their guns; even when their original vocalist (Chris Barnes) jumped ship. If anything, the band got heavier with time. Evisceration Plague may be the Tampa, FL based act's eleventh album but you wouldn't know it from listening to it. Pat O'Brien and Rob Barrett's guitar work here is nothing short of breathtaking. The duo manage to deliver some of the most pulverizing riffs of their collective careers but song after song they do it in a hook-laden style that lends the material something many of their counterparts lack, infectiousness. It's not that the songs have obvious changes or anything; quite the contrary actually. Nothing about songs like "Carnivorous Swarm" and "A Cauldron of Hate" are predictable or when it comes down to it, conventional. But despite the technical gymnastics, these songs get stuck in your head long after they finish playing. The bulk of the songwriting was handled by founding bassist Alex Webster and he has a powerful gift for weaving memorable melodies within the often labyrinthine arrangements. Whether it's the slower, mid-tempo march of the title track or the blast beat pummel of "Scalding Hail," everything feels natural. The band maintains a level of economy that a lot of other death-metal contenders should learn from. Right from the album's start, vocalist George Fisher comes busting out of the gates like a man possessed by demons. His "Corpsegrinder" nickname is warranted again on Evisceration Plague. The frontman's growl is one of the deepest and most recognizable in the business but he doesn’t limit his attack to it. On “Priests of Sodom” he lets one of the creepiest screams this side of a Hellraiser movie showing us that he'll do whatever it takes to get his twisted point across. Although his harsh style dominates here, Fisher squeezes out some clarity out of his performances in certain spots. His cadence is also impressive with the vocalist matching the manic drum patterns and choppy guitar parts with relative ease. That specific style of growling was created by his predecessor but George has definitely perfected it. Lyrically you get what you would expect. One doesn't have to think to hard to know what songs called "Skewered from Ear to Eye" or "Beheading and Burning" are about. But like their vicious musical output, the gore aspect of their lyrics is a huge part of what makes Cannibal Corpse Cannibal Corpse. Luckily for the listener, they do it damn well! Going with Erik Rutan (ex-guitarist of Ripping Corpse and Morbid Angel) in the co-producer position proved another wise move by the veteran death dealers. His production work for groups like Goatwhore and Vital Remains is usually impressive but in Cannibal Corpse he seems to have found his true partners in crime. Being a wiz guitarist himself, he knows exactly how to coax great performances from O'Brien and Barrett. He also knows when to push the bass fader up and highlight Webster's jazz-like runs. If he's not the most inventive and influential bassists in death-metal, we don't know who is. As the reader comments here will undoubtedly show, if you weren't a Corpse fan before, you probably will never be. But you'd be foolish not to give Evisceration Plague a shot. Get past your prejudices and get lost in the music here. How can a band still do things so barbarous this late in their career? Review by: Carlos Ramirez Read Member Reviews |
