Location: Tampa, Florida
Country: USA
Genre: Death metal
Full Length: Violence Unimagined
Format: Digital, CD
Label: Metal Blade Records
Release date: April 16, 2021
It’s a Mother’s Day Massacre, complete with brutal death metal done only as Cannibal Corpse can. This band needs no formal introduction apart from their longevity and the inspiration they’ve had for extreme metal bands the world over. The band are all in their fifties by now and still channel the energy and aptitude they put into their material on their 1990 debut “Eaten Back To Life”. I still remember hearing that album for the first time, and basically get the same feeling from “Violence Unimagined”.
I heard a lot of good things about this album so I imagine it was inevitable I’d check it out given how long I’ve been a fan. Listening for myself I wasn’t disappointed. Some might think the songs here are of the same formula since “Vile” or “Gallery of Suicide” but CC proves that bands can grow on their own terms by perfecting what they have, and are no less valid than bands that incorporate different genres into their songwriting, as long as it’s natural and honest. After all, many blues and hard rock bands gather fans while staying in well-defined genres; why not brutal death metal bands like Cannibal Corpse?
Also, I wouldn’t be so quick to judge CC as formulaic since they’ve always expanded on their core influences finding new ways to improve their musicianship. Songs like “Inhumane Harvest”, “Ritual Annihilation”, “Follow the Blood” and “Bound and Burned” show the band working together to compose good songs without overstepping their boundaries. This is precisely the attitude that has led them to consistently release ferociously barbarous albums with top-notch professional delivery that promises nothing less than pure skull-crushing savagery. Their longevity speaks for itself as they’ve never let the fans down.
The addition of lead guitarist Erik Rutan (guitarist for Hate Eternal, producer of Morbid Angel, Vital Remains, Soilent Green, Goatwhore, etc) is fitting for the direction CC takes on “Violence Unimagined”. As the newest member, he tailors his style to the rest of the band while adding new dimensions to their thrash metal roots. Especially so in his solo work in “Necrogenic Resurrection” and “Surround, Kill, Devour”. Not only that but every song has a distinctly different theme and structure, so you won’t become lost between songs, and vocalist George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher displays diction in his guttural vocal fry, with or without a lyric sheet. I hope I’ve said enough about this album but I think you get the idea. Another winner from this brutal band. –Dave Wolff
Lineup:
George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher: Vocals
Erik Rutan: Guitars, backing vocals, songwriting, lyrics
Rob Barrett: Guitars, songwriting, lyrics
Alex Webster: Bass, songwriting, lyrics
Paul Mazurkiewicz: Drums, lyrics
Track list:
1. Murderous Rampage
2. Necrogenic Resurrection
3. Inhumane Harvest
4. Condemnation Contagion
5. Surround, Kill, Devour
6. Ritual Annihilation
7. Follow the Blood
8. Bound and Burned
9. Slowly Sawn
10. Overtorture
11. Cerements of the Flayed
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