Review: Dan Maynard
New York death metal monolith, Cannibal Corpse are set to release their sixteenth studio album, a feat that only a number of bigger bands manage in a career span such as theirs. Thirty three years after their debut release Eaten Back to Life, Corpse will release Chaos Horrific, an album so disgustingly brutal and so heavy it’ll have your eyes ripping away from their sockets while your head caves in on itself.
Opening track Overlords of Violence opens with one of the most prominent and renowned bass tones of all time. Alex Websters dirt grinding clarity driven bass tone is one that has influenced bassists all over the world and what better way to kick off an album. Full throttle into the dark abyss, the entire band is on course and it’s as fucking barbaric as you would hope for. Relentless as all hell, Overlords of Violence is nothing short of what you want from a Cannibal Corpse track and it truly is just the beginning of what’s to come.
Frenzied Feeding follows with as much intensity. Summoned for Sacrifice almost catches you off guard, with more of a grinding droning first minute, vocalist George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher absolutely demolishing the gutterals before it progresses into more intense blasting. You would be hard pressed to find a moment on this album that isn’t crushingly brutal, the riffs are massive, the tones are thick and crunchy, George is on point as usual with his signature growls and drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz kills it from start to end.
Everything right down to the production on Chaos Horrific is perfect and flawless. With a perfect level of grittiness and sludge, violent and bone breaking lyrics, combined as a whole, it all makes this album one for the ages. This is Cannibal Corpse doing what they do perfectly, this is them absolutely tearing shit to pieces and making ears bleed (in the best way possible obviously).
Pitchfork Impalement and Pestilential Rictus grind onward as we continue through this Goliath of brutality, with absolute bone shattering and disturbing lyrics that emulate only the worst of images….”Scraps of flesh hang from decrepit fangs, Necrotizing, putrid and rank, Countenance becomes a face of death Jaws fixed as the rot ferments” Mr Corpsegrinder is never short on foul imagery for the human mind. As we close with Drain You Empty, ending on a massive sludgey outro, full of hatred with lead guitars overhead and George screaming “Drain you empty” this is a perfect way to bring a Corpse album to an end.
Australia is well overdue for a tour, it’s coming, and we all know it. And I don’t know about you, but I ain’t fucking missing it!
Chaos Horrific is out now via Metal Blade Records
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