On the face of it, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” is the perfect motto for death metal icons Cannibal Corpse. After thirty-five years of blood splattered riffs and gore drenched lyrics, you know exactly what to expect and disappointment is a rarity. However, despite the technicality so clearly on display, the band’s musical proficiency is often overlooked by those who choose to concentrate on the cartoonishly grotesque lyrics and occasionally controversial album art.
The fact is though, especially since the addition of guitarist Erik Rutan, first as producer and then more recently as an official member, the Florida-based five-piece has shown a consistent and clear improvement in every department. Song lyrics might still be deeply rooted in shock value pulp horror, but the machine that surrounds them strives to evolve, no matter how slowly or insidiously, with every new cycle.
For their sixteenth full-length studio release, Chaos Horrific (Metal Blade Records), the cuts are as bloody as ever but thanks to Rutan, the band have another weapon in their arsenal – custom guitars. These new instruments, designed with longer necks to benefit lower tunings, combined with Rutan’s skill on the mixing desk, means the band’s bottom end is now more audible than ever, creating another worrying level of irreparable damage to the human ear.
The punishment begins after just one single chord as “Overlords of Violence” throws you kicking and screaming back in time to the “Hammer Smashed Face” cooking pot as a familiar-sounding Alex Webster bassline explodes into a seething morass of razor wire riffs and vocal brutality of which only walking neck George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher is capable.
“Frenzied Feeding” continues the carnage, belching its innards all over your speakers; the guitar solos brief journeys into schizophrenic insanity, the riffs heavier than an oil tanker.
The bloodthirstily descriptive “Summoned for Sacrifice” (take a guess what this one’s about, kiddies) stands out as one of the record’s choicest cuts, the technically adept riffs churning with groove, the solos implemented with melodic precision and nerve-shredding savagery. “Blood Blind” erupts with deliberate looming menace, all classic trills and the promise of violence, guitarist Rob Barrett working with Rutan in deranged, blood-soaked harmony.
Written about victims of human trafficking seeking payback, “Vengeful Invasion” is every bit as barbed, vicious, and bitter as you can imagine, while the unbridled pandemonium of the tumultuous title track feels exactly like what it’s written about – fighting off a horde of flesh-hungry zombies.
Elsewhere, the bone-breaking horror of “Fracture and Refracture” is followed by the frenzied stabbing of “Pitchfork Impalement” and the diseased rantings of “Pestilential Rictus”, the latter pairing possessed of a sensatory sadism probably best not shared with grandma over Sunday dinner.
After an almost dissonant and detached intro, closing track “Drain You Empty” finds Paul Mazurkiewicz rather unnecessarily deciding his drum kit would be better served as a weapon used for blunt force trauma, leaving eyes and ears bleeding, brain matter leaking, and several undertakers wondering how much overtime they’ll be claiming this month.
Another blistering slab of no-frills death metal, Chaos Horrific is yet another example of top-quality eardrum murder of which the band can be rightfully proud.
For long-time Corpse fans, it’s business as usual. For newcomers? Good luck…
Buy the album here:
https://linktr.ee/corpseofficial
8 / 10
GARY ALCOCK