With 35 years under its belt, Cannibal Corpse has easily climbed to the top of the death metal food chain. Whether it’s due to the relatively catchy songs, the bloody album covers, the cameo in the movie Ace Ventura, or the censorship to which the band has been subjected in certain countries, there’s every reason to have heard of them. But what about the music on Cannibal Corpse’s sixteenth album?
For Cannibal Corpse fans, the band’s musical style is easy to map; death metal, always forcefully executed, with little space for dynamics or atmosphere. Tracks are either dense successions of fast, angular riffs, or slow, ponderous, head-nodding, lyrically chanting hits. When there are guitar solos, it’s a cacophony a la Kerry King of Slayer fame. Vocally, George Fisher delivers his standard roar in a mid-range register, occasionally changing technique for a few high-pitched, piercing shrieks. On drums, co-founder Paul Mazurkiewicz’s effective but limited drumming sets him apart from his contemporaries. Alex Webster, bassist extraordinaire, ornaments the whole with a flurry of barely perceptible notes.
In Chaos Horrific, all these elements are still present. And have been for over three decades, with each new album applauded more for its consistency than for its originality. But such fidelity to its trademark has, for the American quintet, its pros and cons. Indeed, this new opus is just that: Cannibal Corpse’s sixteenth album.
Well executed, of course, but with no surprises. Even the presence of Erik Rutan (Hate Eternal, ex-Ripping Corpse) makes little difference, apart from the inclusion of a few slow, muddy passages reminiscent of the guitarist’s involvement with Morbid Angel in the late 1990s. However, Cannibal Corpse fans see this predictability as a virtue, as the band hasn’t lost its appeal and is constantly touring.
