Review: Cannibal Corpse – Evisceration Plague (2009)
No matter what new trends spring up in death metal, there will always be one stable force, and that force is Cannibal Corpse. Releasing album after album of blistering death metal since their first in 1990 with Eaten Back to Life, Cannibal Corpse has run rampant through the genre becoming probably the most popular and influential death metal band of all time. This year, the band has released it’s 11th full length record Evisceration Plague, the follow up to the well received Kill, and Cannibal Corpse after 11 albums has not lost step nor the focus on what makes them the kings of death metal.
It’s hard to not liken Cannibal Corpse to bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest because their line up has remained quite steady over the years, and their sound has largely remained unchanged as well, and I believe this is what brings the band its staying power. Cannibal Corpse developed a winning formula through the power of incredibly talented musicians and songwriters, and this formula has kept them dominant over the entire genre for more than a decade. With Evisceration Plague, we hear much of the same treatment our ears have all been exposed to in years past, but what remains true is the quality writing that the band has maintained, especially over the last few albums beginning with The Wretched Spawn.
Evisceration Plague represents a purity in death metal of sorts, because it sticks to its roots of staying true to what makes death metal great, which is the raw brutality that metal hadn’t yet been able to create prior to death metal. Progression within death metal is always healthy, but being able to go back to albums like Evisceration Plague and new releases from bands like Napalm Death are always very reassuring to fans of death metal prior to the recent surge in its popularity over the last few years. Sound wise, Evisceration Plague continues with the fast paced groove oriented style that is the trademark of the band with the usual destructive vocals of Corpsegrinder and the under appreciated technicality of Pat O’Brien and Rob Barret’s guitar work. Despite it’s technicality though, the immense grooves that eminate from your speakers will inevitably make you headbang, or at least nod a bit if you are at your shitty desk job pushing your mundane pencils (no worries folks, I am one of those guys), which is ultimately what makes Cannibal Corpse a severed head better than most.
Will Evisceration Plague be ranked among the year’s best? It depends on the competition we have yet to hear, but thus far, I am just so damned happy to hear a quality death metal album that is just simply death metal, that I may have to keep it in my favorites list and my CD player for awhile longer. Hail to Cannibal Corpse, the undying masters of death, gore and unbridled fun.
VERY GOOD
Top Tracks: Evisceration Plague, Shatter Their Bones, Carrion Sculpted Entity
Similar Artists: Napalm Death, Suffocation, Morbid Angel, Immolation
1. Priests of Sodom 03:31
2. Scalding Hail 01:46
3. To Decompose 03:03
4. A Cauldron of Hate 04:59
5. Beheading and Burning 02:16
6. Evidence in the Furnace 02:48
7. Carnivorous Swarm 03:36
8. Evisceration Plague 04:30
9. Shatter Their Bones 03:35
10. Carrion Sculpted Entity 02:33
11. Unnatural 02:22
12. Skewered from Ear to Eye 03:49
George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher – Vocals
Pat O’Brien – Guitar
Rob Barret – Guitar
Alex Webster – Bass
Paul Mazurkiewicz – Drums
http://www.cannibalcorpse.net/
http://www.myspace.com/cannibalcorpse
Review by CODY
that was an awesome review 2 thumbs up, great details and depth and sincerity in your writing, keep up the good work
Thanks Marcos, much appreciated!
Dead on, Cody. I was actually going to review this but I was out of town for the weekend so I didnt get a chance. However, I still plan on writing an article about these guys. I do agree that this is a very good album but I still consider them to be on an extremely slow decline, but a decline nonetheless. Going back and listening to the first four albums as I have been doing quite a lot recently has made me crave something more from Cannibal Corpse that they just cannot provide any longer. I won’t say its just the exit of Chris Barnes but he was, in my opinion, the embodiment of Cannibal Corpse and death metal as a whole. Not to take anything away from Corpsegrinder, I think he’s one of the best there is and has been but for me, Chris Barnes is on a totally different level.
Then he left for .. Six Feet Under??
goooood career move chris.
Great review, I just bought the album 3 days ago, and I’m thoroughly impressed. Corpse Grinder is just as hardcore as usual, and the guitar both rythm and lead are great. Paul is beastly on the drums, and I’m just glad to know that they’re coming to my city. Its going to be great! Nice review, very detailed, and I can tell that you’re a big fan. I will agree with Coled24 and say that they’re nowhere near the same band as in the 90’s, but that’s not exactly a bad thing. In fact, I enjoy their newer sound much more.
Downloaded this from iTunes today. Pure Death Metal doesn’t get any better than this!
\m/
Love it!
You guys should just quit whining about CC being better in the 90’s.. It’s ok to be nostalgic about old albums but honestly guys, CC has just become better and better. And Barnes is just your avarage metalsinger while Corpsegrinder is one of the best, nailing every tone from the deepest roar to the highest scream with equal brutality.
Fantastic review! CC is by far my favorite death metal band. 11 albums strong!
Dan are you really trying to say that Kill, Gore Obsessed and Gallery Of Suicide are better albums than the ones from the Chris Barnes years? Thats just preposterous. Every song on those 3 albums sound exactly the fucking same. Corpsegrinder is great and Cannibal Corpse can still do it but the only album they’ve done with him that compares to the golden years is The Wretched Spawn. The writing just isn’t there.
Cannibal Corpse is better now. I loved their old stuff now dont get me wrong but the new stuff from Corpsegrinder is better. Look at the albums Bloodthirst, Gore Obsessed, The Wretched Spawn, and Vile. Man that beats the old ones by a lot.
New Cannibal Corpse is great, I’ll agree with that. But to put their recent releases above the first 4 albums? No way. Eaten Back to Life, while technically inferior, has some of the best Cannibal Corpse SONGS ever. The late 80’s to early/mid 90’s were the golden years of death metal, and to top those releases is virtually impossible. That’s not to say that these bands do not still put out quality releases….but better?? I’d vote no, though uiltimately everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But comming from a long time metal fan who saw the thrash explosion come and lead right into the death metal days, Eaten, Butchered, Tomb, and The Bleeding will not be surpassed.