In our ongoing investigation of deceptive and outright fraudulent extreme metal acts, we pull the rug under a handful of established outfits that don’t even seem to bother hiding that they are after your money first, artistic integrity a distant second - an audience satisfaction not even registering. The more we pull away the blinds the more obvious these practices become. Maybe your favorite band is in here, maybe your life-long inspiration only cares about the dollars/euros you’re giving him/her? Don’t be fooled, there are plenty of honest, hard-working metal bands everywhere in the scene. It’s just that these money-hungry, artistically vacuum units make it difficult for everybody involved. These bands stopped caring, they lost the passion and fire. In short: they Sold Their Souls...
I had some material done already before the demise of Lord Belial. Some of the material was actually intended for the next Lord Belial album, but since we disbanded I changed around all of the ideas into new songs.
I don’t really consider it that much superior. But we KEPT the quality from 1st to 4th album, and that is something that is not easy to do! And I think there will come a 5th album that will kick just as much ass.
Much like Vader, Incantation and Monstrosity, Cannibal Corpse is a band that never strayed too much from its original path. If anything these bands are rigorously consistent and while some are more profilic than others, they remain instantly recognizable. In their 20 years of existence Cannibal Corpse haven’t fundamentally changed. Yes, their sound isn’t quite as murky, dark and thrash-laced as it used to be in the Chris Barnes-era and while the Corpsegrinder-era now outspans the band’s earlier catalogue, this band hasn’t changed a lot. Whether this is a pro or a con depends entirely on one’s viewpoint and preference. In terms of gore and shock value Cannibal Corpse has since been eclipsed by many of their peers, yet few of those peers know to write a song like this band does. Lead single ‘Encased In Concrete’ sounds exactly like you’d expect. The material is mostly in tradition of “Gore Obsessed” with the renewed vigor, propulsion and murderous energy of “Kill” and “Evisceration Plague”. The production by Neil Keirnon and Erik Rutan is solid as ever, with a much better and more powerful drum sound. The bass guitar of Alex Webster is featured prominently. George Fischer’s vocals are what you expect: fast spitted and head-on. Vincent Locke returns once more for the cover artwork and like any post-“Vile” canvas it is more comical than it is disgusting. Can you remember when you were last horrified at a Cannibal Corpse cover? Since 1998 they have been pretty stale, unimaginative and characterless, “Torture” on that end is no different. This looks like a refurbished take on the “Live Cannibalism” canvas. There are cadavers, intestines and blood (the composition reminds of “Butchered at Birth”), but it never reaches “Tomb Of the Mutilated” levels of ghoulishness. Overall, Cannibal Corpse does what they’ve always done. They get in, rip the place apart and get out. It’s what we want and expect them to do. They just do it a lot more convincing than certain other acts locked into their own sound. In a year or two, they’ll do it again.http://www.metalblade.comcomment itWouter 7
