Cattle Decapitation
Humanure (cd)
Wydane przez Metal Blade RecordsRok wydania 2004Kraj USANapisał Wouter6
Cattle Decapitation's 2002 debut (their third release so far) "To Serve Man" was an über brutal mixed bag of original but messily executed ideas and by-the-numbers grinding death metal that hardly managed to surprise me. "Humanure" luckily proves to be a more engaging listen as the band has heeded the critiques and subsequently avoided past mistakes. After a tasteful intro the title track sets in, displaying a more matured Cattle Decapitation with improved guitar lines, drum patterns and dynamics. One thing however does ring painfully clear: the guitar sound isn't going to impress any Cannibal Corpse or Suffocation devotee anytime soon, it still severely lacks in punch and doesn't quite split one's skull as death metal is supposed to do. Same goes for the truly horrible, mechanic drum sound that sounds even weaker than on their debut offering. 'Reduced to Paste' is far more interesting than anything the band has written prior to this but loses all impact upon the disjointed final act. 'Bukkake Tsunami' has that old Deicide/Cannibal Corpse drive but the sterile production totally pans the effect, even the great lead isn't able to safe this track from mediocrity. 'Cloacula : the Anthropophagic Copromantik' sees Cattle Decapitation donning black metal like guitar lines while Travis Ryan spits out his usual incomprehensible vocal torrents. Ryan has grown more confident and has become a fair match for Six Feet Under's legendary frontman Chris Barnes. Michael Laughlin is new behind the drumkit and truth be told he is no real improvement over David Astor, although Laughlin knows that variation usually helps to improve questionable songwriting. 'Applied Human Defragmentation' is the redeeming factor on this record, flexing a compositional muscle with chugging Cannibal Corpse riffs and a pumping thrash metal drive. Truly, this is a strong track of which there are far too less present on this all important second album. Why they put it so close near the end of this album is beyond me. 'The Earthling' continues in this vein and shows gradual maturation out of the band's usual seedy blast-athon songwriting. Great guitar leads accompany this track which results in an overall satisfactory consumption. 'Polyps' in return displays a stint but effective guitar-drums interaction that many will recognize as signature to Sweden's death metal powerhouse Deranged. The usually disjointed and chaotic guitar work actually works for the band here but the horrible production makes it hard to make out what's actually going on. Another missed chance. 'Lips & Assholes' continues to impress in the same as the last few cuts. General conclusion: the potential is definitely present and rears it head in the final third of this album. With 4 absolutely stunning tracks on the end one has to get past the first 5 tracks to reach the good bits – intro and outro excluded that is. Not all killer, too much filler. Don't believe the hype, Cattle Decapitation isn't the second coming of Cannibal Corpse. At least, not yet.
www.cattledecapitation.com
