Three’s a charm, today being the third of December see’s our countdown continues. To those unaware instead of creating an Album Of The Year list we decided to shake things up a bit and get festive, I give you the Advent of The Year.
A band that is no stranger to controversy, after recent incidents in Russia caused the plug to be pulled on several of their sets and now for their lyrics and artwork to both be banned completely Cannibal Corpse just aren’t that popular in Russia. However with the release of this September’s fierce A Skeletal Domain almost all other countries beg to differ.
Cannibal Corpse – A Skeletal Domain
The godfathers of death metal are known for their reliability. Always ensuring that whatever they pump out for their next album will be the most brutal release so far. Detailing various, often gruesome ways to meet our maker the band has been a conduit for the extreme since their inception. With previous release Torture however there was evidence that evolution was still present in the band, yes they’re capable of bringing out brutal slabs of death metal but why would anyone care if its always the same?
Arguably some of the best production of the bands career ensures that all the notes of doom laden full length ring true long after the record has finished. Production is nothing however, if the material is lack lustre and therein lies the rub. A Skeletal Domain contains some of the most mature song writing the band have ever exhibited, the steamroller title track “A Skeletal Domain” paints a brilliantly hopeless post apocalyptic picture matched only by the unrelenting sounds the band create. Ensuring the groove is ever present our chainsaw wielding anthem “Kill Or Become” demolishes all in its path but its songs like “The Murders Pact” with its ominous lumbering and “Funeral Cremation” that truly envelopes the album with dread.
Similar to horror films Cannibal Corpse feed the listeners morbid curiosity. Creating a window into the soul of a truly troubled individual from the comfort and safety of your seat. Putting to use the mature lyrical format, still explaining various ways that humans expire, yet doing so with class instead of a step by step check list of anatomical jargon. That being said the short, sharp, shock attack is more than alive with cuts “Sadistic Embodiment” and “Icepick Lobotmy” and deliciously sarcastic “Bloodstained Cement” where the lacerating guitar riffs mirror an encounter that didn’t quite go as planned…
Most wouldn’t agree with the statement of Album Of The Year, this is no breakthrough album, no genre defining jewel it is just simply one of the best consistent death metal records of the year which is no surprise as Cannibal Corpse are THE most consistent death metal band around.
