Posted on: June 4, 2009 Posted by: anfnewsacct Comments: 0

Time has been good to Cannibal Corpse, as tracks on “Kill” (for example, “Barbaric Bludegeonings”) come out first with the same fury that has been present through all of the Cannibal Corpse albums, and then expand the band’s palette to allow for a greater toolbox for the band to choose from.

The vocals are gruff but are not the much-maligned “Cookie Monster” style that has invaded all of hardcore and a great deal of metal. What distinguishes Cannibal Corpse from a great deal of the other metal bands currently out on the market is their ability to change styles at the drop of a dime. This mean that there might be a straight-forward guitar-laden metal riff giving way to a pit-worthy metal-hardcore fusion and then something else all in the space of about three seconds. However hard and rough Cannibal Corpse gets with the music on “Kill”, the simple fact is that the band imbues each of their tracks with a melody that may not be always heard, but is always there. There is a beauty among these craggy peaks and jags, and this is perhaps why Cannibal Corpse has such a loyal fan base. The style of music on “Kill” is something that is fairly cohesive through the entirety of the disc, but there are some noticeable derivations to this style. This means that there are tracks like “Brain Removal Police” in which Cannibal Corpse shocks listeners back to full attention with a guitar line that only can be categorized as a klaxon.

Where the guitar/drum dynamic sits in the background somewhat quietly (at least in Cannibal Corpse standards), the vocals present on this track do the most in creating a harmony to the track that they have ever done; also pulling harmony duty on this track is a bass line that hides behind these vocals. The band works just as well in three minute tracks as they do in one a half minute songs (“Death Walking Terror”). This is due to the fact that Cannibal Corpse essentially sticks three seconds of music into every one second of actual time. This means that they could come up with a full track on “Kill” that is only a minute. There is not rushed sound to a track like “Death Walking Terror”, and it may just be during this track that the band’s solo ability is able to shine through the greatest.

Top Tracks: Death Walking Terror, Barbaric Bludgeonings

Rating: 7.1/10

[JMcQ]

Cannibal Corpse – Kill / 2006 Metal Blade / 13 Tracks / http://www.cannibalcorpse.com / http://www.metalblade.com / Reviewed 23 April 2006

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