Rating: 5.5

Country: USA

Release Date: 2006

Track list:
1. The Time to Kill is Now
2. Make Them Suffer
3. Murder Worship
4. Necrosadistic Warning
5. Five Nails through the Neck
6. Purification by Fire
7. Death Walking Terror
8. Barbaric Bludgeonics
9. The Discipline of Revenge
10. Brain Removal Police
11. Maniacal
12. Submerged in Boiling Flesh
13. Infinite Misery

Band Website: Cannibal Corpse

Cannibal Corpse - Kill

Pat O’Brien - Guitar
Rob Barrett - Guitar
George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher - Vocals
Paul Mazurkiewicz - Drums
Alex Webster - Bass

Going by the first Cannibal Corpse release ‘Eaten Back to Life', the band has been around for some 16 - 20 years, but fan-boys and band-whores can argue the true date of their inception to the last second. Cannibal Corpse is a band who has been raised to legendary status by record labels and their counterparts the Metal media whose popular use of this terminology is readily digested by adoring fans. This verity is currently enhanced with the press release for the new Cannibal Corpse album ‘Kill', but it has roots in their brief cameo in the movie Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, that made them a somewhat unworthy flag bearer for Death Metal. Sure there is some merit to the term legendary where Cannibal Corpse is concerned, in that they are one of the pioneers of Death Metal along with other important bands like Death, Morbid Angel, Entombed, Autopsy and Cancer among a slew of other seminal acts. More importantly what Cannibal Corpse and the afore written bands were doing that makes them Old School, is creating a sound that till that point was not heard previously. The music then as now was sick, brutal, heavy, and a deliberate dissent in the face of the mainstream capitalist wave of Glam/Hair Metal that was as much a result of bloated Reaganomics, radio, magazines, and M-TV as it was the tastelessness of rube fans that dig gay guys is spandex crooning about how many thorns are in a rose. This is what too many trendy cynical reprobates born on or after 1980 don't understand when they try to reflect on the history of Metal, but then their parents probably conceived them and the rest of their ill begotten progeny while pumping up ‘Pyromania' by Def Leppard.

The first 5 full length Cannibal Corpse albums where damned good; the album cover art was morbidly enticing and the music crushed your spleen in a fistful of sound. They encompassed a creepy disturbing resonance that entices you the way a good horror movie makes your balls twinge during a scary/gory scene. Up until ‘Vile' in 1996, Cannibal Corpse put forth mid-paced anvil heavy music that was catchy and made brutal by the frosty polar bear vocals of both Chris Barnes and high octane screams of George Corpsegrinder. This style spawned a wave of bands too numerous to count who have taken an influence from Cannibal Corpse and molded it to shape their music. Essentially, Cannibal Corpse is the AC/DC of Death Metal, which is not altogether positive, for they have become redundant, and tired while living off the stature they have been accorded by the media and their fanatical fans whose band-whoring has left them too blind with facial spunk from Alex Webster and crew to recognize the truth.

For years Cannibal Corpse has been trying to keep their sound fresh by making themselves more technical. Both Pat O'Brien and Rob Barrett are a testament to this perspective and they mesh well with Alex Webster who is arguably the best musician in the band even though he is not as skilled as Mike Poggione of Monstrosity. Yet, the problem with Cannibal Corpse of the ‘Kill' era is relative to Cannibal Corpse since ‘Vile'. It all sounds the same despite the abilities of the musicians, for they have reached the summit of their creative abilities and above average technicality can not disguise this stark reality. Hell, had Cannibal Corpse stuck to being broootaly groovy I still would be writing this review, but from an obvious different perspective. The fact is Cannibal Corpse is on a musical plane crash from which there is no escape. That notion is especially true when one considers the line-up changes they have been through amalgamated with their ongoing transition from being thuggishly catchy to inanely technical.

On ‘Kill' Cannibal Corpse have managed to hold my attention for the first 3 songs, although I did listen to this album 6 times all the way through on different days and each time my disappointment grew. Sure the album has technical proficiency with time changes, stop and start mayhem, discordant harmonies, spiraling motifs, some creative riffing, and vocal violence, but it is perfunctory despite the obvious energy that exudes from my Bose earphones when turning this disc… Professional musicianship does not always equate to true passion blended with originality. Corpsegrinder starts almost every song as if he is a sullen kid that has been waiting for 10 minutes to make the same vehement point during a debate that someone else did in the first 30 seconds. All the solos are well timed and in the right place, but then all the 007 James Bond movies have car chase scenes, fights, sex, and macho bravado choreographed perfectly too. Really what we have in ‘Kill' is an album that sounds like a slightly more fervent ‘Gore Obsessed' mixed with ‘The Wretched Spawn', that has elements of music from the band Vile and a sprinkling of Malevolent Creation.

Yet, the most disgusting element of this album is the production. Yeah, I know they got Erik Rutan to produce the damned album and his fret work on Morbid Angel's ‘Domination' along with producing Hate Eternal, Council of the Fallen and Internal Suffering among other albums makes him “legendary.” BUT the production on ‘Kill' is an abomination in that it sounds totally Metalcore. If you don't believe me then spend an afternoon listening to Cannibal Corpse's ‘Kill', then cross reference it with Hatebreed, Zao, As I Lay Dying, Fear Factory and Lamb of God (Yeah wise guys, I was sick enough to borrow some Metalcore shit from my 14 year old neighbor and listen to it to solidify my opinion prior to writing this review.). Worse is that I guarantee Rutan and Cannibal Corpse used Pro Tools to enhance the sound production, which is ironic considering the low level mediocrity it resides. Sometimes it is almost impossible to distinguish the snare from the triggered double kick. Overall the guitars seem muddled, the bass is lost, and Corpsegrinder squeals with the anger of a child whose candy was stolen. Is that the result of Pro Tools gone awry or the sheer stupidity of Rutan and Cannibal Corpse? Dare I inform you all that despite the supposed brutality and technicality on apathetic display this album is decidedly Metalcore in production. To put it another way, Cannibal Corpse have become Cannibal CORE-pse. Perhaps the most egregious aspect of this situation occurs when considering the Metalcore production of ‘Kill', for it is reasonable to assert that Cannibal CORE-pse will play their live set in that sound, which means new fans may be duped into believing they are from that dollar store ilk known as Metalcore.

In effect, what is to be found on the new Cannibal Corpse disc ‘Kill' is a 42:19 sham of epic proportions. Hell, I can't even say, “Its good background music in a fashion similar to ‘Gallery of Suicide', ‘Bloodthirst' or ‘The Wretched Spawn'. No, it is horribly average to the point that I would rather sit through 16 hours of Maria Carrey and Kenny Rogers completely sober than listen to it for a 7th time. More egregious is that making their sound Metalcore is one more attempt at disguising their blatant lack of originality, that started with ‘Vile', while attempting to ca$h in on a bottom of the barrel genre that purists recognize for being false Metal. Cannibal CORE-pse will ca$h in on this album due to the ignorantly bland taste of fans whose highly debatable opinions are rooted in rubbish rags like Metal Maniacs and television's M-TV. Currently Cannibal CORE-pse is on the dubiously titled ‘Sounds of the Underground' tour with other lame Metalcore bands like Trivium, In Flames and As I Lay Dying. Maybe next year they can make it onto the Ozz-fest where they can tongue that cunt Sharon and ass kiss that paradigm for drug abuse, Ozzy Osborne. Till then Old School fans will recognize them as being significant contributors to a once inchoate genre of Metal known as Death Metal. Yet, in the past 10 years, Cannibal Corpse has devolved into tired hacks who have become Metalcore morons that should have hung up their instruments 3 albums ago. Perhaps their egos have grown too large to read or hear the analytical words of their critics (The ones that are not kissing their ass), which is why they have failed dismally despite the $ales their media/fan made “legendary” status accords. Fans, do yourselves a favor and buy the new Criterion , Frightmare , or Repugnant cause you can always buy Cannibal CORE-pse's ‘Kill' in the used section of your local record shop.

June 5th, 2006