Album: Violence Unimagined
Year: 2021
Genre: Death Metal
How to review a highly revered band that has existed
for over 30 years, but their newest album is the only one that has hooked
you? This is the issue I’m up against
with writing about Violence Unimagined by Cannibal Corpse. It’s tough to talk about the band as something
new since they’ve had a meritorious career, but I truly don’t have any type of past
with them so there’s no solid foundation with their other releases for
comparing or contrasting. My history
with these Buffalo legends is not what I would call extensive and definitely
does not fall on the fanatical side of things.
I cannot say I like a single thing from the Chris Barnes era and,
although, I find myself drawn to the Corpsegrinder era more, I can’t say there
is a particular album that stands out to me or one that I listen to
actively. It’s probably not the greatest
sign when I think the cover song they did of The Accused’s “Bethany Home (A
Place To Die)” is the most impressive thing they’ve ever done. That’s kind of where I stand with these extreme
metalheads. No hate for them, but no real
love either. I can say I am a HUGE fan
of Alex Webster and his work outside of Cannibal Corpse. The guy is a technical monster on bass and it
makes me smile knowing he’s in Cannibal for the music and not to showcase his extraordinary
skills. So, my new thing is to buy
records by bands that I usually do not purchase albums from and Violence
Unimagined fits the criteria. I
thought it was interesting that Mr. Hate Eternal Erik Rutan joined them
permanently and had been hearing nothing but positive chatter about this album
so, why not? Right?
I’m sure this comes as zero surprise to anyone that
this new Cannibal Corpse album is rampant, slashing death metal. From what I do remember about my slight experience
with Cannibal, these songs sound very straightforward compared to my past
listening encounters, almost uncomplicated with an underlying thrash feel to
their structure. Cannibal masterfully connects each riff which lets the blood
flow seamlessly. It’s exactly the way I
love my death metal. They are not
letting technical prowess take away from the brutality, which is my single
largest complaint with any metal that gets too technically pretentious. It’s HEAVY metal, right? Cannibal can still blast away with lightning
speed, but their real power is when they decide to slow the tempo down and chug
away. There are very few bands as sonically
devastating as a slow Cannibal Corpse song.
You can’t help but shake your head up and down when they catch a
sluggish groove. Need a sample? Listen to “Slowly Sawn.” So fucking heavy. Multiple members of the band take part in the
songwriting, but it’s tough to distinguish any particular style. Yes, there is a touch of Hate Eternal on the
Rutan songs, but what do you want the guy to do…give up what makes him
great? Well, his songs don’t give up the
ghost and Cannibal adopts them as their own to make a cohesive sounding record. But cohesiveness doesn’t mean the songs lose
individuality as they don’t fall into the typical death metal trap of having a
whole record sound like a repeat of the first few songs. As I said, I don’t have the most solid
background when it comes to Cannibal Corpse for comparison, but I know this
album grabbed me by the throat instantaneously and never let go. None of their other albums have ever done
that. This album made me experience the
same excitement I used to have as a kid buying a new and unexplored band. If this line up stays the same, I’ll be buying
their new record the day it comes out!
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