In The Rock Review, we’ve recently been analyzing excellent works in Death Metal, a brutal genre that reached its climax in the 1990s, influenced by bands like Possessed or the Brazilian Sepultura (in their early days). This era gave rise to excellent bands and genre icons such as Death, Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, among others. Cannibal Corpse, in particular, stands out as our favorites due to the very positive evolution they’ve had over the years, consistently producing a series of excellent albums. In our view, Cannibal Corpse doesn’t have any bad albums; on the contrary, each one seems excellent to us, always adding novel elements with tremendous brutality.
Death Metal evolved rapidly, initially permeated with elements of Thrash Metal, and over time incorporating various influences to refresh the known sound. This evolution took two main directions: 1. Experimentation with dissonances, leaning towards avant-garde, as seen in the French band Gorguts with their album ‘Obscura.’ 2. Enriching the sound by adding progressive and technical touches, as is the case with Cannibal Corpse.
Today, we discuss ‘Kill’, the tenth album by Cannibal Corpse, produced by the magnificent guitarist Erik Rutan, who has collaborated with several bands in the genre, including Morbid Angel and Hate Eternal, among others.
What can we hera?
Brutality from start to finish, a sound to go mad for… rich in distortion and speed, simply a machine designed to crush mercilessly. The production is truly magnificent; despite the heavy saturation demanded by the genre, every instrument is perfectly audible, especially Alex Webster’s bass. A virtuous of the instrument, we love the way we can hear every finger on his bass strings, every slap, and the brilliance of his five strings. He skillfully utilizes the spaces to create complex figures, as seen in ‘Murder Worship’ or the intro of ‘The Discipline Of Revenge’.
We could delve in and listen closely to every guitar figure, presented in a very complex style, with solos full of speed and thousands of notes evoking madness, reminiscent of Jeff Hanneman of Slayer. Regarding the riffs, they always have a special magic, and that’s why we like ‘Kill’ so much. The band focused on improving their individual technical aspects to sound together as a band with tremendous musical prowess. In this work, you’ll find excellent guitar riffs that, if you’re a guitarist, will undoubtedly serve as great warm-up exercises. The picking is perfect, flawless, and tireless.
Despite the band’s modernized sound, the drumming remains very Old School, defining the band’s heaviness, especially in fast passages, downtempo sections, or the rich blend of both, as heard in ‘Necrosadistic Warning’. The band approaches this blend in the most technical and progressive way possible, keeping the listening experience very engaging, as this work is anything but repetitive.
George 'Corpsegrinder's' voice: Cannibal Corpse's trademark
We hear one of the deepest guttural voices in the entire history of music, possibly at one of its best moments in this work. Corpsegrinder’s technique is perfect, ranging from lows as if emanating from a cave to intense highs, creating a very interesting vocal spectrum for the genre that has served as a primary influence for all future generations. Although at The Rock Review we rarely focus on analyzing lyrics, we must highlight that Corpsegrinder’s enunciation is very good and understandable despite his brutal guttural voice. The lyrics might not be to our liking, but we respect the tremendous coherence they have with the music.
Groove is present in ‘Kill,’ in songs like ‘Five Nails Through The Neck,’ those passages that make you headbang back and forth. We appreciate this song for its variety of tempos that, despite their intensity, find a way to catch a breath by slowing down. The album is so brutal that even its calmest song, ‘Death Walking Terror,’ is heavy. Yes, we’re talking about a track where we enjoy the maximum gain and distortion of their low guitars, with a simple drum rhythm that proves a song doesn’t have to be fast to be heavy. However, it later evolves to gift us with a blast beat characteristic of the genre.
A perfect ending
‘Kill’ concludes with one of the things we enjoy the most in a full-length album: an instrumental piece, a true delight that leaves you wishing this work never ends. We’re talking about ‘Infinite Misery’. a piece that doesn’t need lyrics to make us feel the hostility of the atmosphere the band loves to project. It’s loaded with a display of whammy on the guitars as an experiment, and a solid and massive double bass drum that bounces in the listener’s head.
A notable aspect is Cannibal Corpse’s trajectory, a band loyal to Death Metal, to their roots as a band, and to their audience. They never fail their niche of fans, who interestingly are mostly musicians, given the impressive complexity they handle in all their songs.
Undoubtedly, we find only excellence in ‘Kill’. If you’re not a big fan of Death Metal, this is an album we recommend as an introduction, especially because of its excellent production. You’ll be able to appreciate all the instruments very well. We suggest applying active listening, appreciating every detail, and you’ll see how your experience will be entirely pleasurable.
What do you think of this album? Leave us your comments!
