Band: Cannibal Corpse
Album: Torture
Genre: Death Metal
If you inhabit planet Earth, whether you're a fan or not, you've probably heard of Cannibal Corpse. With a career now spanning around 24 years, and their 12th full-length out now, one would have to ask themselves if Cannibal Corpse still has it or not. The answer is going to vary drastically depending on who you ask. Some would say that they just keep getting better and better, producing a newly heightened sense of brutality and gore with every album. That's where I come in. I'm here to say fuck all that shit. Lets jump into the pro's and con's of Torture.
Lets be honest with ourselves right off the back, here. It's been a while since Cannibal Corpse has peaked. That's not to say that they haven't released some noteworthy material since that time, but Cannibal Corpse was at their best when it was Barnes behind the mic (The mere thought of crediting Chris Barnes with something positive still makes me feel like a bad person). With the loss of Chris and the addition of George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher upon the release of their fifth studio album, Vile, the band took a turn for the more structured song/album writing approach. And, when I say "structured," I mean that pretty much every song on every album has started to sound the same, thus turning the album into nothing more than a minimal advance upon the band.
Does Torture follow said structure? You betcha'! But, that's not to say all was lost on this album. It still has that Cannibal Corpse sound (which is good), and though the album has it's fair share of bland and boring songs ("Demented Aggression," "Encased in Concrete"), there were a few that proved worthy of a listen. The overall guitar-work in "Intestinal Crank" is pant-shittingly awesome. It's such a groovy song all the way through, and it avoids one of the biggest downfalls of this album - Trying to be too fast! Torture more than other releases in recent time shows the band trying to take a more fast and aggressive approach to death metal. The song-writting and overall product suffers. This isn't to say Cannibal Corpse hasn't ever made good fast music. But it is to say that at this point in the band's career, it's growing old.
As far as sound goes on this album, I thought that the guys did some good things coming out of Evisceration Plague, an album I didn't really care for in the least. The guitar tones more than anything bothered me the most on that album. I mean, yeah, they sounded heavy, but there was an overall thin an crisp quality to their tones. It didn't fit the band as well as it should have. O'Brien and Barrett seem to have beefed up their tones for this album, giving it a much heavier and more traditional death metal sound.
As far as sound goes on this album, I thought that the guys did some good things coming out of Evisceration Plague, an album I didn't really care for in the least. The guitar tones more than anything bothered me the most on that album. I mean, yeah, they sounded heavy, but there was an overall thin an crisp quality to their tones. It didn't fit the band as well as it should have. O'Brien and Barrett seem to have beefed up their tones for this album, giving it a much heavier and more traditional death metal sound.
Overall, I'd say that this album is nothing more than another installment in Cannibal Corpse's career. At this point, they are just doing what they do. Like it or not, Cannibal Corpse isn't changing. If you're a die-hard fan, then I'm sure you'll find enjoyment out of the CD. But, for a new-comer to death metal, I'd highly recommend checking out some of the bands earlier releases.
Score: 6.5/10
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