Hey guys.
Lately, I've been listening to a lot of death and black metal and it occurred to me that I hadn't listened to Cannibal Corpse's 2012 release, Torture, yet. So, the past few days I have listened to this album around 3/4 times in full now and I thought I would share my thoughts on it.
The reason I've chose this album is pretty simple - It's by a legendary death metal band and I pretty much love it. So, here it goes..
Torture (2012) - Cannibal Corpse
First of all, you have to take into account that for as widespread and varied death metal has now become it can also be a very generic sounding genre to the newcomer. But this is something Cannibal Corpse are definitely not. Not only do they write some of the most explicit and gruesome lyrics and publish extremely disturbing album art, Cannibal Corpse are still an evermore changing musical machine. Admittedly, I was never attracted, per say, to the whole image Cannibal Corpse displayed. But rather more curious at the hype. And now, it's fair to say that they are by far one of my favourite death metal acts. Although I've always enjoyed their dirty heavy riffing, thunderous drumming and demonic growling that death metal always offers, I still urged for that little bit more experimentation hinted on albums such as Evisceration Plague and especially, Kill. They were beginning to head in the right direction for my liking, but I just hoped they would live up to it. And to put it quite plainly, they've done exceedingly well at doing so on Torture.
Despite Torture being their 12th full-length, there is still no sign of the gory quintet slowing down. From the off, Demented Aggression carries out an intro most likely heard on a Slayer album and the riff that follows rips your bloody face off. Everything is technical. The tempos change enough to keep you interested, yet are played through perfectly to give you time for a good old mosh. And to make things even better, guitarist Pat O'Brien, regurgitates an awesome solo to finish off the song. Sarcophagic Frenzy and Scourge The Iron follow up with sublime intensity, and now I understand why Cannibal Corpse have played these 3 tracks consecutively to commence their live sets in 2012. Their are tracks that conjure up rapid-fire head-banging mayhem including As Deep As The Knife Goes, Rabid and Torn Through. However, there are some interesting play-abouts as heard on Followed Home Then Killed, which begins with an eery, slow guitar intro only to be followed (excuse the pun) by expected fury. The instrumentals it seems are well executed. Solos, memorable riffs, finely played drums and even a short bass solo on The Strangulation Chair. However, throughout the album George Fisher's vocals never hint at letting you down. Despite being a replacement to Chris Barnes back in '95, I don't think anyone could imagine a more ideal successor. Especially here, he shows his true intent and will to bring superb death metal growls and morbid lyrics that we always hope for.
For all you death metal virgins, so to speak, I can strongly recommend this album as a starting point for the genre and this band. Torture gives you Cannibal Corpse' signature gore, brutality and technicality through some of their best songwriting to date. An incredible extreme metal album. Get on it. 8/10
Check Out: Followed Home Then Killed or Demented Aggression
Hope my first full album review lived up to any slight expectations you may have had! And as always, any feedback is well appreciated. Thanks.
Stewart Toner
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