Album Review: Cannibal Corpse - Chaos Horrific
Reviewed by Daniel Phipps
How do you write an introduction to the biggest death metal band in the world without repeating what everyone already knows? You probably can’t if the truth be told because let's be honest we all know who Cannibal Corpse are, and even if you are one of those deluded individuals who believe they have not released anything worth listening to since The Bleeding in 1994 you still probably know everything there is to know. Now just two years after the release of the bands 15th full length number sixteen is here & Chaos Horrific is set to be unleashed following the conclusion of the Violence Unimagined touring cycle.
So how does Chaos Horrific stack up against the rest of the band's discography? Well let's start by talking about the circumstances of its creation. Writing began shortly after the Violence Unimaged sessions concluded and that is certainly visible as you really hear the aggression from that album carry over into Chaos Horrific especially early on, as this record really takes a no holds barred approach to how it comes straight from your speaker. Now even with this record coming very soon after finishing its predecessor, what I do think is important to talk about is how this does not sound like a selection of songs that were recycled and picked out of the cut out bin, because let's be honest that could very well of been the case and really easy to do given the circumstances. What is very eminent is that Eric Rutan has really brought another level of aggression into the guitar performance of Cannibal Corpse and he and Rob Barrett really leave little in the tank in its performance.
These songs really have a severe level of attack in the way they are performed even on some of the more mid tempo tracks which Cannibal Corpse have been known to include over the last decade, they sound so much more violent in their execution I can't say for sure that this is all Rutan’s doing but listen to any Hate Eternal record and tell me it's not some of the most aggressive death metal you can find. The Heart and sole of the band is of course Alex Webster and Paul Mazurkiewicz and what that heart and sole brings to the table is groove and as normal Cannibal Corpse brings the groove as well as any band. They are strong, powerful and work so well with the more aggressive and technical aspects of the record as they just feed off each other to create death metal bliss. Topping off Chaos Horrific is the man, the neck, George Fisher and what else can you really say that's not been said, the man makes it look completely effortless. He continues to provide a next level vocal performance that you can set your watch too. It's smooth, clean and he really sounds like the man is continually in the zone when it comes to executing his craft.
If there is one thing I will say about Cannibal Corpse is their consistency is one of the band's greatest achievements. The band are now sixteen albums deep and are still finding a way to remain relevant which is something you don’t see. Chaos Horrific continues the band's trend of writing solid slabs of death metal. Is it the band’s best? No, if you are putting me on the spot it probably sits middle of the pack at best within the entire discography but does that really matter? At this point in the band’s career as a fan as long as the records are consistent and solid i'll keep listening. Cannibal Corpse may make minor tweaks to the sound at points but one thing that I love is that they are Cannibal Corpse, this is what they do, this is their sound and they don't need to change for anybody.
