Album Review: Cannibal Accident - Disgust
Reviewed by Sam Jones
Let’s shift our view over now to Finland for the latest band in our travels: Cannibal Accident. Formed in 2007 out of Varsinais-Suomi, Cannibal Accident are a death metal/Grindcore outfit with one goal in mind: complete evisceration. Out of the gate, by 2009, the band already had their debut self-titled record out and would follow it up a year later with their first EP titled Brutalent. 2012 saw the band’s second full length work, Omnivorous, and a succession of EPs with each year, as 2013’s Lennu was soon succeeded by 2014’s Cannibal Accident And The Friends Of Flesh. The band’s irreverent, tongue-in-cheek styled humour wasn’t abating any time soon as their third album, Ritual Paprika, released in 2016. A Split with Skulmagot, their 2020 EP Shotgun Selfie, another album in 2021, Nekroluster, multiple Singles, it’s clear the band are highly active and are always looking to release something exciting on the horizon. Now bringing us round to their fifth album, Disgust will be my first exposure to the band’s visceral, murderous style and shall also be the band’s first major release via Inverse Records. Due for a February 28th release date Cannibal Accident certainly appeared to be tons of gory fun.
You know that feeling when you feel cornered and the only way out is to fight like hell let loose? Yes, that’s the instant emotion Cannibal Accident throw you through; their onslaught is immediate and without reprieve as their Grindcore attack is removed from most conventional bands of this style. Whilst other bands will grip you with their sheer ferocity or pummel you with politically charged commentary alongside bludgeoning tempo, Cannibal Accident embrace this animalistic, feral aesthetic that sees their unrestrained nature completely let off the leash and allowed to run wild. However, whilst the band evidently have great swathes of foam and blood amidst their teeth, the songwriting is still highly structured so even throughout their more fearsome, rabid segments you’ll never need to wonder whereabouts you are. Cannibal Accident recognise the need to balance out this need for slaughter with cold, mechanical order.
With twenty tracks to hit us with, the band have more than enough material to keep us sated and satisfied for whatever the next track has loaded for us. But this is Grindcore that refuses to be held down by the chain keeping it to the Earth, you can tell they’re desperately tugging and pulling and hoping that chain comes loose, and with the end of every track you know the devastation rendered by just a single track is about to be replenished altogether again and again, in quick merciless succession. There’s nothing flashy concerning their songwriting either; you’d be hard pressed to find any superficial segments that attempt to glorify or put some shine on their name nor are they looking to subvert audiences in any way other than what they have come to Cannibal Accident for. These tracks are an average of ninety seconds to two minutes long so the band don’t have time on that side, thus the necessity to kill us as quickly and thoroughly as possible before the next one comes along and since that sense of impact is hardly fading you’ll feel as if you’ve run a slew of laps around a circle pit before Disgust is finished with you. Granted, there are audio clips thrown in as track introductions but these are short anyway and offer the only substantial breather the band will gift you. Otherwise, you’re in it until the end.
I loved the back and forth, dual vocal performances that form the basis of it record. It definitely helps them separate from the crowd as though their vocals are similar to Grindcore’s style, there’s a slight Crossover element occurring here. You’ve got the more typical guttural approach where the full weigh of their sound is coming down on us, but then you have this far lighter-toned delivery that offsets the guttural vocals, but not to a degree that makes their performances a challenge to comprehend. Its nice to note how the two wildly differing deliveries work alongside each other and neither one could be deemed as the “primary” performance since each share a near exact amount of time pulling us in. That more scathing vocal delivery feels especially prominent however because it oozes a homegrown sensibility into Cannibal Accident’s essence. When one experiences Disgust, it’s the feeling of Grindcore played by people like ourselves other than big-named musicians; it aids the band breaking down that barrier between ourselves and them. But their ruthless nature is complemented by those gutturals, pleasing us with the control and discipline shown in that vocal delivery, so when they are displaying that bloodied malice you believe the power in such a performance where you surrender yourself entirely to their domination.
When one considers Grindcore the first thing we usually consider are the riffs or the tempo of the blast beats and Disgust is no different. However we must consider the strength as demonstrated by the bass as throughout each track there will be at least one or two instances where its thick, tumultuous bass lines will be strong picked up. Though we’ve covered how the band give us a strong idea of where their songwriting is going, that doesn’t mean their sonic assault is so tidied up that they aren’t going to break free of restrictions; this wouldn’t be Grindcore otherwise. Then again, though the riffs and guitar work are surprisingly polished by extreme metal standards its the bass that truly takes that step to provide the apathetic, remorseless experience that permeates all through Disgust. But even then, there’s no push-and-pull between the instrumental elements as they all work together in this assigned places, creating this concoction that’s always on the cusp of losing its last shred of sanity; its the nervous adrenaline flowing acknowledging just how close to murderous slaughter Cannibal Accident are.
In conclusion, Disgust is an invigorating and fun album that manages to put the “laughter” into slaughter as not only are they entertaining us with furious riffs and a dual-vocal performance that’s always got us on edge, but there’s a pervading feel to this album that while you can go into it for those massive flurries of guitar and bass and blast beats its far from the only thing tying us closely to their soundscape. Even by the end of their twenty track killing spree you’ll still feel like you can go another round or two, even if Cannibal Accident had thrown in some more sporadic tracks under the thirty second mark. As Grindcore goes, Disgust isn’t the heaviest on the senses which means its lengthy track running becomes much more agreeable to us and, as the end rolls round, we aren’t thankful for the end but regretting it. Disgust devours and spits you out with each track yet you’ll find yourself laughing at the ferocity their attack attains all the while collecting yourself for the oncoming fight. There’s nothing hidden either, the band aren’t looking to present themselves as anything other than what Disgust demonstrates in the opening seconds; they are that crazed animal snapping at everything in their reach, with that sadism only found in the most depraved and evil of beasts. If you’re looking for Grindcore with a touch of Crossover to it and has great deal of coherence to its playing, Cannibal Accident are worth a listen.
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