If you’ve only just heard of Cannibal Corpse, you’re either new to death metal, or you’ve just seen Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Either way, welcome aboard. It’s fair to say that the band has written the playbook on killer Death Metal records, and Violence Unimagined is no exception.
Bursting into existence, Murderous Rampage is a frantic jaunt through cutthroat riffs that breathes life back into the aggression machine. With long-time producer Erik Rutan picking up guitar duties in the wake of Pat O’Brien’s departure, it’s evident that he’s bringing new energy, new tonality, and harmonic voicings that Corpse hasn’t displayed before. This is most evident in the attention grabbing intro to Condemnation Contagion (easily one of the defining tracks on the album) but sits in contrast to the high octane Necrogenic Resurrection, which is reminiscent of Icepick Lobotomy from A Skeletal Domain.
The rest of the record largely falls into three categories - Furious, Flex, and Funky.
Of the fast and furious tunes, Overtorture has Corpsegrinder spitting machine-gun vocals in parallel with the frantic guitar picking. Ritual Annihilation is along a similar vein, however the mix during the speedier sections loses some of the clarity, leaving the listener struggling to make sense of the aural onslaught. Although there’s a badass riff that busts in at 2:10, with an abundance of attitude to make up for its shortcomings.
When it comes to attitude, Inhumane Harvest reigns supreme. It’s a sonic flex of a track that matches the band’s monster status as Death Metal royalty. Full to burst with grit, you can hear the bulging sinews of the riffs as they move across the phrases. Cerements Of The Flayed is equally menacing, and Follow The Blood - much like Condemnation Contagion - is steadfast and resolute, with a mid-paced groove that stomps through your ears. Webster’s bass, noticeably absent for much of the album, really hits hard during this track; making it a standout moment.
We’re using “funky” to describe the ominous groove present in Slowly Sawn, as it’s a track with jarring riffs and odd timings that gel together surprisingly well to create an infectious swagger. Cannibal Jazz! Surround, Kill, Devour also has groove in spades. It’s a bouncy track but is overshadowed by the outstanding offerings on the record. The same can be said of Bound And Burned.
Overall, the production is solid, with most tracks effortlessly encapsulating the essence of Cannibal Corpse. That said, there’s definitely room for improvement - more of Alex Webster’s signature bass sound would be welcome. 8/10
Primal Fear - I Will Be Gone (Nuclear Blast) [Simon Black]
Having just had an album from these boys last year (the truly outstanding Metal Commando), this was an unexpected little bonus. Given that touring has been well and truly shafted without the benefit of lubrication for the last eighteen months, German Power Metal heroes Primal Fear have wisely decided to keep their profile up with this stop-gap EP. The titular lead track is all centred around a duet between Ralf Scheepers and the frankly superb Tarja Turunen, who these days seems to be all about this sort of one-off collaboration release.
Having just had an album from these boys last year (the truly outstanding Metal Commando), this was an unexpected little bonus. Given that touring has been well and truly shafted without the benefit of lubrication for the last eighteen months, German Power Metal heroes Primal Fear have wisely decided to keep their profile up with this stop-gap EP. The titular lead track is all centred around a duet between Ralf Scheepers and the frankly superb Tarja Turunen, who these days seems to be all about this sort of one-off collaboration release.
It’s a full on ballad, with acoustic guitar accompaniment and the obligatory tambourine, making it feel more like the product of a backstage “let’s work together” conversation between the two vocalists rather than a full on Primal Fear canon release, but it gives them the opportunity to push out a couple of bonus tracks that did not make it to last year’s album. What appears to be at first glance to be an alternative version of the track is in fact a completely different track – I Will Be Gone – Leave Me Alone being the first time I have heard a German Power Metal band use the very British words “bugger off, make yourself scarce and fuck off” in a song lyric, but it’s guaranteed to work live if they ever play here again.
Although let’s face it is not something that’s going to happen soon, as they pretty much ignored the UK from their touring schedules even before Brexit. It’s clearly an attempt to keep the profile up and consequently feels a bit cobbled together but worth a spin, although the lead track is not their greatest and would have perhaps benefitted from the full Power ballad treatment rather than the slightly too soft acoustic approach. 7/10
Altarage - Succumb (Season Of Mist Underground Activists) [Matt Bladen]
Altarage are categorized as dissonant extreme metal and I haven't heard a description so on point for a while. The band come from the Basque region and very little else is known about them as they tend to be very secretive. Musically this fourth album is much like their previous offerings with explosively aggressive extreme metal that shifts between black and death metal that drills itself into your psyche with music that would stand up in court as evidence of concussive shock syndrome.Unfortunately I found very little to enjoy here, it's a little too extreme for my tastes, the vocals sit really low in the mix and are indecipherable while the riffs are just a fuzzing maelstroms of noise. I tried with this I really did but I lost my patience with it about halfway through. On stage drenched in cloaks and pummelled by speakers I guess it could be worth a watch but this is very strongly for fans of bands such as Bölzer. 4/10
Motorjesus – Hellbreaker (AFM Records) [Alex Swift]
Really? Motorjesus? I know that as a critic I should know better than this but do you ever look at a band name and presume to know exactly what they sound like? There’s no shame in that. In this case, you picture gaudy, exaggerated hard rock, perhaps owing to a large part of their influence to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and in this case, I was proved right (I mean, you don’t look at a band with a name like this and expect ambient musings). Despite their brash, overconfident style though, Motorjesus are decent players – a fact that’s demonstrated by the full-throttle opener of Drive through Fire – the guitars are soaring, the rhythms sauntering and the vocals are impressionistic, climbing to impressive heights.
However, what Motorjesus make up for in presence, they lack in substance or originality. I almost feel I should give this a positive review – this is after all the Musipedia Of Metal, and hey, if you’re someone who likes your metal to appeal to that sense of raucousness fused with ridiculousness you’ll probably relish this listening experience. I love a lot of that style myself – Scorpions, Saxon…Motorhead were the first band I ever appreciated seeing live. I wouldn’t be writing for this very blog if I didn’t enjoy a fair amount of ludicrous, outlandish metal! So what’s my problem in this case, beyond the name? I think the answer to that comes down to the predictability and the sense that everything this band does has been done so much better by another artist.
If you’ve read past reviews of mine you’ll know I tend to come down hard on acts who feel like a non-ironic pastiche of their genre, and wow, do this act ticks all of the boxes. Everything here tries to capture the essence of rock n’ roll and comes across as tedious and derivative in the process. While I could appreciate the occasional hook or solo, from Beyond The Grave to Overload all I could think was “Why would I listen to this when other acts do the exact sound so much better?” Thankfully, Hellbreaker doesn’t suffer at all on a technical or production level and for this reason, I feel I can recommend this to some of my fellow writers and metal-heads who are more tolerant of this kind of ‘traditionalism’ than I am. I stress some will definitely enjoy this. I just can’t give a positive score to something I can’t see myself ever returning to. 4/10
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