Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genre: Brutal Death Metal
Label: Metal Blade
Format: Digital Promo (Earsplit PR)

I’ve listened to this album a couple times now in the past two or so weeks, and I’ve come to realize something vital about it: it’s awesome. It’s not going to break ground in the genre; it might not ever achieve classic status, and even past albums from Cannibal Corpse might overshadow it for some fans (Kill comes to mind first). But right now, at the beginning of 2012, Torture is exactly what I want to listen to, and the more I do hear it the more I love it.
The band claimed, and has backed up, that they were going to keep the sounds of the past few albums while going back to the more frenetic approach of the first two albums. Every single note is crystal clear, every chord struck is nuanced, but there is a little bit more of a chaotic feel to the structuring of the riffs and many of the solos are just off the registers for intensity. George’s trademark clarity of enunciation is perfect for this album, because he is able to achieve disgusting speed with his vocals while still being intelligible, which matches the insane speeds of some sections in these songs and their crisp production.
The album will appeal to most Cannibal Corpse fans, and it will be a good way for people who aren’t into death metal to get into the genre. It follows the path of CC’s evolution perfectly; it looks at the older albums for inspiration while keeping the more accessible sound of The Wretched Spawn, Kill, and Evisceration Plague. There are some seriously solid tracks on this album, including the lead-off single “Demented Aggression” (listen to it below) and its follower, “Scourge of Iron”, the mid-paced “Followed Home Then Killed” and the manic “Crucifier Avenged”.
8 out of 10.

Torture Tracklisting:
1. Demented Aggression
2. Sarcophagic Frenzy
3. Scourge of Iron
4. Encased in Concrete
5. As Deep as the Knife Will Go
6. Intestinal Crank
7. Followed Home Then Killed
8. The Strangulation Chair
9. Caged… Contorted
10. Crucifier Avenged
11. Rabid
12. Torn Through

Torture Personnel:
Alex Webster: Bass
Paul Mazurkiewicz: Drums
George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher: Vocals
Rob Barrett: Guitar
Pat O’Brian: Guitar

Genre: Brutal Death Metal
Label: Comatose Music

I’ve always tried desperately to steer away from over using the ever popular descriptor “Brutal” but I believe it will prove to be quite difficult since I’m fairly certain that metal Spaniard Carlos Mejias may have helped write the book on it! I guess it’s no surprise since this one man wrecking project that goes by the name of Thirst Of Revenge resides in the ranks of Comatose Music.

Right off the bat, one this is made abundantly clear: Carlos knows how to work the set. His drumming is impeccable and is easily the best anything on this album. Past that, we have those throat decimating growls. Sure, they’re brutal as fuck and if I ran into this guy in a dark alley and he demanded that I give him my wallet in that growl, I’d give it to him without a second thought, but he may as well just be speaking in monotone since there is close to zero variation in his style aside from the occasion pig squeal. His guitar work consists of wrist fracturing speed riffs that while cogent, manage to get lost in the mix during some tracks.

But let’s hold up for a second and discuss something similar to my introduction for a moment: is there such a thing as “too much brutality”? I didn’t really think so… until I listened to Annihilation Of Races. You read that right folks! This album is TOO BRUTAL!!! Too brutal to be taken seriously. Too brutal to be admired by the snobbish metal elite (I can say whatever I want about them since I know they’d NEVER read anything from this site. Fuckers) and just a bit too brutal to be excellent. For now, I hope that Mister Mejias will be okay with a meager ”great” from this lowly journalist.

The spirit of death metal is clearly present throughout the length of Annihilation Of Races and for that, you can’t really fault this guy. I know I don’t. He poured his being into this project and you need only to listen to a few seconds of this album to know this.

Overall: This album is a practice in understanding moderation. Carlos Mejias either doesn’t quite understand how to or just doesn’t care to cut back on the heavy and low in exchange for some finesse or maybe even some technique. It’s really not a bad album, it just doesn’t take itself seriously, so why should any of you? But if brutality is your thing (you know who you are) then Annihilation Of Races is what you need to scratch that itch.

8/10

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Artwork, Track Listing And First Single Unveiled

America’s reigning kings of brutality, Cannibal Corpse, will unleash their twelfth studio offering this March via Metal Blade Records. Aptly titled Torture, the follow-up to 2009′s Evisceration Plague offers up 12 tracks of maniacally precise, soul-searing death metal. Torture was again produced by Hate Eternal‘s Erik Rutan at his own Mana Recording Studio in St. Petersburg, Florida as well as Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas, and features the maniacal cover art by longtime Cannibal Corpse artist, Vincent Locke.

While Torture marks the latest progression in the band’s sound, it also witnesses a return to what drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz accurately terms “the frenzied attack of Butchered At Birth (1991) or Tomb Of The Mutilated (1992),” infusing the band’s advanced musicianship with the raw savagery that haunted their earlier releases, and in the process conceiving the definitive Cannibal Corpse record. Adds bassist Alex Webster on the outcome of the record: “We’re extremely happy with how Torture turned out. Erik Rutan did an amazing job with the production, and the songwriting and performances may be our strongest yet. We can’t wait until our fans get to hear the whole thing!”

Witness the gutting sounds of “Demented Aggression,” the band’s first single, as well as studio footage, at the official Cannibal Corpse landing page, at THIS LOCATION.

Torture Tracklisting:
01. Demented Aggression
02. Sarcophagic Frenzy
03. Scourge of Iron
04. Encased in Concrete
05. As Deep As the Knife Will Go
06. Intestinal Crank
07. Followed Home Then Killed
08. The Strangulation Chair
09. Caged…Contorted
10. Crucifier Avenged
11. Rabid
12. Torn Through

As a precursor to the release, Cannibal Corpse will perform a special one-off show at the Culture Room in West Palm Beach, Florida on January 22nd then head to the seas to take part in this year’s edition of the 70,000 Tons Of Metal Cruise. The band will get a short break before a near month-long march through Europe on the Full Of Hate 2012 tour with labelmates Behemoth.

Torture will be released in North America on March 13, 2012.

Cannibal Corpse:
Alex Webster – Bass
Paul Mazurkiewicz – Drums
Rob Barrett – Guitar
Patrick O’Brien – Guitar
George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher – Vocals

Genre: Brutal Death Metal
Label: Comatose Music

With Bloodsoaked’s previous album, Sadistic Deeds… Grotesque Memories scoring a 9/10, the bar for The Death Of Hope was is set pretty damned high. Can The Death Of Hope live up to expectation? Or will it aptly destroy one of the few remaining glimmers of hope for the death metal (brutal or otherwise) genre?

The answer lies in the middle, leaning more towards the expectation. Slaughtering soloist Peter Hasselbrack can still supply the monstrous riffs and buckets of blood, guts and vagina necklaces, but there are a few areas where he seems to be lacking this time around.

For one, the vocals are actually kind of weak. An album ago, they were deep and guttural. Enough to make your hair stand on end, they were. In this album, they’re more of an easier-to-do, raspy whisper. It makes me wonder if he damaged his vocal chords between albums or somthing along those lines… aww, now I’m sad.  :(

Secondly, the richness and complexity that was Sadistic Deeds… Grotesque Memories has gone flat when the structures made the jump to this album. I mean, there are still some barbaric riffs as mentioned earlier, but everything in between comes off a little stale and sometimes repetitive.

It should be stated that even though I’m disappointed in some of these developments, they’re still loads better than what entire bands out there are putting out. Keep that in mind when you finally reach the score at the bottom.

It’s kind of weird to being saying this (hell, all the negative points in this review were especially painful to write) but I actually enjoyed what was done with the pacing of the drum programming (done by Shane McFee). Machine gunny, but just the right amount of it. No mechanized, overachieving Vinnie Paul or some shit. Also done well once again were the lyrics! It’s like you’re right there beside him as he grinds the guts of some unlucky fucker into a pink, chunky lather!

Interesting Factoid: Peter hates Call Of Duty ModernWarefare & Black Ops or at least some d-bags he played with that he lists off in the liner notes. They’re actually pretty funny too. You’ve got to respect a dude that’s 1) a gamer and 2) has enough of a sense of humor to put something like that in the liner notes of his brutal death metal album.

Overall: The Death Of Hope isn’t the best Bloodsoaked album out there, but it’s still a damn fine one. Yeah, I might of been a little disappointed with the vocal change and the decline in song structure quality, but the fire is still there. This guy still wants shit to die in the most twisted, macabre way possible and you can’t fault him on that. I still recommend this album to the fans of brutality.

8/10

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Genre: Brutal Death Metal

Label: Comatose Music

Whenever my dreary, miser-ish visages manages to contort into a painful looking smile, there are two possible reasons as to why:

1) I just saw a mop-headed skater biff it to the point of serious injury, or

2) A band like Disfigured shows me there are death metal groups out there that know that brutality isn’t just a fucking gimmick.

San Marcos, Texas natives, Disfigured are exactly what you think of when you catch yourself wondering what a band would sound like if they didn’t have to sacrifice ANYTHING in their art to please their label’s own agenda (probably one of the reasons why Comatose Music is so fucking killer). Everything is turned way down low, frantic as shit and as gritty as it all should be.

I wanted to use the tag “technical” in the heading, but all that really stood out or came close in that realm was the bass. I’m not saying that the guitarist and the drummer aren’t any good at all. I’m just giving the bassist a big ol’ thumbs up in the “Fucking-A, you kill!” department. It definitely helps that the mixing is top notch, so I can hear every note on every instrument, every time I play Amputated Gorewhore.

In the song Cunt Force Trauma, the vocalist deviates from his borderline annoying, stabbed-in-the-throat gurgle burps for a couple seconds and does this immensely annoying, gargling-with-semen scream. I really don’t understand the need for this particular type of vocal. Who’s demanding that they want their death/grind bands to sound like they find out that they’re bone-chillingly afraid of their own microphone while simultaneously trying to down a two liter of Shasta?

Also, Disfigured tended to overuse or go into that cliche territory with the samples from horror flicks or diarrhea sound clips. Even though we all love that scene in Dumb And Dumber where Harry shits his brains out… ok, I’ll let that one pass. With that being said, the track Drowning In Feces is a must listen. If you hear it and don’t dig it, then this album isn’t for you. Also, if you don’t dig it, I don’t think I want to know you!

Overall: Yes, Disfigured doesn’t abuse the “brutal” tag at all, but they do still manage to stumble upon the pitfalls that 90% of all bands in this sub-genre plummet into. In short; if you want a brutal album that fucking means it, check out Amputated Gorewhore.

7/10

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