Xothicon: Cannibal Corpse – Evisceration Plague

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Cannibal Corpse – Evisceration Plague

Cannibal Corpse returns to the forefront of the death metal scene with their eagerly awaited 11^th studio release, Evisceration Plague. Showing no signs of slowing down in 2009, the godfathers of gore prove themselves once more as a formidable force in the ever growing macrocosm of metal music as they unleash all manner of mutagenic mayhem with their latest sonic assault.

Successfully slaying audiences for over twenty years now, Cannibal Corpse has matured musically into a well oiled machine of annihilation that becomes more and more proficient at delivering the deathblows with each outing. Evisceration Plague harnesses their iconic song writing style of catchy riffing, cleaver time changes, and brutal breakdowns, and combines that with increased instrumentation. The guitar harmonies between Pat O’Brien and Rob Barrett are more prevalent on each song, the drum fills by Paul Mazurkiewicz venture into the experimental realm, Alex Webster’s bass playing is consistently tight and impressive, and the guitar solos are very fluid and fitting to each track. George Corpsegrinder’s vocals are intense from the first scream heard to the last growl muttered, and the vocal overdubs are subtle and not over done. The lyrics range from homicidal rage to all out mass extermination. The body count has been increased to global proportions as songs like “Scalding Hail”, “Carnivorous Swarm” and “Evisceration Plague” sees the Earth’s population decimated by unnatural disasters.

Following in the footsteps of their 2006 release Kill, Evisceration Plague was recorded with producer Erik Rutan (Hate Eternal/ex-Morbid Angel) at Mana Studios in Florida. The crystal clear production attained by Rutan reveals the insane intricacies of Cannibal Corpse’s technical proficiency, without diminishing the raw intensity of their down tuned guitar sound. Running a little under 40 minutes in length, this 12 track CD delivers some of Cannibal Corpse’s best material to date. The special edition package includes a bonus "Making Of" DVD, an exclusive sneak peek of which can be seen here on Fangoria.com. Delightfully gruesome and brutally relentless, Evisceration Plague is a masterfully made monstrosity of music created by one of this genre’s founding fathers at the pinnacle of their career. A must have for true fans of Cannibal Corpse, and a highly recommended addition for fans of gore laden metal. I give it 4 out of 4 rotting skulls!