Cephalic Carnage - Xenosapien Review

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Tracklist:
1. Endless Cycle of Violence
2. Divination & Volition
3. Molting
4. Touched by an Angel
5. Vaporized
6. Heptarchy
7. G.lobal O.verhaul D.evice
8. Let Them Hate so Long as They Fear
9. The Omega Point
10. Megacosm of the Aquaphobics
11. Ov Vicissitude

Ranking: #173 for 2007

user rating

3.6
great

Chart.

other reviews

Kalle J. (3.5)
Three cheers for cohesion....

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On 5 Lists

3.5
great

Josh Deragon USER (11 Reviews)

2007-07-24 | 45 comments | 2,328 views

Summary: Another decent death metal album with enough chaos to keep your head spinning.

1 of 1 thought this review was well written

It can be tricky judging bands by their names. Upon hearing DragonForce, one should instantly think “power metal”. Then there are some more confusing ones, like upon hearing Korn, one would think “what?”. That's when the band needs to be heard. But there are others still, that upon hearing them, you don't expect something, you know what you are going to hear. I always wondered what it felt like to be shot in the face with a 12-gauge shotgun. Then I listened to Cephalic Carnage real loud.

Cephalic Carnage can easily epitomize what is known as “being pummeled by music”. Xenosapien's disturbing melodies, haunting heaviness, and terror-drenching vocals comprise a small trend of music simply described as grind influenced death metal. The latest from this Colorado-spawned quintet sends people running for the hills. The band combines a variety of all things found in metal today, with few stones left unturned. And I thought Despised Icon was crazy music.

From the outset of the album, chaos ensues after a brief calm on “Endless Cycle Of Violence”. The first sinister notes of the guitars and the evident speed of the drums make every listener an instant witness to brutality. The vocals kind of spurt out in a guttural blast. With deep growls and screeches alike, adding in other small variations of screams, I can safely say the effectiveness of the vocal work is in place. The overall musical work of the album is incredibly unpredictable most of the time, as if a deranged cousin of The Red Chord. Even at times, it is hard to describe what the guitars are doing. It is plenty evident that this isn't a band relying the E string and power chords a la Metallica (no offense), with the fretboards used seemingly in just seconds.

As if the album's blazing speed and uninterpretable guitar lines didn't satisfy a craving for confusion, the band can do another thing really well: tempo changes. Many tracks switch from a grind inspired blasting section to just a simple metal groove. And for those of you who don't like repetition much, sign up right here. The band apparently has an affinity for not keeping the same riffs going for too long, and each member has more fills throughout the album than most bands entire discography (hyperbole got the best of me on that one).

I am unfortunate to report the main fault of this style of music recurring once again. If I put on the first song, let it play while I talk to someone online for a little bit, and then realize I haven't been paying attention, I will stop and take quick listen. I think we all know what I heard: a very similar sound to what I heard when I started. Granted, that is the style of music and they play on speed mostly, but I was still a tad disappointed. Nevertheless, there is a pretty good sized silver lining. No song starts or ends the same. After a few good listens (and paying attention to each song change), it can very well become distinguishable from song to song. And thanks to those helpful tempo changes, the music doesn't exactly come boring real fast to the average metal fan.

There are two songs in particular, other than the lead track, that stand out to me. “Touched By An Angel” has a little bit of catchiness, a lot of speed and vocal changing, and it isn't too long. The good thing about these metal bands making short songs is that they are just long enough to keep interest and short enough to not lose much. Maybe August Burns Red could have learned that before their last album. Also, I am for some reason partial to “Let Them Hate So Long As They Fear”. In music, it is the equivalent to taking shot of liquor. And in this case, a strong one. Rounding out in just one minute and eleven seconds, it's a short but sweet blast for someone in need of a quick fix. The song ends as abruptly as it begins, and there is no time to breathe in between. Not the best song, but for being the shortest track, it packs a punch.

And for the fans of hidden tracks, Xenosapien has one, as an obvious homage to their doom metal heroes, just a little more death metal. Not a very bad listen either.

Grind, death metal, tech metal, and many more. Cephalic Carnage span the heavy metal genre to a pretty large extent. Upon first listen, it appears as the chaotic and dangerous metal packaged in speed and brutality that “death-grind” has become known for. Take a deeper listen. Every instrument (voice included) seems to take on a new life with every riff change, tempo drop, and pure metal insanity. For still being kind of new to grind influenced death metal, I give this a pretty thorough thumbs up.

Rating: 7.28/10
- Josh D.

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