Review Summary: While it's not the greatest they've put out, this record still has "Quality Death Metal" written all over it.
While Cannibal Corpse has been around for, I'm relatively certain, 21 years, I don't think they have ever come close to "selling out". This album still lets their fans know that they still have life in their bones. While it does have the normal problem of all the songs sounding a slight bit recycled, it's not extremely noticeable. However, it is still an issue. None of the tracks really have anything to make them stand out, save for a few tracks.
The album begins with a riff resembling something from Gallery of Suicide, which isn't a bad thing, and something I'd never heard from Cannibal Corpse before. A Deicide-esque double-layer vocal effect. I know it's supposed to sound demonic, but it doesn't feel like somethin Cannibal Corpse would do. It feels like something that , well, Behemoth, Deicide, Oceano, or A Plea for Purging would do. Mainly because they already have. While it sounds cool, and they do it on more than just "Priests of Sodom", It detracts from the overall creativity.
Next is a standard "not-even-2-minute-super-brutal-track", titled "Scalding Hail". As I said, it's standard. However, I will say this, it's definitely brutal. The next track is fairly standard, has no originality, but at least it's played well."A Cauldron of Hate" is a normal Cannibal trudger. But, there is a twist. It has numerous time changes. This is definitely one of the better songs that avoids the normal formulaic Metal song. The next two tracks are standard and formulaic, and don't stand out at all. They aren't bad, just average.
The next track, the aptly titled "Evisceration Plague", demolishes. This song is great, even though it lacks the several time changes that "A Cauldron of Hate" had. The guitar solos sprinkled throughout the track are well thought out, and make the song feel as if an enormous plague were hanging above the world. For lack of better words, this song is my favorite that Corpse has ever released to the airwaves.
The rest of the album falls short to the first 8 tracks. While none of the songs are horrible, and are all well executed, there just are no more standout tracks (save for "Skewered from Ear to Eye").Overall, this album is extremely well put together, but falls short in the originality department. Other than the slight originality problem, this is, in my opinion, their second best album.
