Review Summary: Cattle Decapitation strut their stuff in their 4th full length release
Cattle Decapitation is a San Diego based Deathgrind band that is currently signed to Metal Blade Records.
Humanure, or the practice of using human excrement to nurture plants, is the bands 4th release. Justin Pearson and Bobby Bray of The Locust make appearances on the album.
Cattle Decapitation is:
Travis Ryan - Vocals
Josh Elmore - Guitar
Troy Oftedal - Bass
Michael Laughlin - Drums
Humanure is interesting. Overall it uses a lot of the same structures to craft its tracks. The first real opener,
Humanure is a strong point that portrays that formula quite well, with Grind song structures, yet with Death Metal riffs, solo’s, and Drum Fills. The closest way I can describe it is, well,
all over the place.
This entire record is all over the place. I do not mean that in a bad way. Oh no, I do not. The chaotic, yet formulated sound that Cattle Decapitation achieves with
Humanure is top notch, second only to their latest release.
Reduced To Paste and
Chummified show the bands willingness to brake from the pack and try out different things not usually found in Grind, yet still keeping the formula previously mentioned. The layered vocals, think production, and somewhat recycled riffs swarm the record. The album however keeps its replay value even after 9 or 10 listens.
Even through the reused riffs, Mr. Elmore continues to make catchy yet brutal songs, beautifully crafted with tremolo picking and obscure scales wandering around.
Bukkake Tsunami, quite possibly the best track on the record, shows these elements. Although a lot of the riffs could be substituted to different songs without a hitch, the meat of the song is composed into the higher leads that latch on to you and don’t let go. Pinch Harmonics strewn about provide startling jabs that complete the packaged deal.
Applied Human Defragmentation has tempo changes that have become a habit for Cattle Decapitation’s music to wield. Like King Arthur and Excalibur, like Jesus and The Bible, like Tony Montana and an M16, Josh Elmore wields his axe in a way that fits perfectly to
the Cattle Decapitation sound.
One of the speed bumps that
Humanure encounters on its road, comes in the form of not making songs up to standards set by earlier tracks. Songs like
The Earthling and
Men Before Swine fail to come close to the greatness achieved by tracks such as
Lips & A**holes and
Bukkake Tsunami. These speed bumps are the main factors in what makes this album blend together a little bit. By the time you’ve made it to
Polyps, you might just turn the album off, thinking you’ve heard all it has to offer, which, for the most part, you have. Earlier on I mentioned the albums substantial replay value. That value is there, it just may take a few listens to find what tracks you believe to be the backbone of the album, what holds it together and keeps you from pressing the stop button, or if your in the correct day and age, the menu button (for you sheltered individuals that’s an Ipod). The vertebrae, however, are placed in such places, that if you are listening with open ears and an open mind, will engage you when you feel that numbness start to overtake you, the numbness that comes from listening boring, filler tracks that don’t grab you like others do.
Overall,
Humanure was a solid record released by an even more solid band. The highlights of the album are surely some of the highlights of the bands catalog. And although I believe they reached new heights with
Karma.Bloody.Karma,
Humanure is still a necessary album for any fan of the band, genre, or any combination of the two, regardless of the couple filler tracks that plague it.
Pro’s[+]
Musicianship is very solid
Catchy, or, as catchy as you can be with Deathgrind
Memorable tracks are killer
Con’s[-]
Filler tracks don’t cut it
Some recycled riffs, but overall, not too many
Vocals never get switched up, which can leave them stale
Recommended Tracks
Bukkake Tsunami
Humanure
Lips & A**holes
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