Review Summary: The death metal album that represents the entire genre
Recorded in 1993, tomb of the mutilated is witness to the fact that cannibal corpse were way ahead of their time. This was a pioneering album in the sense that, for its time,it had all the essence to inspire a style that a bazillion death metal bands would try and take for their own money. There is a reason why CC have sold more albums then any other death metal band and were in freaking Ace Ventura, and that is because this album is amazing in every way possible.
This album is one of those rare albums that are released just once during a bands entire existence. Setting new standards in brutal death, "tomb of the mutilated" is a masterpiece. This is the gauge by which I measure the "brutality" of a band.
The production is average. But everything feels right. This album has the best sounding guitars compared to ALL their other releases- raw and heavy as ***. The drums are well sounding, though slightly low in the mix.
The bass is clear and can be heard most of the time. The riff from I Cum Blood is probably the most badass riff ever made.
Chris Barnes is at his ALL TIME career best. This is the lowest, sickest growl Ive ever heard in all my life, only rivaled by Lord Worm on None So Vile or perhaps the vocals from Suffocation or Gorguts. The words just boil through in that growly voice that so many death metal singers hope to achieve. But as you can make out you'll need the lyrics booklet to hear what hes saying.Rarely,he does break into a sick high pitched scream but doesnt make it a habit as you may hear on the bleeding and six feet under albums.
Every song is a masterpiece.A lot of guys claim that the songs are monotonous, but I think Ive headbanged to this album so many times, I am quite familiar with all the riffs. The riffs rip, shred and hack in every song. The vocal patterns vary from song to song. Standing out on some tracks and on the rest just a regurtitation of lyrics on the rest. Either way, no song is incomplete. They all are packed with monstrous riffs and ultra low vocals gaurenteed to send half of the death metal bands around to the scrap heap, including the present day incarnation of cannibal corpse themselves. Take my word for it...Its that ***ing good.
(Note : A poll on cannibal corpses official site some time back suggested that this album was a fan favourite beating out all their other albums by a considerable margin. Now, that tells a story does'nt it?
Tomb of the mutilated is a must have for fans of the genre. Even the cover art is the sickest Ive seen. If you havent heard it yet, shame on you. Go get it and you'll get an idea of what standards death metal bands should follow.
