Review Summary: A competent, technical and often very catchy album, Gore Obsessed is undermined by its struggles with sustaining creativity across its runtime, and even across a single track.
After the extremely polished Bloodthirst, it's perhaps expected that veteran death metal band Cannibal Corpse were going to struggle advance their sound. With no lineup changes and a fairly clear template for success from their last album, more of the same was to be expected. Gore Obsessed features several of the same ideas, with some minor retooling to the overall presentation, and as such is a somewhat catchier but overall less creative and less menacing album.
The most obvious positive aspect of this album is the production, probably the best in their career. Neil Kernon's work on The Wretched Spawn was good too, but here the less technical guitar work fits the thicker, looser guitar sound better, and the overall mix is energetic, heavy, well-balanced and savage. The bass is extremely audible and heavy, which is always more or less essential for Cannibal Corpse, and the drum and vocal performances fit very nicely too. Coupled with some lower tunings (I believe this is the first album to use the G# tuning that became standard for the band from Kill onwards), there is great texture and the sonic foundations were certainly there for a career-best album.
The problems with the album are somewhat evident from the opener,
Savage Butchery; simply put, the creativity on the album is rather patchy. It's not a particularly strong track, with a fairly rudimentary death/grind style powerchord riff that doesn't really have any extra flavour beyond the absolute bog standard of Cannibal Corpse. The next couple of tracks are thankfully much stronger;
Hatchet to the Head is darker, heavier and features some cool shifting rhythms with its riffs, and is certainly a lot hookier.
Pit of Zombies is a classic Cannibal Corpse track and the only track here that is notable beyond it being on this album; to date it is probably one of the catchiest songs the band has ever produced, with a simple but supremely hooky main riff and some memorable goofy lyrics.
Dormant Bodies Bursting is sadly another rather lacklustre track, with another pretty boring main riff that doesn't really offer anything beyond very basic death metal fair.
Thankfully, beyond that point there are no especially weak tracks, although the rest of the album does blend together. The more overtly sinister and slow paced
When Death Replaces Life is the only major standout and in many ways seems to foreshadow the slightly better
Festering in the Crypt from their next album, with some mid-paced grooves and eerie phaser effects on the guitars.
Compelled to Lascerate is particularly notable for its half time break in the middle, one of the better dynamic variations on the album and a good break from the relatively samey pace of the mid course of the album.
Hung and Bled recalls
Sickening Metamorphosis from Bloodthirst, and whilst not quite as good, there's more variation in pace and dynamics, with the slow polyrhythmic intro riffs and tom rumbling contrasting very effectively with the technical verses.
Sanded Faceless's guitar harmonies are a minor standout as well, but informs the recurring issue of the album; some interesting and memorable parts in every song, but the overall style of each track is pretty much the same. Even
When Death Replaces Life is not terribly dissimilar once it picks its speed up. Compared to the better Cannibal Corpse albums, there isn't really a different feel to any of the tracks besides
Pit of Zombies.
Whilst altogether a fairly respectable effort and hardly a major misstep for the band, Gore Obsessed doesn't really manage to provide the necessary variation or consistent creativity in its tracks that would be necessary for it to be a standout effort. Good production and some of the usual impressive technical instrumental work carries it to being at least decent, but there is a waste of potential here, with some dull tracks and not enough
sustained intricacy to put it on the level of their classic albums.
