Cannibal Corpse - A Skeletal Domain (2014)

×

Cannibal Corpse - A Skeletal Domain (2014)

Close

Well, this was a pleasant surprise indeed. I have been an on-and-off listener of Cannibal Corpse since the early 2000’s. I never really became an avid fan, but I always came back to check out what these fore-runners of modern death metal were up to. Each time I was met with pretty similar reactions: mild amusement, some head-banging, appreciation of the technical guitar-work and drumming, etc. But not much overall enjoyment was had. The closest I came was with Kill, which was a very solid album.

With the critics talking about this being more business-as-usual for the troop, I didn’t have high expectations going into my first listen. That was a mistake. This album ripped my face off and wore it for a hat. I don’t know why more people aren’t talking about it. I really can’t put my finger on exactly what it is that makes me enjoy this album so much more than the previous ones, but my feet were rocking the double bass under my desk for almost every track. I liked it so much I went on my lunch break and bought it on the spot. Something I rarely do

This is still very much the same Cannibal Corpse you would expect, but the song writing just feels tighter and the production fiercer. A lot of people really dug Torture, but I still just couldn’t get all that interested. I give that album credit for still managing to come up with chilling imagery that was disturbing to me (for some reason Encased in Concrete just gives me the jeebies). The writing here feels a little different though. Instead of realism and straight-up gore, the imagery is either a little more supernatural or cartoonish, which I kind of enjoy. I could see Metalocalypse making episodes off of some of the ideas at play here. Funeral Cremation and Icepick Labotomy still have the disturbing realism though.

As for the musicianship, everyone shines here. The guitar riffs are more memorable (at least in my mind) and feel less cut-and-paste DM by numbers. Even the solos make an impression rather than being just typical Slayer/Venom technical guitar doodling. The drums are crushing with beats that get me amped to the Nth degree. The bass still has that weird tinny, distortion sound that lets it take center stage at times. And Mr. Corpsegrinder’s delivery is spot on. Whereas on Torture I feel he kind of haphazardly spewed the lyrics, here there is a very deliberate cadence. They don’t sound like Meshuggah, but the way he is careful to compliment the overall rhythm with each guttural bark harkens to their style.

To sum up, if you like death metal, you should buy this album. In a tired genre with not a lot of room for growth beyond developing into one of the various subgenres, this manages to feel fresh without jumping the shark. It’s not the same as the classics, but in a time where deathcore has taken over; this album can remind everyone what brutal truly means, and that the old school can still kick in skulls like they used to.

www.metal-archives.com