Changes have been afoot in the Cannibal Corpse household. The bizarre circumstances surroundings the exit of long time guitarist Pat O’Brien in 2020 lead to the inclusion of Hate Eternal guitarist Erik Rutan joining the elite death metal outfit. If you missed the story of aliens, guns and skulls you missed a treat of a news headline. With their 15th album Violence Unimagined now being released, has the change in lineup ruined a good thing, or taken their musical escalation to new heights?
For my ears – the revolution had arrived, and is here to tear you a new orifice. What we have from the first album of the Cannibal Corpse 3.0 era, is their best album since Cannibal Corpse 1.0 – that being the Chris Barnes lead first 4 albums. Those first 4 albums were such a destructive and groundbreaking achievement in musical quality and deliberate shocking content designed to sicken, that the Corpsegrinder fronted Corpse 2.0 era has always felt a little flat to me.
There is no doubting the instantly recognisable pipes from the tree trunk neck of George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher. But reigning back on the overtly grim and shocking nature of their early material left me a little wanting. However here on Violence Unimagined there is a throwback nature to the material. Especially with the deliciously disturbing red band album cover. Coupled with an obvious influence from Erik Rutan, bludgeoning through with riff after riff and some fantastic wailing solos. Corpsegrinder has never sounded as good as he does on Violence Unimagined. I don’t feel his voice is quite as abrasive as it has been in the past. The stabbing cleaner wails on occasion are delightful.
Murderous Rampage kicks things off at breakneck speed. The feel that each musician is struggling to keep up with each other (or trying to out-speed one another) is textbook dirty old school straight forward pumping death metal. Tasteful overindulgence of the whammy bar on 3 terrific solos in just the first track shows the clear Erik Rutan influence. Inhumance Harvest contains one of the heaviest and brutal…ist breakdowns I have heard on a Cannibal Corpse track since Hammer Smashed Face. The half step down part way through the chugging shows how such a simple idea can produce a crushing breakdown. Comfortably the standout track on the album.
With just a single listen through, you know this is their best album for a generation. Showing there is still living flesh left on their decaying corpses. Bludgeoning, no nonsense, and never letting up throughout 43 minutes of carnivorous mayhem. 30+ years into their storied career, and Cannibal Corpse have doubtlessly shown they can keep things fresh and still produce a quality album with Violence Unimagined. Long live the living dead.
Score: 8/10
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