Cannibal Corpse

"Gore Obsessed "
(Metal Blade Records) 

"Gore Obsessed…" like that's news? What can be said about Cannibal Corpse that hasn't been said over and again? Leaders in the Death community for ten years strong, their brand of unholy, uncompromising and unparalleled filth have led the charge for generations of evil doers to learn from and build upon, yet no one's managed to come close to dethroning the reigning kings of desecration and doom. "Gore Obsessed" is yet another prime example of their ritualistic terror caught on tape, featuring eleven more exhuming tracks in full blood spurting life draining splendor. The twist here, among many others, convulsive and otherwise it the addition of veteran producer Neil Kernon who, along with a little help from the band, has managed to infuse a bit more lifeblood into the musicianship, building on their strength of savagery and speed, they've brought another level of structure to the sound offering the listener more than just an average sixty minute slaughterfest. Change for change's sake? Not likely, the evidence hits early on by way of "Hatchet To The Head," and "Pit Of Zombies," full on Death fragmented by unique time changes and sudden slants in the straightaway, adding an almost Slayer-like quality to the brutality. The riffing, more solid than ever, chunkier than before, still rapid fire to the extreme, generally where the soloing's concerned-take a good example in "Compelled To Lacerate" where the preceding events leading to the last gasping seconds manage to smash you to atoms, stand above you secondarily, then without warning bludgeon you blind. "Mutation Of The Cadaver" is another severe and woeful form of life imitating art, or vice versa, typical of "Gallery Of Suicide," though the results one way or the other are not pretty. The changes are subtle but noticeable to the avid follower, the casual listener won't be so lucky and the doomsayers will meet their untimely death. Visually reprehensible as is their wont, "Gore Obsessed" remains rooted in gratuitous violence, horrifically representing the fall of man and exploiting all his fears in a methodically unyielding swing of the axe. Spewing forth even more lyrical bile from a limitless wellspring of headless bodies, they again drench and destroy a world of happiness, hope and humanity.

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