Heavy metal music has long been associated with blood and gore. Cannibal Corpse are one such band who take it a step further; their new album Chaos Horrific features some killer riffs.
Its cover image depicts someone being hit in the face with a hammer – definitely not suitable for those who easily become upset!
Cannibal Corpse – Chaos Horrific
Cannibal Corpse have been spreading their brutal brand of death metal for 35 years, and while their impact may be hard to measure on extreme metal as an overall phenomenon, they’ve long remained one of the premier death metal bands – as evidenced on Chaos Horrific, their 16th studio album which serves as an anvilicious sequel.
Cannibal Corpse have had much of their lineup intact since the late ’90s, which allows their cohesion and tightness to flourish to new heights here. It becomes immediately evident as bassist/vocalist Pat O’Brien and guitarist Rob Barrett deliver an intense barrage of riffs and pummeling drums that is relentless. Even newly recruited guitarist Erik Rutan (Hate Eternal/ex-Morbid Angel) seamlessly integrates himself into this performance for an incredible showing.
Chaos Horrific stands out among other death metal releases this year with its signature combination of sludgy, heavy and groovey riffs that pervade every track on this record. These riffs give it its trademark consistency; few others could do it as effectively. Vocally, Corpsegrinder shines; his throat-wrenching vocals can easily be heard over the din of music.
Chaos Horrific by Cannibal Corpse may have hit its stride some time ago, yet they still manage to find enough energy in their arsenal to make Chaos Horrific an enjoyable listening experience at base levels. When listened to back-to-back with its predecessor it stands out as one of the year’s strongest albums; but upon closer examination it falls short of greatness.
Rivers of Nihil – The Silent Life
Rivers of Nihil is a Reading, Pennsylvania-based technical death metal band which formed in 2009. They quickly rose to popularity upon releasing both their debut EP and full-length album; Metal Sucks even named the latter “one of the best new death metal albums you’ll hear this year”. Additionally, Rivers have performed with such artists as Dying Fetus, Thy Art Is Murder, and Enterprise Earth on tour.
The Silent Life is the third track from their 2018 album Where Owls Know My Name, produced by Carson Slovak (Monarchy, August Burns Red) and Grant McFarland (Entombed, Suffocation). Dan Seagrave crafted its artwork for this release; previously his covers appeared on legendary albums by Entombed such as Left Hand Path and Suffocation such as Effigy of the Forgotten.
This song from Rivers of Nihil addresses the loss of loved ones with a powerfully emotive song about loss. Listen to it here on their official YouTube channel.
Testament – Demonic Refusal
Generally, the 1990’s were difficult times for thrash metal bands like Slayer and Megadeth; Slayer were particularly beset by its rise with The Ritual while Megadeth had their takedown with Risk. Testament, on the other hand, managed to escape its demons more readily than most: while 1992’s Low was quite solid release for them, their seventh full length album Demonic would prove monumentally more ambitious in this genre-bending American thrash metal act’s catalogue.
Testament guitarist and vocalist Chuck Billy was in excellent form on this record as he unleashed his guttural intensity that had been used live settings for nearly ten years at its release. It featured songs combining groove death metal with classic Testament elements while still featuring darkly melodic tracks such as “Hatred’s Rise” and “The Burning Times”, while its cover art featured a mask used in African exorcism rituals as an appropriate visual for Satanist-themed music on this release.
Demonic is an impressive album despite lacking actual heavy elements; far better than their follow up Practice What You Preach which had no discernible heavy elements whatsoever. Demonic’s more dynamic approach helps the band maintain an edge which helped them sound like the dangerous badasses they always were.
Suffocation – Pierced From Within
Not just because of its name, this song is pure ruthlessness. From its groovey yet thrashy rhythms with gut-punching hooks and double bass basslines to technical death metal and old school thrash riffs reminiscent of technical death metal; to its menacing drum work which doesn’t get lost among all that guitar work as was often the case with their earlier albums; everything about this track oozes classic status.
Pierced From Within was released by Suffocation in 1995 as their third full-length album and has become one of the most iconic death metal records ever produced. Many consider this groundbreaking record the precursor to true technical brutal death metal music; taking what had already been established with Effigy of the Forgotten as inspiration, Pierced From Within brought more anger, passion and bloodshed than ever before; truly a masterwork in death metal history!
This record’s lyrics center around an insane protagonist seeking revenge against those responsible for his pain by taking control of those responsible. This story is brought to life with amazing instruments and vocals by Frank Mullen; his growling isn’t as throat-clearing anymore allowing for him to add in screams, yells and shouts into his growls for an authentically maddening feel that fits seamlessly with the music.
Hiro Takahashi had originally sent Roadrunner an album cover depicting a terrifying scene with dark green hues, yellow, and red colorings and their logo prominently displayed. According to MetalSucks reports someone involved with creating it admitted something went awry along the way; there are Pierced From Within T-shirts available that get it just right, it would be awesome to see an updated reissue with this version as its cover art!
Gojira – The Art of Dying
Gojira’s “The Art of Dying” is a haunting musical journey through life and death. The protagonist recognizes their life is increasingly filled with mundane tasks and technology; references to’mechanical heartbeats’ and images of an almighty television suggest this is leading them away from their emotions and towards disconnection. But then the song shifts focus onto spiritual matters – abandoning material possessions while accepting death gracefully with lyrics like: ‘I won’t bring no material in the afterlife’ alluding back to Hindu concepts of reincarnation where individual souls take new physical forms until attaining moksha is achieved – with lyrics like these: ‘I won’t bring no material in the afterlife’ allude to Hindu belief in terms of soul reincarnation which states that individual souls take physical forms until finally reaching moksha or attainment is achieved and no material brought along onward.