Cannibal Corpse at Myspace

Cannibal Corpse’s latest is pretty typical of the Corpsegrinder era. It certainly starts off well, with the insanely brutal “Priests of Sodom” and “Scalding Hail,” but some of the other numbers are unmemorable. “To Decompose” starts out strong, but the rest of the song feels awfully like they were phoning it in, a feeling I get from some other tracks on this album. Other strong tracks include “Evidence in the Furnace,” “Carnivorous Swarm” (which has a great intro and solo which evoke the titular horde), and the title track, which manages to convey CC’s trademark sense of hatred without being especially fast.

I don’t think the band’s albums with Corpsegrinder are terrible or anything, it’s just that they’re not as consistent as the Barnes albums (particularly the first three). If I listed my favorite Cannibal Corpse songs, there would be plenty from the later albums, but more recent albums just have more throwaway tracks, and Evisceration Plague is no exception. I do prefer the rougher production that the disappeared after “Tomb of the Mutilated”; producer Erik Rutan makes things sound just a bit too clear, although it’s not like this is the first CC album where that’s the case. As usual, Alex Webster’s bass is buried in the mix, which is a shame since he was so good with Blotted Science’s “The Machinations of Dementia.” Fans of the band will enjoy it, but newcomers should start with one of the Barnes-era albums.

Frate Cesare Official Website (Italian)

When I heard that there was a metal band fronted by a Capuchin monk, I was almost afraid to hear the result. This was because I was sure that there was no way that the music could possibly live up to the awesome premise. And guess what? I was right.

Friar Cesare Bonizzi is a 63-year old monk who fronts this band; he has recorded albums in various musical genres in the past. He puts in a pretty good performance; some of his screams are great. The lyrics are all in Italian, so I can’t understand them, although I’m familiar enough with Latin that I can tell that the lyrics to “Venere” are a hoot. It’s the rest of the band that’s the problem. They play some of the most generic European-style metal that I’ve heard in my life. It’s a shame that Friar Cesare Bonizzi couldn’t have found some better collaborators to work with; he’s pretty much the only memorable part of the record. Hopefully, he’ll have a better backing band if he decides to release another album in this style.

Lich King at Myspace

Amherst’s Lich King combine Bay Area thrash worship with goofy lyrics to create an album that’s mostly for die-hard thrash fans only. Although the band claims to be a quintet, I suspect that it’s a one or two-man project, as the band lists among its personnel Darth Vader on bass, Hulk Hogan on drums, and A Fucking Tyrannosaur on vocals. Say, could you imagine what would’ve happened if Mr. A. F. Tyrannosaur had wanted to play guitar? They would’ve had to have custom-ordered a huge one to accomodate him, and even then his playing would’ve been highly constricted due to him having only two fingers on each hand. But I digress.

Songs include “Black Metal Sucks” (which is just a regular thrash song until the last 30 seconds, which are a riotous parody of the title genre), the hilariously-titled “Attack of the Wrath of the War of the Death of the Strike of the Sword of the Blood of the Beast,” and “Office Politics” (which is complete with a sample of Milton from Office Space). Although the lyrics are humorous, the music never quite manages to transcend its Bay Area influence, and just feels like thrash worship. Of course, this is a comedy album, so the music isn’t quite as important as the lyrics, which begs the question of why the mediocre instrumental “I Destroy” was included. Another track, “Predator,” recounts the film of the same name; Arnocorps already did this about a million times better. All in all, Toxic Zombie Onslaught is competently executed but fairly dull, and only moderately amusing.

Animals Killing People at Myspace

I’m not exactly a fan of extreme animal liberation groups. Whether they’re comparing Holocaust victims to livestock, staging sophomoric stunts involving naked women or completely ignoring the problem of animal-on-animal violence, I wouldn’t want to be even remotely associated with them even if I were a vegan. However, Animals Killing People have been inspired by their ideology to craft a solid album of deathgrind.

After a sample starts off the album, the first thing you’ll notice are the vocals. The vocals are some of the deepest, most guttural grunts I’ve ever heard, like some jagged, rusty chainsaw assembled by the devil himself. Unfortunately, the instrumental backing is just  too low in the mix, making the music too hard to hear. If you don’t normally listen to music with headphones, I advise doing so for this album; you won’t get the full effect otherwise. The music is chaotic, as is typical for grindcore, but without being completely directionless. Samples are used well, but sparingly; the band was smart enough not to put them in every track.

My biggest complaint was that the band put one of those lengthy hidden tracks at the end of the album. I HATE that gimmick. Aside from that, though, there’s really not much to complain about here, unless you’re so set against PETA-style propaganda that you can’t bear to listen to it even when it’s delivered through incomprehensible growling.

Motörhead at Myspace

Motörhead isn’t a band that’s known for changing its sound much over the years. Despite the fact that Lemmy is the sole constant member, its sound has remained very consistent over the years. That said, there are differences from album to album; you just have to be playing close attention to hear them.

Orgasmatron (originally released in 1986) was Motörhead’s first album as a four-piece, and the first without drummer Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor (except for “On Parole,” which was recorded in 1975 but not released until 1979). The dual guitars are a nice addition; they’re played by Wurzel and Phil Campbell (who is still in the band today). The production by Bill Laswell has its ups and downs; I liked the obviously sampled backing vocals on the songs “Deaf Forever” and “The Claw”, but Lemmy’s bass playing is just buried in the mix so far that it’s almost completely inaudible.

My favorite song was the title track, which denounces the negative effects of organized religion. This topic was so controversial that no other metal band has dared take it on before or since. All in all, despite a few minor changes from formula, it’s a pretty typical Motörhead album. The songs are simplistic but fun, and Lemmy’s voice is just as scraggly as ever.If you like Motörhead’s other work, check this out; if you hate the band, skip it.