UMUR
"Cannibal Holocaust" is an EP release by US death metal act Necrophagia. The EP was released through Season of Mist in October 2001. It´s the successor to the "Black Blood Vomitorium" from 2000 and it´s the last Necrophagia recording to feature Phil Anselmo (working under the Anton Crowley pseudonym). For this specific recording Anselmo hired his then wife Opal Enthroned (real name: Stephanie Opal Weinstein) on keyboards. The remaining members from the last EP (other than Anselmo) are band founder/lead vocalist Killjoy and drummer Wayne "Doobie" Fabra. New in the lineup (other than Opal Enthroned) are guitarist Frediablo and bassist Jared Faulk.
The introduction of keyboards to Necrophagia´s music does not have the impact that it would have when Mirai Kawashima joined on synths/keyboards in 2002. This still sounds like the last couple of Necrophagia releases with Anselmo in the lineup. So this is decent quality old school death metal with horror themed lyrics but nothing more. The quality of the recordings is even a bit up an down as both "Burning Moon Sickness" and "It Lives in the Woods" appear here in what sounds like demo sound quality (unpolished performances and all), which is a bit odd as the opening title track is clearly a professional studio recording. It´s especially odd to include "It Lives in the Woods" here in demo quality as it had already appeared on the "Black Blood Vomitorium" EP in studio sound quality. But when that is said these raw demo recordings are actually pretty great.
The last two tracks on the EP is the eerie atmospheric drone/noise track "Baphomet Rise" and a raw and savage cover of "Chainsaw Lust" by Mayhem, which Necrophagia recorded in 1999 as a tribute to Euronymous. None of those tracks are particularly interesting or worth the price of admission. So upon conclusion "Cannibal Holocaust" isn´t the greatest EP release by Necrophagia and if you´re interested in purchasing one of their EPs I´d much rather recommend "Black Blood Vomitorium" or even better "Goblins Be Thine". The latter which features the 2002-2005 incarnation of Necrophagia, who recorded some of the band´s best recordings. A 2.5 - 3 star (55%) rating is warranted.