UMUR
"Corpsegrinder" is the eponymously titled debut full-length studio album by US death metal artist Corpsegrinder. The album was released through Perseverance Media Group in February 2022. Corpsegrinder is the solo project of Cannibal Corpse frontman George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher. Fisher was actually involved in a death metal act called Corpsegrinder while he was living in Baltimore, Maryland. The band dissolved after Fisher moved to Florida in 1990 to join Monstrosity.
It happens that death metal musicians participate in various side-projects and supergroups, but it´s not that often they release solo albums. Fisher is of course in a league of his own, being the frontman of the most successful death metal band in the last 27 years, and it makes sense that he would be the one to release a solo album. He is helped here by the Bellmore brothers (Charlie and Nick) on guitars/bass and drums respectively. Both are associated with artists like Dee Snider, Phantoms, and Kingdom of Sorrow. Nick Bellmore and Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed, Kingdom of Sorrow) are credited for producing and helping out with the songwriting. In the case of Bellmore he is also credited for recording, mixing, and mastering the album.
Stylistically Fisher doesn´t stray too far from the path of Cannibal Corpse in terms of the material on this debut album being US death metal. Technically well played, brutal, and delivered with a punch. The tracks are maybe a bit more straight forward and not nearly as technical as some of the output of his main act, but other than that, this is pretty much what you´d expect to hear, after learning that Fisher made a death metal solo album. The 10 tracks on the 31:03 minutes long album are all well written effective death metal tunes and Fisher´s voice and vocal style are unmistakable (predominantly deep growling spiced up with the occasional high pitched scream). This is the work of a true professional.
What you don´t get here are any surprises. Sure this doesn´t sound 1 to 1 like Cannibal Corpse, and that´s always something, but if you ask me, it would have been nice to hear Fisher venture into more unknown territories, to challenge himself and his audience. But if you want another well produced, well written, and well performed US death metal release to add to your collection, you could do far worse than invest in this album. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.