CANNIBAL CORPSE — The Wretched Spawn (review)

CANNIBAL CORPSE — The Wretched Spawn album cover Album · 2004 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
aiylyn
Br00tal,

I can't pretend to be an old-school Cannibal Corpse fan who's followed the band loyally for over ten years. Sure, I've known about them since that movie, but never really checked out their music until just now, even though I was getting into other bands like Cryptopsy and Vader through the intervening years. Well, we all make mistakes, right? I have this incredible urge to go back in time and "discover" this band for myself sooner. Because, as many have found out, Cannibal Corpse delivers on all levels. Most notable and obvious would be the artwork. Their traditional vicious pictures may be disturbing to some but a closer examination reveals that no hack could draw these - they are quite good. The music is exactly what you would expect - fast, heavy, punishing. George Fisher turns in a fantastic performance. I'm not sure if I like it as much as Peter from Vader, but he's a close second at least. The string section turns in some truly amazing sequences, particularly in the title track, though impressive riffs and leads abound throughout the album. Corpse employ advanced musical techniques without straying into the technical-for-it's-own-sake territory that bands like Cryptopsy comfortably inhabit. They are masters of rhythmic intricacy, but they leave it to the listener to realize over several listens. The drums are a little high-end heavy; the kick drums are clear but a little thin. I won't complain too much about that because it's a breath of fresh air from the usual trigger-off-the-radar kick sound that is death metal's trademark. And of course, as has been mentioned in many reviews already, the songwriting is solid; and in some places, an almost-hummable (or, growl-able) hook presents itself.

To cap off my long-winded rave, Cannibal Corpse is a band that I wish I had discovered much earlier, but as they say, better late than never. I bought. I listened. I believe.
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