As Cannibal Corpse celebrate their 35th anniversary it becomes harder to keep coming up with new ways to hype this band up. Every time they drop a new album its really easy to say “it sounds just like a Cannibal Corpse album and be done with it” but a band of this calibre and with their legacy deserve so much more than that.
Chaos Horrific, their 16th album and the follow up to 2021’s excellent Violence Unimagined is another instant classic, from a band that seems to be on the run of their life right now.
The moment Overlords of Violence kicks in with its sharp stabbing riffs and gut rumbling bass, you feel right at home. Frenzied Feeding is appropriately titled, a three & a half minute blast of thrashing death metal perfection. Summoned for Sacrifice is surprisingly catchy hinging on a riff that feels like Slayer during their Seasons In the Abyss era. Its one of the album’s stand out moments and will be lodged in many a brain for days to come.
Blood Blind has that classic Cannibal Corpse feel to it. Rusty chainsaw riffs meet blast beats that sound like they’re being playe by a pissed off Octopus, it is the perfect blend of old and new school death metal in one vicious track.
Fracture and Refracture & Pitchfork Impalement are both rampaging all out assaults on the listener. Two pedal to the metal bangers that you’ll bang your head clean off to.
Pestilential Rictus feels like an unearthed track from the bands impeccable three album run from 1990-1992. It has such a vintage feel to the production which plays off the more modern style the band has employed on latter releases.
Violence Unimagined was one of my favourite metal album of 2021 and it felt like Cannibal Corpse hit a creative peak with it. Here we are just over two years later and they have delivered another instant classic. Chaos Horrific is a perfect Cannibal Corpse album in every sense. It pays homage to their roots and it delivers the best parts of what have made the last decade of the bands career so powerful and enjoyable To this day and for my money there is not another death metal band that comes close to reaching the levels of quality and consistency that they do every time they put out a new release.
Chaos Horrific is out now via Metal Blade Records
