“Corpsegrinder” CD//DD//LP track listing:
The Review:
Co-Produced by Nick Bellmore and Jamey Jasta, this is the first solo album by the erstwhile Cannibal Corpse frontman George Corpsegrinder Fisher. The involvement of Bellmore (Kingdom of Sorrow) and Jasta (Hatebreed front man, Kingdom of Sorrow) says a lot about what you are getting here.
Pleasingly, the ten tracks here are not just Cannibal Corpse cast-offs, or paint-by-numbers-death-metal. Instead, there is a surprising breadth of approach and sounds here, coupled with some very catchy hooks. Of course, CC bandmate Erik Rutan crops up on the first track, “Acid Vat”, and it is an absolute winner; hooky and brutal, but with a fair amount of hardcore influence in its deathly folds of flesh.
For every blasting section of “All Souls Get Torn”, there is a slower approach in “On Wings of Carnage'' or a hook-fest like “Bottom Dweller”. It's never less than brutal, but the thrash and hardcore- in fact: crossover- influence is also quite pervasive. There are plenty of slower sections and plenty of vocal patterns which would fit on a Hatebreed album and it's never less than masterful.
This is a much more accessible proposition than Fisher's day job. It's eminently listenable (so is CC, to my ears, at least!) and full of menacing growls and higher screams. Tracks like “Crimson Proof” are made for a mosh pit; it's gloriously lowest common denominator stuff in terms of easy hooks, exhortations to bring on the bloodshed and frenetic riffing.
It's sufficiently far removed from Cannibal Corpse and most other traditional death metal bands to be appealing to fans of Fisher's vocal style who also venture beyond the confines of the DM genre in their fandom. As the album progresses, there are no further tricks up the sleeve; “Defined By Your Demise” is a hooky dm//thrash/hardcore mashup- much as most of the tracks here are. It's a tight and focused listen. We are talking three minute songs, with vocals taking centre stage, non-technical death/thrash riffage and rock solid performances by all contributors.
The slower and darker passages- on “Master of the Longest Night”, for instance, are effective and add grandiosity and atmosphere to an album that fairly races by. Overall, this is a fun and catchy record which doesn't outstay its welcome. Fans of Corpsegrinder's vocals who also like a bit of thrash and hardcore with their death metal will find a lot to enjoy here. Solid.
“Corpsegrinder” is available HERE
