Review: Cannibal Corpse – A Skeletal Domain

Cannibal Corpse - A Skeletal DomainUnlucky thirteen? Hard to believe that Cannibal Corpse are still at the forefront of the death metal scene after all these years, and are on the cusp of releasing their thirteenth album, A Skeletal Domain.

However, read into the figures what you will, but 2006’s Kill debuted on the Bilboard Top 200 in position 170. Evisceration Plague hit number 66 in 2009. Two years ago, Torture topped that with a number 38 entry. Could A Skeletal Domain breach the top 20 in 2014?

It’s certainly not undeserving of such a position. In fact, of the recent material I think it’s the best album since Kill. Not overproduced, still very much quality Cannibal Corpse material, but somehow it just seems a bit easier to get into after a couple of listens than some of their other stuff. Maybe this could be down to a change of producer – the band have gone with Mark Lewis at Audio Hammer Studios. Or perhaps it’s the freedom given to Pat O’Brien to wail out a few more solos.

Much as I do enjoy a good death metal album now and again, I tend to prefer them for background listening while I get on with something else. A Skeletal Domain is a rarity in that I actually find myself actively listening to it. It’s recognisably Cannibal Corpse, while managing to wrench something new and dripping fresh blood from an otherwise brutally mangled cadaver. Quite a feat in a genre swamped by bands who assume that just playing louder and with heavier riffs is enough to qualify as a new sound.

Cannibal Corpse play heavy. They play loud. But more importantly, they play well.

Standout tracks for me are the brutally simple “Kill or Become” and “Vector of Cruelty” with its wonderfully stompy introduction.

A Skeletal Domain will be released in the UK on September 15th, 2014 via Metal Blade records. Check out “Sadistic Embodiment” below and point your browser to their Metal Blade page for a host of preorder bundles.

Track Listing:

  1. High Velocity Impact Spatter
  2. Sadistic Embodiment
  3. Kill or Become
  4. A Skeletal Domain
  5. Headlong into Carnage
  6. The Murderer’s Pact
  7. Funeral Cremation
  8. Icepick Lobotomy
  9. Vector of Cruelty
  10. Bloodstained Cement
  11. Asphyxiate to Resuscitate
  12. Hollowed Bodies

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December 30, 2014 6:55 PM

[…] best album for some years, in my opinion, with great production. Given the length of time they’ve been going, it’s incredible to […]