Those cuddly animal rights activists that call themselves Cattle Decapitation are back with their 7th release of vegan death & grind titled Monolith Of Inhumanity. This time around the band have injected some variety into their normal non-stop technical & brutal formula, adding some clean vocals, slower passages, and ambience to the mix, resulting in another enjoyable platter of extreme mayhem for those who enjoy this sort of thing.
For any of you that haven't taken the ride before with this band, their songs are all about the evils of animal slaughter and musically you can expect a furious assault of complex riffery and superhuman blast beats. For the most part all of this is intact here on Monolith of Inhumanity, with a few surprises. "Kingdom of Tyrants", "The Carbon Stampede", "Dead Set on Suicide", and "A Living, Breathing Piece Of Defecating Meat" deliver what we've always come to expect from Cattle Decapitation, as brutal & technical arrangements bludgeon the listener while Travis Ryan spews a non stop assault of growls, screams, and pig grunts. "Forced Gender Reassignment" sees those brutal pig grunts wallowing alongside some standard death metal riffs and blazing solos, while the intense "Gristle Licker" features some wild grooves from new bass player Derek Engemann, who really does a fine job throughout the album. The first sign of something really interesting happening is on "Lifestalker", an awesome slice of progressive/death/grind, with crazy complex arrangements, a mix of death & black metal styled vocals, and some soaring clean vocal passages & melodic guitar solos. "Your Disposal" also features clean vocals amidst pummeling rhythms, and the spooky "The Monolith" is an atmospheric, ambient styled number with spoken word whispered vocals, lilting guitar chords and keyboards. Definitely a departure for the band, but a nice change of pace.
For some, Monolith of Inhumanity will be a little too 'all over the place', and the new listeners the band might bring in due to the more melodic songs might still be shocked by the sheer brutality of the rest of the record. For my money, this CD is a fun and intriguing listen, as I'm interested to see what direction Cattle Decapitation will go in next. In some ways they've done their thing (and done it well) for years now, and maybe the time is right to branch out in new directions. I think their next release might uncover that for us, but we shall see.
Track Listing
01. The Carbon Stampede [feat. The Cephalic Carnage Community Mens Choir]
02. Dead Set On Suicide
03. A Living, Breathing Piece Of Defecating Meat [feat. Lenzig Leal]
04. Forced Gender Reassignment
05. Gristle Licker
06. Projectile Ovulation [feat. Mike Majewski]
07. Lifestalker
08. Do Not Resuscitate
09. Your Disposal
10. The Monolith
11. Kingdom Of Tyrants
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