Cannibal Corpse - Evisceration Plague

(Metal Blade 2009)

Reviewed by Null

Ok, let me start off by saying that I am not really much of a “metal guy.” I mean, I think the Smiths are one of the greatest bands in recorded history. Sure, I love Iron Maiden, but it took me fifteen years to acclimate to them, and really, let us be honest, they exist in a category all their own.

How I ended up buying and repeatedly listening to Cannibal Corpse’s Evisceration Plague needs some clarification and background information.

Listen to my story.

Being an obsessive music junkie, I was wandering around on the internet checking out different bands. To my amazement, shock, and horror, I came upon a Cannibal Corpse lyric page. I could not believe it. I didn’t know whether to laugh out loud or be horrified. There before me were the most grotesque lyrics I had ever encountered. Sure, I had sat around with friends and come up with the most offensive, disturbing, and disgusting extreme metal lyrics just for fun, as I am sure many people do. Right? But no, this shit was the real deal. I read lyrics about a car crash with extensive details about entrails scattered across the road and wrapped around traffic signs and decapitation graphically displayed with balance, meter, and rhyme. These were almost cartoonish and graphically disgusting lyrics that went on and on, song after song. What amazed me is that this band put such time and effort into such meaningless and adolescent descriptions of violent horror and maiming.

I like good lyrics: political, social, emotional. However, I don’t want to give the impression that everything I listen to is great. Surly it is not. And let’s face it, a great song about a coffee cup isn’t really about a coffee cup, know what I mean?

I began to ask myself a few questions. Who would do this? What is the ultimate purpose behind such an effort? What the fuck is the motivation? I mean, the lyrics had no sort of subtext, political, social or emotional. They seemed to be just violent horror. Now, I am not trying to make any value judgments. I mean I have never been into slasher or horror B movies. I just don’t see the point. In some ways, I have to wonder if the people who love this stuff or write these lyrics have had any real tragedies in their lives. If I want horror and death, I can read a book or check out a documentary about soldiers and kids getting blown up with my tax dollars by the U.S.’s horrific Military Industrial Complex. That shit is real. We do not need to dehumanize each other more than our nightmarish economic model already does. Do we really need another band making human misery into an “entertaining” abstraction? So where does Cannibal Corpse fit in here? Are they just some retarded idiots glorifying horror and mutilation because they have the privilege to do so? Probably. It is hard for me not to be bothered by the lyrics to “Fucked with a Knife,” I mean, at that point the cartoonish horror leaves me, as I obviously think of the horror and subjugation of women spanning the bulk of human history.

Anyway, my point is that I would never think of censoring these lyrics or B slasher horror movies and the like. If you are into them, that’s great, have fun. I just wanted to find out what makes this band tick. I proceeded to check out their albums with the bloody-vagina-diseased-corpse-skinned-babies-cannibalism covers. I then can across their new release, Evisceration Plague, the album cover was a little toned down and the lyrics were not as graphic as many of the lyrics on their earlier releases. I then watched a “making of...” on Youtube and holy shit! that music was intense. The sheer speed and dexterity of all four members (not including the singer) was simply mind boggling. I forgot about the lyrics altogether and just started to watch them play. I mean, jesus christ, these motherfuckers were moving around on their guitars like hummingbirds on meth. Alex, the bass player, moved his hand from high notes to low notes so fast that I had trouble keeping up. My ears were even a few seconds behind. Now, keep in mind, I was raised on punk rock, I do not fear fast music but this shit was lightning fast extreme speed metal up my ass like a hot iron. I couldn’t take it and wanted to turn it off…but at the same time, I sat wrapped in utter amazement at the sheer speed and complexity of the playing.

I went to the record store and picked up Evisceration Plague; it came with a “Making of...” DVD. I watched it several times and continued to be amazed by the playing. They seemed like pretty mellow, down to earth guys. However, I did find the “cookie monster” singing to be a distraction from the mathematical engineering feats of the music. I listened to the record at least thirty times, trying to get into the music, to figure out how it all works together. This was not an entirely enjoyable experience. I just tried to block the singing out of my mind, I mean you really couldn’t understand what the fuck he was going on about anyway.

I tend to do this. That is, if I want to understand something I tend to jump right in head first. Slowly, I began to be able to differentiate between the two guitars. I then found the bass flying around in there somewhere. Eventually, I got to know the music pretty well; I even found some hooks and developed a love for some killer riffs. I pulled out the lyric booklet and began to read along with the lyrics. They really were much tamer than previous records. I mean they only talk about “flagellating sluts with serpentine whips,” hiding bodies in furnaces, scalding hail, decomposing bodies, a disease that makes you rip out your own entrails, and stuff like that. Really, pretty nice and relaxed when compared to the lyrics of previous albums I had read online. I even began to look forward to the song about the struggles and tribulations associated with the killing of zombies. I mean, how do you kill something that is already dead? Cannibal Corpse suggests the following, “smash the bastards into the ground / and when they’re down shatter their bones.” Sound advice if you find yourself battling zombies any time soon.

I have no plans on buying another Cannibal Corpse record. What is astonishing to me is that this album has become a unique gem in my record collection. I pull it out once in a while when I want something totally different. I am always wrapped in awe by this music that continues to amaze me. When I do listen to it I am usually alone and do nothing but sit and listen, attempting to catch every tempo change and just take it all in. I do not necessarily suggest buying this record. I have come to really enjoy it though. I should, I put a lot of god damn hours into it. What helped me most was getting to know the album by heart. I find this to often be the case with any kind of metal; the better I know the album the more I like it.

My initial questions about Cannibal Corpse where never really answered. I am not sure what the lyrical motivation is (all members share lyric credits), but I do believe they are divorced from reality. If these guys could start writing some decent lyrics they could really be a force to be reckoned with. However, they would have to put down their video games and engage with reality on some level. Hey, they could still sing all this slasher bullshit but they could use it to describe the horrific conditions of Asian girls working in sweatshops or uranium depleted shells in the Middle East. I am all about offending “the man,” but the shit these guys write for lyrics serves not a higher purpose than to just distract an already alienated population from reality. I did, however, find an appreciation for this particular album of extreme metal. I have learned to love it. I don’t really think I could ever love their earlier albums; I couldn’t sit around and listen to “Fucked with a Knife.” If you don’t listen to extreme metal and you want something challenging that will blow your hair back, then go pick up Evisceration Plague and see if you survive.

Also, Alex Webster, the bass player for Cannibal Corpse put out a great instrumental extreme metal album a couple of years back with two other guys called Blotted Science. It is pretty amazing. Ok, I need to go listen to some Hall & Oates.

http://www.myspace.com/cannibalcorpse

http://www.myspace.com/blottedscience