USA death metal band Cannibal Corpse have made their name a staple in death metal. Since forming in 1988 with vocalist Chris Barnes, to going through numerous lineup changes and joining of current vocalist, George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher, this band has given it their all in the death metal scene and haven’t shown any signs of their huge career ending.
In their newest album, Red Before Black, we are treated a mix of the classic Cannibal Corpse sound that they have been known for, and a newer, devastating, bone crushing sound. The opening track “Only one will die” instantly gets us hooked with Corpsegrinders’ powerful growls and Paul Mazurkiewicz’s thunderous drums, which gets your heart beating and energy flowing through you fast. We can also hear Pat O’Brien playing squealing and high pitched guitar solos along with insanely heavy riffs. Old school cannibal corpse sounding riffs are also heard in the track “Shedding my human skin”, which reminds Cannibal Corpse fans of the classic album “Tomb of the mutilated”, which will be a treat for both old and newer cannibal corpse fans,’
We are also treated to the modern age Cannibal Corpse sound that many fans have come to enjoy after the departure of vocalist Chris Barnes in the title track “Red Before Black”, which yet again shows the talent and skill that the band has despite getting older and older as time goes on. With an album full of evil gory tracks, what better way to promote that than with a just as evil and gory album cover. The album cover depicts a maniacal red eyed killer, stabbing away at someone with a horrifying knife. The concept of the album cover was inspired by a dream the drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz had in which there was a man stabbing him to death, who is the killer we see on the album cover.
With this combo of gory album visuals and extremely aggressive music, this album definitely is an eye and ear catcher for death metal fans and will not disappoint any fans of the brutality of death metal, because there is much of that to find in this album.
I give this album an 8/10 for its awesome brutal sound that Cannibal Corpse has made a staple in death metal. The album can be purchased at the metal section at a local music store or purchased online.