Cannibal Corpse - Kill (2006)

Genre: Death Metal

Release Date: March 21, 2006

1. The Time to Kill is Now (2:03)

2. Make Them Suffer (2:50)

3. Murder Worship (3:56)

4. Necrosadistic Warning (3:28)

5. Five Nails Through the Neck (3:45)

6. Purification Through Fire (2:57)

7. Death Walking Terror (3:31)

8. Barbaric Bludgeonings (3:42)

9. The Discipline of Revenge (3:39)

10. Brain Removal Device (3:14)

11. Maniacal (2:12)

12. Submerged in Boiling Flesh (2:52)

13. Infinite Misery (4:01)

Let's turn our attention now to Cannibal Corpse and their 2006 album Kill.  Cannibal Corpse is probably the most mainstream death metal band out there (well... at least "mainstream" for death metal standards).  And there is a reason CC gets such recognition - because their music is beyond brutal.  Hell, all their music was banned in Australia for nearly a decade!!

Death metal bands have always been accused of corrupting the youth with their violent imagery, and CC is no exception of course.  Current Cannibal Corpse frontman, George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, has spoken on their lyrical content and music in past interviews: "We don't sing about politics. We don't sing about religion...All our songs are short stories that, if anyone would so choose they could convert it into a horror movie. Really, that's all it is. We like gruesome, scary movies, and we want the lyrics to be like that. Yeah, it's about killing people, but it's not promoting it at all. Basically these are fictional stories, and that's it. And anyone who gets upset about it is ridiculous."

It's been pointed out to me before that there are passages of the Bible that are more violent than some of the most gruesome death metal lyrics.  Yet, very few would accuse the holy book to be corrupting the youth (except maybe atheists).  The difference between death metal lyrics and the Bible is that while death metal lyricists are often purposefully absurd for the sake of being absurd, the Bible is presented as a very serious book that people are expected to shape their lives around.  I think this certainly has an impact on many of those who read it.  The problem is not the content itself, but how that content is manipulated by people to their own ends.  And Cannibal Corpse often points out in their lyrics how religion is used to justify killing:

"Homage to our God, the act of killing bears us
Closer to His grace, beyond the void of darkness
Every drop of blood, a chance to deify us
Bring us to our lord our killings transcending
Convictions of violence pure, unrelenting"

-From the song "Murder Worship"

Listen to that track here, which has a heavy-ass breakdown about halfway through the song:

Murder Worship

That being said, as a strong believer in social justice and equal rights, I find some of Cannibal Corpse's lyrical themes surrounding violence against women to be troubling.  And I'm not the only one.  Arch Enemy vocalist Angela Gossow spoke her mind in an interview for the book Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal and Grindcore: "'I loved Cannibal Corpse's [1990 debut album] Eaten Back to Life, because it was so extreme at the time when I was a kid, but I didn't sing along with those lyrics,' Gossow admits.  'It's somehow just a bit intimidating.  It's so much violence against women... I still don't get it when so many of the people out there that sing about that [subject matter] have girlfriends--I just don't know how they can justify that.'" (Mudrian, page 251).

I take the same stance as Gossow does in this matter.  I love death metal music for its' intense sound and crafty musicianship, but sometimes the lyrical content can be a bit off-putting.  To me, death metal is supposed to be a counter-culture and should be protesting against societal ills, such as violence against women, rather than perpetuating or glorifying them.  To be fair to other bands in the scene, there are many who do exactly that.  And to be fair to Cannibal Corpse, this album isn't filled with lyrics that depict or glorify violence against women (though the lyrics are certainly very violent, just in a more general sense).

Kill is the tenth studio album by Cannibal Corpse, and as such, doesn't really break any new ground.  CC has kept the same general style throughout their career, namely violent lyrics, low growling vocals, and aggressive instrumental work.  This is not to diminish their music or this album - because they perform their brand of music very well.

Many CC fans debate over which section of their career produced the best music: 1) Early years with Chris Barnes (1988-1995) or 2) George Fisher era (1995-present).  I personally think Cannibal Corpse has really come into their own in the last decade or so.  In my opinion, Fisher is a better death metal vocalist, straight up.  His singing is actually intelligible (for what that's worth) and is really just more brutal than Barnes' vocals.

Kill is an album that really puts Cannibal Corpse's style on display in an effective way.  It is by no means their best album, but it's definitely one of their better albums (I'd say top 3 or 4, behind the obvious choices of Tomb of the Mutilated (1992) and The Wretched Spawn (2004), which I have always asserted is their best album).  The album starts off with an assault on your senses via bludgeoning pinch harmonics and intense tremolo picking, backed up by aggressive drumming, heavy bass, and deep guttural vocals on the first two tracks.  "The Time to Kill is Now" and "Make Them Suffer" are probably the two most intense songs on the album.

Link to music video for "Death Walking Terror" (hopefully youtube doesn't play any goddamn commercials on this link):

Music Video for Death Walking Terror

But this album doesn't let up after the two opening tracks.  Kill is a bludgeoning album from start to finish.  Even some of the slower tempo songs, like "Death Walking Terror", are incredibly heavy and punishing.  It's really difficult to pick out a standout track on the album (even the ones I mentioned don't really standout from the other tracks in terms of quality).  They're all good songs.  If you're looking to get into Cannibal Corpse, I highly recommend Kill.  It's as good a place as any to start listening to this band.

Final Rating: 8/10

3 Favorite Songs from the Album: Make Them Suffer, Death Walking Terror, The Time to Kill is Now

*Author's Note: This review was originally posted on another blog I had called Fucking Death Metal.  I've decided to repost some of my reviews from that blog on this one, with minor revisions.