Cannibal Corpse: Torture – new album / Encased In Concrete – new video

One of the most revered death metal acts, CANNIBAL CORPSE, have released their twelfth offering of audio molestation just yesterday, March 13th, 2012 through their faithful partners in crime, Metal Blade Records. Entitled ‘Torture’, the record was produced by HATE ETERNAL's Erik Rutan at his own Mana Recording Studio in St. Petersburg, Florida and at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas. As expected, the album was received warmly, heh, by the business' elders; Decibel Magazine awarded ‘Torture’ with 9/10 (“As always, the band's musicianship is downright inspiring. And their songwriting has never been better.”) and Hellbound matched the grade (“This album fucking destroys and I wouldn’t have expected or accepted anything less…”). Visit Bloody Disgusting here to watch some poor guy getting ‘Encased In Concrete’ (available below as well), courtesy video director David Brodsky of MyGoodEye, listen to the albums opening track, ‘Demented Aggression’, below and buy ‘Torture’ here.

“From the moment the aptly titled ‘Demented Aggression’ explodes to life in a storm of blistering riffs and turbulent drums it is unequivocally apparent that the band are at their ruthless best, and everything that follows backs this up vehemently. From the monstrous chugging of ‘Sarcophagic Frenzy’ to the deeply sinister ‘Followed Home Then Killed’ or the loping evil of ‘Scourge Of Iron’, every track hits with sledgehammer force, and each one boasts its own hideous character, the band refusing to repeat themselves at any point. “While we make everything as heavy as possible there’s a very strong emphasis placed on song writing in this band, trying to make every song individual, and I think you should be able to hit play at any point on a record and be able to tell one song from another almost instantly,” states bassist Alex Webster. “We want all the songs to be brutal death metal, but we also want them to be instantly identifiable from one another, and that’s something that is definitely true of the songs on ‘Torture’.”

CANNIBAL CORPSE: Demented Aggression – courtesy of Metal Blade Records

One of the hardest working (and oftentimes controversial) bands, CANNIBAL CORPSE, formed in Buffalo, New York, in 1988. Vocalist Chris Barnes, guitarists Bob Rusay and Jack Owen, bassist Alex Webster, and drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz secured a contract with Metal Blade Records with a demo released in 1989, and debut full-length (and CANNIBAL CORPSE's first to be banned in Germany), properly garnished with a B-horror movie album cover and ludicrous over the top lyrics, ‘Eaten Back To Life’, followed in 1990:

CANNIBAL CORPSE: A Skull Full Of Maggots – courtesy of Metal Blade Records

“This band's obvious goal was to deliver the musical equivalent of B-movie horror flick, and on that level, the album is outrageously successful,” concluded his review of CANNIBAL CORPSE's second bloody splatter, 1991's ‘Butchered At Birth’, Alex Henderson, AllMusic. “One will need the lyric sheet to know just how gross songs like ‘Under The Rotted Flesh’, ‘Meat Hook Sodomy’, ‘Covered With Sores’ and ‘Rancid Amputation’ are - the grunting vocals are impossible to understand.” (Read the rest here.):

CANNIBAL CORPSE: Meat Hook Sodomy – courtesy of Metal Blade Records

In 1992, CANNIBAL CORPSE released yet another highly controversial album ‘Tomb Of The Mutilated’, fired guitarist Bob Rusay in 1993, replaced him with ex-MALEVOLENT CREATION's Rob Barrett, and, in 1994, played the part of a club band in the Jim Carrey's “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective”:

CANNIBAL CORPSE: I Cum Blood – courtesy of Metal Blade Records

The last album to feature singer and founding member Chris Barnes was their 1994's ‘The Bleeding’:

“The riffs absolutely grind, just as the rhythms pulverize and the vocals thunder. And it’s indeed the thundering vocals of Barnes that make ‘The Bleeding’ so special, definitely one of the standout death metal albums of the mid-'90s – he’s one of the best growlers in the business, and his subsequent departure (to join SIX FEET UNDER) would be a gaping one, albeit one that wouldn’t prevent CANNIBAL CORPSE from lumbering on for many more years with their colorful madness,” [wrote Jason Birchmeier, AllMusic – read the rest here]:

CANNIBAL CORPSE: Stripped, Raped, And Strangled – courtesy of Metal Blade

Reportedly the first death metal album to enter American chart Billboard 200 was CANNIBAL CORPSE's ‘Vile’, released in 1996. The album was the band's first recorded with their new vocalist  ex-MONSTROSITY's George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher and their last to feature guitarist Rob Barrett (until 2006's ‘Kill’) as well as their last recorded with their longtime producer Scott Burns:

CANNIBAL CORPSE: Orgasm Through Torture – courtesy of Metal Blade Records

CANNIBAL CORPSE celebrated a decade (since their first gory step was made) with 1998's ‘Gallery Of Suicide’, featuring new guitarist Pat O'Brien and new producer Jim Morris, and Colin Richardson-produced ‘Bloodthirst’ followed in 1999:

CANNIBAL CORPSE: I Will Kill You (1998) – courtesy of Metal Blade Records

CANNIBAL CORPSE: Unleashing The Bloodthirsty (1999) – courtesy of Metal Blade

Deprived of CANNIBAL CORPSE for years, the group's German fans loved their eight album, 2002's ‘Gore Obsessed’, so much it entered Germany's Album Chart at number 71. ‘Gore Obsessed’ was produced by Neil Kernon:

“Most impressively, the album remains interesting from front to back, thanks to concise song lengths and a healthy variety of tempos, which alternate from rat-tat-tat machine gun-style onslaughts to chugging mid-tempo mosh sections (check out ‘Dormant Bodies Bursting’ to hear it all in one song). And don’t forget about those great song titles; fans won’t be disappointed with numbers like ‘Hatchet To The Head’, ‘Compelled To Lacerate," and the exquisite ‘Sanded Faceless’. This is great stuff,” [was youthfully excited Andy Hinds, AllMusic – more here]:

CANNIBAL CORPSE: Pit Of Zombies – courtesy of Metal Blade Records

The last album recorded with guitarist Jack Owen, one of the band's founding members, was their ninth album 2004's ‘Wretched Spawn’, which was followed by ‘Kill’ in 2006. ‘Kill’ marked the return of guitarist Rob Barett and introduced Erik Rutan as CANNIBAL COPRSE's new producer. ‘Kill’ debuted at number 170 on Billboard 200 chart:

CANNIBAL CORPSE: Decency Defied (2004) – courtesy of Metal Blade Records

CANNIBAL CORPSE: Make Them Suffer (2006) – courtesy of Metal Blade Records

The group's highest-charting album came in 2009; ‘Evisceration Plague’ debuted at number 66 on Billboard 200:

“For the most part, as far as the genre of death metal goes, there is CANNIBAL CORPSE, and there is a bunch of copycats. You know you can always count on this veteran metal act to deliver another brutal offering of extreme metal with each new release (in other words, zero chance of any needless stylistic experimentation - the lads like things just the way they are). … All the expected elements of a solid CANNIBAL CORPSE recording are present - metronome-like precision drumming, razor-sharp riffing, guttural growls akin to a caveman, and dark lyrics,” [stated the facts Greg Prato, allMusic – more here]:

CANNIBAL CORPSE: Evisceration Plague – courtesy of Metal Blade Records

Note: You can download all the above CANNIBAL CORPSE tracks (and some others) free of charge if you visit Metal Blade SoundCloud here.