A strong kick of metal

New York death metal band Cannibal Corpse is back with their album Violence Unimagined, and each track is filled with non-stop music that can cause people to dance while listening. George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher’s vocals are strong and powerful combined with Rob Barret’s and Erik Rutan’s guitar playing, gives each tune energizing notes. Alex Webster’s bass guitar blares vibrating riffs, and Paul Mazurkiewicz’s drum playing contributes to the constant madness on this record. If fans want to hear hard-hitting death metal music, Violence Unimagined will fulfill their expectations.

Near the beginning of the album, “Necrogenic Resurrection” bleeds metal music by how Barret and Rutan use their skills to play sharp guitar notes. At the beginning of this piece, fast-paced guitar playing rises, and the riffs fill the atmosphere with a hard-hitting sound that shows what Barret and Rutan are capable of. Death metal has to have clashing guitar riffs that can keep up with a fast-paced musical structure, and on “Necrogenic Resurrection,” Barret and Rutan can keep up with the rest of the band while playing sharp riffs.

The thunderous track “Condemnation Contagion” is a highlight on the record due to the vocal performance from Fisher. Throughout this entire piece, Fisher’s grungy and strong voice brings high amounts of angry emotions chock-full of rage, and the way Fisher shouts out in a low voice gives the piece an extra dose of insanity. Fisher is known for his impactful vocals, and “Condemnation Contagion” is one of his best vocal performances on Violence Unimagined.

Another fun headbanger, “Ritual Annihilation,” is hectic because of Mazurkiewicz’s drum playing. The sound of the cymbals and drum heads continuously smacked with drum sticks keeps this composition together with how he plays on a fast and repetitive musical tempo. The faster Mazurkiewicz plays, the louder each drum beat is. This constant loudness from Mazurkiewicz’s drum playing contributes to the madness in this piece. “Ritual Annihilation” gives another reason why death metal still exists in today’s music.

A vein-shaking track, “Slowly Sawn,”  is one of the compositions where Webster plays his heart out on the bass guitar. While listening, the vibrations from the low riffs are felt through the speakers, and what is noticeably enjoyable is how each note becomes louder on every verse. The higher the riff goes, the better this tune sounds. Webster did a fine job on “Slowly Sawn,” and fans will enjoy feeling the vibrations on volume 10.

The ending track, “Cerements of the Flayed,” stands apart from the rest of the album due to how heavy the music is. In some ways, the different musical tones let listeners know that the record is nearing the end and the band is signing off in a low-key way. Also, Webster’s vocal range is slightly different due to how he is singing and talking out the lyrics on a lower pitch. “Cerements of the Flayed” is perfect as the last song because the instrumentation and vocals are bolder but in a lighter tone. 

Violence Unimagined is a great album that truly captures the sound from Cannibal Corpse, and fans will enjoy hearing what the band offers them.