Album Review: Cattle Decapitation - 'The Anthropocene Extinction'

Released Via Metal Blade Records
Progressive Death Metal/Grindcore

Track Listing:

1. Manufactured Extinct
2. The Prophets Of Loss
3. Plagueborne
4. Clandestine Ways (Krokodil Rot)
5. Circo Inhumanitas
6. The Burden Of Seven Billion
7. Mammals In Babylon
8. Mutual Assured Destruction
9. Not Suitable For Life
10. Apex Blasphemy
11. Ave Exitium
12. Pacific Grim

It’s been just over three years since ‘Monolith Of Inhumanity’ was released to an unsuspecting metal world, and now it’s time for Cattle Decapitation to brutalize your eardrums once again. Fans of the band are in for a real treat, fans of the last album will be in euphoria, as this record picks up on the theme of ‘Monolith…’ and expands upon it very effectively. Here, the band speaks of the end result of mankind’s destructive effect upon our planet and the ecological and environmental devastation coming back to haunt us. They do this in a very bleak and hopeless way, only in so far as the lyrics are concerned. This is Cattle Decapitation, after all so do not expect to hear introspective shoegaze moments or softly sang acoustic accoutrements. Instead, the band display exactly how calling them death metal alone is a miscarriage of justice. There are plenty of moments of grindcore brutality, some more expansive black metal passages, even some doom-laden musical moments such as those on the opening song ‘Manufactured Extinct’, and it all carries a healthy amount of musical progression the likes of which this kind of truly extreme music needs. The record is damn-near seamless, and flows like a fine wine, which is only heightened by the underlying concept which helps weave the tapestry of this record together. Needless to say, every individual band member has not gotten lazy on this seventh album; the riffs are able to jump from eviscerating brutality to thought-provoking expansiveness with great ease. You would still swear that David McGraw was a human drum machine considering how tight, flawless and completely furious his every beat is, and vocalist Travis Ryan is a master of extreme, with black metal shrieks, pig squeals and brutal, throaty growls all getting their own tasteful utilization throughout this record. Ryan also uses the more melodic, psychopathic screams in a very tasteful manner, as best heard on ‘Plagueborne’. You want extreme; Cattle Decapitation have it. Masterful.

Rating: 9/10

Links: http://www.metalblade.com/us/
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