Tomb of the Mutilated review

The 3rd album by the death metal band Cannibal Corpse. Since this is a band based on extremely gruesome lyrics and highly aggressive music, I'm listening to this, their most acclaimed album, out of curiosity.

PLEASE NOTE: Some of these song titles are incredibly graphic so be warned.

Tracks:

1. Hammer Smashed Face: 8/10 the lyrics are downright impossible to understand, due to Chris Barnes' impressively growling but impenetrable vocals. As a piece of rock music, this is an impressive and consistently intense work of heavy metal which is powerful enough to whip a crowd of thousands into a frenzied mosh pit.

2. I Cum Blood: 8/10 mostly ditto, but slightly better than the first one in my opinion. An impressive work of frenzied heavy metal. The lyrics are hideous, but this is evidently a band which isn't going the tasteful or PC route.

3. Addicted to Vaginal Skin: 7/10 this retains the good qualities of the first 2 songs despite not being distinguishable from them. Having the real-life dialogue from a serial killer was too far though.

4. Split Wide Open: 6/10 more astoundingly intense death metal. If they're aiming for scary, they're passing with flying colours, although this track feels phoned-in in some respects.

5. Necropedophile: 7/10 lyrically the most unpleasant yet, but it's pleasingly intense and the final part of the song is excellent.

6. The Cryptic Stench: 7/10 like the other songs on the album, this is samey and sadistic yet technically excellent and full of terror.

7. Entrails Ripped from a Virgin's Cunt: 6/10 if you don't throw up during this Extremely Violent song, which also has probably the nastiest song title ever, it should be enjoyable enough.

8. Post Mortal Ejaculation: 7/10 a good penultimate track which never lets up from the word go.

9. Beyond the Cemetery: 8/10 this concludes the album well, given the technical skill and much-appreciated addition of some psychological depth.

10. I Cum Blood (Live): 8/10 evidently this band can do a killer show live.

Best song: I Cum Blood
Worst song: Split Wide Open

Summary: It's difficult to review this one overall in an objective way. As someone who is very focused on lyrics, the fact that you can never hear what the lead singer is saying due to his growling, which is so low it's incredible the vocals weren't altered in post-production, is distracting but at the same time the growling is atmospheric and technically impressive. It should go without saying, but this is an extremely unpleasant album and the way it revolves around violence against women is very uncomfortable. Then again, it's so over-the-top its obviously not meant to be taken seriously. I can't say I like this an awful lot, but I certainly respect that this is a very talented band and their nightmarish, intense and monstrous instrumentals are to be admired. These guys are undeniably good at what they do and if this is your thing, this will be a dream record for sure.  


Final rating: 7/10