All this Corpse discussion finally got me to check out "Torture" - damn, that is some prime shit. Will purchase shortly.

An excellent choice, probably my favorite Corpsegrinder CC album. "Scourge of Iron" alone is absolutely godly.

All the time?

I could make an excuse about writing that while exhausted but that's not really the point. "Diverse" is the wrong word for what I meant but that's what came out at the time. Frank's right, he's only got a couple of tricks so calling him very diverse is false. What I was trying to convey was more along the lines of:



That's one of the things that makes Paul (and Cannibal as a whole) stand out amongst the modern scene. When every section is a fast section, there aren't nearly as many neck-wrecking room-exploding moments like The Discipline of Revenge or Addicted to Vaginal Skin or something. I always think of bands like Origin or Fleshgod Apocalypse for this, because they both notably suffer from the problem where even the "slow" sections featuring mid paced chugs or simple sustained chords, the drums are still hammering the fuck away at full speed. The music of Cannibal ebbs and flows much more in terms of dynamics and intensity. They've got more than one speed, which sounds obvious but it's startlingly rare for young death metal bands to have any sort of breathing room nowadays it seems. Paul gives the songs some breathing room, and when he does blast, it's more effective at giving a sort of propulsive oomph to the songs than something like Archspire which starts at Mach 5 and never slows down.

Very well put. Dynamics are key! Too much death metal, to me, is non-stop hyper-speed blasting and double bass. Its like the drummer can't step back and let other parts of the band take center stage. And after awhile it all blends together into a forgettable mess.

This brings to mind something Nergal said a few years ago about some death metal bands being too fast all the time and the riffs being forgettable.

I hate to say it but the cover has really grown on me. I wouldn't call it an objectively good cover but it really does fit their aesthetic, as well as having that old school hand painted vibe. It makes sense to have a simple approach after the very busy covers from Torture and Skeletal Domain

Pretty sure it is the guy on the left from "Evisceration Plague," going solo.

Yeah I agree. I prefer death metal with more old school drumming, ala CC or early Death. Though I do like some with the modern machine like pitter patter speed drumming in smaller doses.

God, that new song is really fucking good. Not the biggest fan of Cannibal Corpse, but I've been trying to keep up with what they've been doing lately since Evisceration Plague. The album cover is kinda weak this time, but maybe the music will be that much more poignant and composed in contrast, and if "Code of the Slashers" is any indication, this should be a fucking wicked record.

EDIT: album cover's starting to grow on me, it's not really any worse than E. Plague, and certainly more gory than Skeletal Domain, though I appreciate both that one and Kill for trying something different. Torture and Wretched Spawn were probably the best covers of the past baker's dozen length decade or so.

Actually surprised that I'm digging this song, haven't been particularly excited by this band in a long time but the riffs on this song and the groove during the slower parts was really tasty. I mean the "we'll end your fucking life" thing is pretty corny but hey it's cannibal corpse, and honestly I'm just happy that this band didn't completely burn out of ideas 10 years ago considering how long they've been at it. to chime in on the drumming convo, I completely agree that Paul makes this band what they are, wouldn't give two shits about them if they just had blasts constantly and lost that good old groove that modern CC is known for imo.
might just have to pick this one up if i have the cash for it. gonna revisit them for sure, god knows i haven't heard most of their shit since i left high school.

I've never been hugely into CC and have only enjoyed limited songs on their past albums but Code of the Slashers is right up my alley - what a song! Loved the crawling, menacing riffs during the slower sections that really highlighted Corpsegrinder's delivery. More of this please!!

I was going to write a response about the Paul thing but this hits it on the head. Agreed 100% (okay, maybe not the diverse comment. 99% then). I'll just add that he INVENTED a blast beat; the bomb blast. That's a significant achievement historically speaking. I appreciate what he continues to bring to the band. Hyperblast gets old fast anyway.

Paul is to death metal what Ringo Starr was to the Beatles: simplistic, raw power.

Listen to "The Time to Kill is Now" and you'll see what I mean. It's one of the least technical yet amazingly powerful drum performances in death metal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1dW6QLkEno

nice havent played cannibal in a long time this will be good i think butchered was my favorite album \m/

At this point in time after 14 albums, if you don't like Paul then this just isn't the band for you

Damn that is some good shit. I need to get Kill apparently. And yeah that is what I like about Paul's work in CC. To the point, straight up aggression. I'll take that over Tim Yeung for example, especially in a band like CC.

Drove to all the local record stores last week tryign to find some CC discs. Only things I ever found were Butchered and Tomb.
I guess its on to eBay.

New song came out today, Red Before Black.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUV0shPbvvI

Sounding like it will be another killer Cannibal Corpse album.

Read through the latest Decibel with George on the cover and aside from what we know about this album having a more traditional catchiness to it than they’ve done in a while, Paul is perhaps the most telling about his contributions. He specifically mentions pushing himself to give a more exciting performance this time and really recreate how he played on earlier albums, and you can hear how busier he is on these two songs so far. He also talks about the album/tour/album/etc. cycle they’ve maintained has kept him in physical and creative shape and is more motivated than ever to keep that going as long and consistently as possible.

Just speculating, but a possibility of why he’s been seemingly restrained is because of health issues that may have been even more taxing than he’s let on in interviews and making-of’s and such, but is now over them or at least keeping them in check. You can hear he was gradually getting back to where he was on the last two albums, and now he’s able to really let loose again. Regardless, I’ve never had any issues with what he’s done, and this is a completely different band otherwise.

New track.

Hahaha, I didn't realize I had another Youtube tab open when I clicked the link in this thread for the new song, and heard this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBLEqbctgUg.

My reaction - what the FUCK is the Corpse up to?

Now that is more like it.

This is dope! Love this single. I liked the first, but this one's definitely better.

I liked it. The opening riff does Amon Amarth better than Amon Amarth does Amon Amarth.

Sounds like they're getting more streamlined and song-oriented as they age (verse + chorus + verse + chorus + bridge + chorus), which is fine, but hopefully they'll still keep some of that anarchic old school DM energy.

edit: I hope they chuck Erik Rutan for the next album. What's with this modern school of DM production where nothing's allowed to sound heavy or aggressive?

A Skeletal Domain was honestly too clean and polished, whereas this has at least a bit of grit. Rutan's track record is kind of spotty, but there are certain bands that he really does understand and knows how to bring out the best in, and they just don't sound right without him in the chair.

I don’t have any issues with the production on “A Skeletal Domain.” It sounds like a logical continuation of Rutan’s template, and goddamn is Alex’s bass punching through on that album. Not just in the low end frequencies but in the actual auditory percussiveness of his playing. His best tone to date as far as I’m concerned.

Agreed though that CC and Rutan are simply a natural fit for each other. It’s a curious case where albums he makes with other bands sound light years better than his own with Hate Eternal, although that may have always been a conscious decision and “Infernus” was a step towards reconciling that.

Making an album with Jarrett Pritchard is something I could go for. Check out the latest from Exhumed and Goatwhore, and he’s been a fixture with Gruesome to date. He’s a friend going back to the early Florida death metal days too with his band Eulogy, so there’s already some rapport there.

I wrote this after listening on my cheap headphones. After listening to it on my good ones, I've changed my view. The production actually doesn't sound too bad.

Still a step back from Kill.

Dam the second song is deep in my brain. I keep wanting to yell "RED BEFORE BLAAAAAACK!" at random people. Time to preorder the vinyl.

New song is fucking great. Actually really looking forward to this now.

I used to think he was a bad producer when all I had were bad headphones that came with my iPod. Once I upgraded...everything punched through.

That said, the sound definitely doesn't work for every band.

The album's ok. It's sorta the same quality as A Skeletal Domain, except without any songs as awesome as Kill or Become. I've only heard it once, and I was semi-distracted, but it definitely is a disappointment considering Torture was just two albums ago.

CrypticRock.com – Cutting right to the chase, what is the meaning behind the album name Red Before Black, and who came up with it, or was it a collective choice?

Paul Mazurkiewicz – I am the one who came up with the name. It woke me up in the middle of the night. We were in the process of brainstorming ideas and coming up with titles. It’s such a basic concept and usage of the words. Blood and death. Red before black, seeing blood before you die. I didn’t know it intrigued me, but it did. I mulled around with it a little bit to see if others liked it, but I really pushed for it because I felt it was very strong and something very different than our previous titles. It’s simple, but effective.



Personally, I think Blood And Death wouldve been a better title.

Sounds ok but the vocals kinda bore me, perhaps just due to overexposure. Don't think I'll rush to pick this up. Also didn't pick up the last one. Think I need a CC break.

The two songs already released pretty much sum up the whole album really. It's straight down the line thrashy death ala Slayer with a few blasts thrown in. There's not any slow crushers like Scourge of Iron or songs with weird twisty riffs in, like they like to do. Paul pretty much plays the Slayer beat the whole album so its pretty fast throughout. The songs are mostly in the vein of Demented Aggression if you like that sort of stuff, which I do. Not groundbreaking but just another decent album.

In that case, why not go all the way and call the album "eh fuck it"

They prove me right that Torture was just a big exceptional case.

Man, I zoned out with this new album so hard....

It's interesting that Paul came up with the title.

"Red Before Black" is to album titles exactly what Paul Mazurkiewicz is to drumming.

I do think it's funny that he was so attached to the album title because "It's simple and different" as if their two best albums of the current lineup aren't just named "Kill" and "Torture"

I like Demented Aggression a lot, but if the whole album is in that vein with none of their signature midpaced stomping stuff, that's a disappointment for sure. I'd likely get burned out myself if it's just one style the whole way through. I remember remarking that A Skeletal Domain, despite having some really obvious high points (particularly the obvious Kill or Become), it was probably the first time in their history where the tired and incorrect criticism of them just writing one song a bunch of times was actually somewhat accurate. If that makes two albums in a row of that being the case I think we might be able to finally say we're seeing the band run on fumes creatively.

I guess Kill and Torture are simple, but not different?

Yeah I guess that's true, Red Before Black is certainly the least direct title they've had since pretty much ever.