CATTLE DECAPITATION "Death Atlas"

CATTLE DECAPITATION

“Death Atlas”

Extinction is right around the corner. We are approaching the last days of life as we know it, according to CATTLE DECAPITATION. This is nothing new coming from them, but with each new album, the news becomes grimmer and more inevitable. With “Death Atlas”, the band seems to be saying the only way for other forms of life to survive is for mankind to become extinct.

Ironically, as each album becomes grimmer, the musical scope of the band expands. This is the most ambitious and epic CAT-DECAP yet and shows the band covering new ground while retaining their extreme death metal approach. Take the title track, for example. Clocking in at over nine minutes, this is something different, but they are up to the task. The song cycles through punishing blasts, sad and sorrowful melodies, and an overall epic feeling. It would be easy for a song this length to succumb to boredom, but the track flies by and never fails to engage.

Travis Ryan continues to experiment with his vocals. The bestial growls and grunts are still here and so are those nasal, high pitched whines that could easily be annoying but which seem to fit the music perfectly. For the first time, we hear “real” singing on “The Unerasable Past” and title track. This variety also helps to keep the album’s intrigue. Elsewhere, the likes of “Bring Back The Plague”, “Be Still Our Bleeding Hearts” and “Finish Them” slam with precision American death metal. The rapid fire drumming still becomes mechanical and bothersome on occasion, the one real flaw of the disc.

The band’s lyrical outlook has crossed over from pessimistic to actually embracing the extinction of man. With what we see in the world today, I can hardly blame them. If there’s a soundtrack to the upcoming total collapse, CATTLE DECAPITATION is it. A more relevant band you will not find.

METAL BLADE

CATTLE DECAPITATION