### Cannibal Corpse: Torture

#### 11/05/12 || BamaHammer

A review of this album is almost unnecessary, in my opinion. It’s 2012 now, and Cannibal Corpse has been Cannibal Corpse for two decades. I’ll keep it short and sweet. They have developed a sound that’s obviously all their own, and they’ve forged an unmistakably solid reputation en route to becoming the world’s most notorious and popular death metal band. The bottom line is that with 2012’s “Torture”, Cannibal have never sounded or played better.

You may be wondering what “Torture” may bring to the table that the band’s countless other releases may not have, and the answer is quite simply not a whole lot. This is as pure of a relentless Cannibal Corpse musical onslaught as they’ve ever released. You know from the opening seconds that it is indeed Cannibal Corpse, and they have absolutely no intentions whatsoever of experimenting or trying new things to attract new fans. For that, I commend them.

Separating “Torture” from the numerous other Cannibal classics that are out there might seem somewhat tricky at first, but after a few listens, you really begin to notice all the things that this offering do better than any other. The first thing I noticed was the pristine production courtesy of Erik Rutan. Every single note on the guitar sounds immense. Every drum hit is clear and precise. The bass guitar has never sounded better. This is one of the finest sounding albums I’ve heard in a long while.

The band has also never been this tight before. After listening to their work on their first handful of albums, it’s hard to believe that this is where this band has arrived technically. They are light years beyond anything I could have ever expected on “Torture”. That being said, it’s still one of the grooviest albums Cannibal has ever recorded as well. There are twelve tracks on this album, and I honestly have no inclinations whatsoever to skip a single one.

I love the fist-in-the-face brutality of “Demented Aggression”, the opener. I love the blazing speed of the picking in “Encased in Concrete”. I love the surprisingly almost-clean opening of “Followed Home Then Killed”. I love the insane bass solo fill in “The Strangulation Chair”. I love getting my face hammer-smashed one last time with “Torn Through”. I love this band. And this is undoubtedly the best album they’ve released in a very long time.

- Information
- Released: 2012
- Label: Metal Blade Records
- Website: www.cannibalcorpse.net
- Band
- George Fisher: vocals
- Rob Barrett: guitars
- Pat O’Brien: guitars
- Alex Webster: bass
- Paul Mazurkiewicz: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Demented Aggression
- 02. Sarcophagic Frenzy
- 03. Scourge of Iron
- 04. Encased in Concrete
- 05. As Deep As the Knife Will Go
- 06. Intestinal Crank
- 07. Followed Home then Killed
- 08. The Strangulation Chair
- 09. Caged… Contorted
- 10. Crucifier Avenged
- 11. Rabid
- 12. Torn Through