Death is June -Looking Back in Anger at Cannibal Corpses ' "Tomb of the Mutilated"

 If these guys were a greatest hits band the opening track would be numbered among them as a fan favorite. It is fast and has some gnarly riffs, but I am not saying it's their best song. It does have some very defining riffs. The vocals could be more interesting. The breakdown at the end might be the best part. After the initial blast going into "I Cum Blood" they lock into a more memorable groove that reminds me of something Obituary might do. We are still only in 1992, so death metal was still a new genre at this point.  "Addicted to Vaginal Skin" opened the door for pretty much all the music I hear these days that describes itself as gore-grind. The more purposeful chugs support the subterranean gurgle of the vocals. Not the album's most compelling song but works for what it does and the more I listen to it the more it grows on me. 

"Split Wide Open" pounds you with the same monochrome aggression of the previous song, which was one of the things the band has improved on over the years in terms of songwriting. Chris Barnes wrote cool lyrics but you could never understand a word he was muttering at this point. He too has gotten better about this over the years. "Necropedophile" is an example of this as the song doesn't find its groove until midway in. The deliberate chug of "The Cryptic Stench" is what makes it one of the album's best songs, despite not being in as heavy rotation as some. Granted it does speed up, but they have given it a groove to contrast this with. The blasting portions seem to get carried away at times. They hit you with a more Deicide-like fury on "Entrails Ripped From a Virgin's Cunt". This is complimented with some tempo shifts. When it hits a rapid thrashing gallops it's pretty awesome. 

They continue to lay on the speed, though jerking through a maze of riffs that jump out at you like you are being dragged through a haunted house by a meth head. "Beyond the Cemetry" highlights the fact that while Cannibal Corpse is not a technical death metal band in regards to how that term is measured today, that are capable of turning riffs around and unconventional arrangements that are trickier than what you might expect if just giving them a casual listen. I will round this one up to a 9.5, which makes it their best yet at this stage of the Chris Barnes years. 

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