Death is June - Looking Back in Anger at Cannibal Corpse's "Vile"

This was the first album with Corpsegrinder so there was a lot to prove. The opening track is a ripper that hits all the notes you want from these guys. Looking back I can hear that George has a more powerful growl. However, his approach seemed to sound more like everyone else to me at the time and Barnes has a more unique voice that I associated with Cannibal Corpse. Now I can listen more objectively. "Perverse Suffering" is pretty cool in the way the riffs turn around. There is plenty of groove. "Disfigured' is the first song that does sound like it conforms more to the death metal status quo at the time. Some of the riffs are more commanding than others which helps to balance the savagery out. 

"Bloodlands" has a more deliberate, almost machine-like grinding to it. Midway into this album and it is better than I remember it being. This is not to say there are not moments on this album where they just blast at you more straightforwardly, sometimes leaning into the path Morbid Angel first paved. A song like "Relentless Beating" lives up to its title as overt battering, it wields its sonic weapon using only brute force and as an instrumental does not have a narrative to make it anything more than that.  On  "Absolute Hatred" it shows that even when the growl of death metal vocals can be a one-trick pony, when done well it gives the song something to constrict around. "Eaten From Inside" shows many sides of the band, and works well as a song. There is raging chaos, tension, and groove. What else can you ask for with these guys? 

"Orgasm Through Torture" is more interesting lyrically than the bulk of the songs. Musically it works pretty well, and once again shows these guys are subtly a technical band, they just hit you so hard with the crunch of their sound that you do not notice it. "Monolith" works well enough, though not as epic of an ending to this album as you might hope for.  I will give this album a 9, it's not their best album, but better than what the bulk of death metal bands who place the emphasis on brutality are doing. 

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