Cannibal Corpse

Gallery of Suicide (Metal Blade)
by Paul Lee

Before Gallery of Suicide, I never found Cannibal Corpse a particularly intriguing band. Most of their stuff was too similar, with unrelenting blast beats and viciousness (never mind the over-wrought gore imagery and lyrics). But, with Gallery of Suicide, CC actually manages to vary their pacing and styles, mixing in some cool grindcore structures with their old-school death metal stylings. Of course, CC has remained true to their nasty, gore-saturated vision with songs like “Stabbed in the Throat” and “Dismembered and Molested.” “I Will Kill You” blasts open the album with no-holds-barred violence, followed by “Disposal of the Body,” which keeps up the breakneck pace. What they lack in uniqueness and originality, CC more than makes up for with the intensity of their attack. They don’t break the speed overload until the fifth track, “Gallery of Suicide,” where they take a mid-tempo turn with a less distorted guitar sound. Singer George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher actually has two vocal styles, the guttural growl and the scream/growl reminiscent of Brutal Truth’s great Kevin Sharp. The cool instrumental, “Flesh To Liquid,” settles down a bit with open, picked chords, and then a Morbid Angel-like muted chord progression complete with harmonic squeals. Despite CC’s lack of fresh subject matter,Gallery of Suicide proves to be a solidly nasty and interesting album. If you loved ’em before, you may actually hate their musical progressions. If you can stomach lyrical horrors but want to hear some solid death metal, check out this release.