Cannibal Corpse - _Gallery of Suicide_
(Metal Blade, 1998)
by: Paul Schwarz (6 out of 10)
It is possible that if this were the debut of a fledgling death metal band I had no background on I would have given it more than a 6 out of 10. So am I being unfair to Cannibal Corpse? I don't think so. This is the band's sixth album and the change of vocalist, and more recently guitarist, have, according to the band, only strengthened their musical vision. For a band with a reputation and history such as Cannibal Corpse's I expect better than _Gallery of Suicide_; it really is that simple. With production handled by Jim Morris, Cannibal Corpse obtain a pretty good sound, although I don't notice a marked difference from the Scott Burns produced _Vile_, but personally I feel the drum sound could have been more powerful. The album is not seamlessly uninteresting in that there are 14 well-defined songs, including an instrumental, but the riffs are simply not exciting or new and don't really pack a great deal of punch. The album is perfectly listenable, but once this review is done I can't see it ever passing through my CD machine for my own pleasure. The lyrics are what we have come to expect from Cannibal Corpse: songs about killing, songs about dismemberment. The lyrical content is nothing new and the style is not compelling either. There are two places where this album is almost surprisingly good, however. About two minutes into "Blood Drenched Execution" an out of tune, off time piano part accompanies the guitars and creates a feeling of chaos which surpasses anything else on this album. The instrumental, "From Skin to Liquid", has a dark atmosphere, created through well thought-out guitar work, which gives it a quality exceeding other compositions on _GoS_. Overall, though, I don't find anything outstanding on _GoS_. Cannibal Corpse would be hard pressed to find a worse year to release an album this lacking in true brilliance or innovation. This year so far, and remember we have five months left, has yielded so many great death metal albums it is almost overwhelming. Cannibal Corpse do not look good against the competition from either the old and established or the new and inexperienced. Well, now the review is finished...
(article published 1/9/1998)
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