Very thrash laden/thick guitar onslaught here with utmost brutality, probably their best one since 'Bloodthirst' (1999), this one captures it all once again. These guys are pioneers of the genres even though the lyrical content is not favorable to my pallet, 'Kill' has everything that a death metal album should incorporate: ingenuity in riff-writing, vocal range, drumming pounding through your head and a superb production by Erik Rutan. Definitely one of my favorite Cannibal Corpse releases, even though I thought that it wasn't ingenious when I first played it. My contention was that it really wasn't something that captivated me until I listened to it on my earphones. My God, what a difference now!

In terms of the music, what to expect exactly from non-guitar players that are asking themselves "what's a riff?" Well to explain in simple terms, the way the guitar is arranged on the fretboard as to what the guitars are doing it's flying all over the fretboard. If you're wondering "what is a fretboard?" Well it's where your fingers are placed on a guitar that symbolize notation when you play a song which denotes what and which string your hitting and where your fingers are placed on the guitar denotes the fretboard then the riff would be where the notes are plucked on the strings as well as what the right hand is doing to pluck the strings (if you're right handed). So these "riffs" here are mind-blowing!

The guitars make this album a thrashy death metal album even though it is brutal death metal, it's still so chunky and thick. The guitars once again are tuned to B-flat like on other previous releases. But what does 'Kill' have to offer that previous releases don't? Erik Rutan producing the album is one, right off the bat, if you know of him (Hate Eternal) then you know that the music is definitely gets justice because everything is mixed together with Rutan's precision. The leads are captivating by Pat O'Brien and Rob Barrett, bass great by Alex Webster as usual, George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher does a great job on his vocal onslaught plus Paul Mazurkiewicz annihilating behind the set. Corpsegrinder screams on some tracks, but is mostly low-end bellowing, not as low as Chris Barnes was though.

Still what makes 'Kill' 100% deserving in a rating? Well musically, the guitars are all over the fretboard. They simply annihilate, that's what makes this so deserving of praise. It fits in every respect with sheer precision. The music is what owns the most on here. Why? Well it's just balls-out intensity and brutality. Blast beating, innovative compositions, well-fitting vocals, uncompromising lyrical onslaught and frenzy of "riffs" flying all over the place. These guys don't let up, but yes the tempos sway from fast-picking guitar to bar-chord thickness. It's their thrashy, but still brutal death metal sounding release to date and I think that would be due to the amps and how the tracks were laid out in the final complete stages of production.

This one does no wrong. It's simply a musical devastation. These riffs just don't seem to let up the whole way through, except for the outro song. I think that todate, this album is their best produced one. Still the same record label, but again Rutan just knows how to make everything stand out in the mixing of the music, vocals and overall end product. That's why 'Kill' owns so much. They did good when it came time to decide who to choose in getting behind the scenes and wanting someone who knows how to mix death metal albums with utmost ingenuity and innovation. Rutan makes everything so precise and I could not ask for a better produced Cannibal Corpse album.

So still questioning the 100% rating? Well I think that I made it clear in terms of the quality in composition, vocal annihilation, drumming right on cue with the guitars, leads that simply shred by both guitarists and sounds never before heard from this band until this came out. It was just such a step up from their predecessors. These guys tear it apart on here in terms of creativity in songwriting and keeping such a brutal sound that just rips it up. Cannibal Corpse in my opinion are much better off now without Jack Owen and Barnes in the band. Their current line-up just gets the job done and done right. This musicianship on here is top notch. Technical as all hell and what a crushing album! Own it!

Rating: 10 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Death8699
05/07/2015 20:14