Cannibal Corpse – A skeletal Domain

Review by Richard Bateman

The new Cannibal Corpse record ‘A Skeletal Domain’ is a new look and sound for one of the most popular and brutal death metal bands to come out of the late 90’s. The record consists of 12 tracks of new material and I think it’s one of their best records.

Now before you go off on a major wobbler, hear me out. After leaving their previous producer Erik Rutan (2006-2012), they went to Mark Lewis, who has worked with bands such as: The Black Dahlia Murder, Trivium and Devildriver all of which have had very good mainstream success in the metal community. As a band who have changed producers since 1998, they are already well accustom to experimenting with different sounds and recording styles whether it be ‘Tortures’ extreme technicality and tightness between each band member or ‘Bloodthirsts’ heaviness and disgusting, spine tingling lyrics.

This album has everything a die-hard Cannibal Corpse fan could expect from the band they have devoted so much time to. The musicianship on this record cannot be compared to any other record; Pat O’brian and Rob Barrett’s writing and execution of every note will sent a shiver down your spine and make you give up guitar forever. Alex Webster’s bass technique and skills are matched by no other. Paul’s Drumming is interlocked with every beat and cannot have been done better and George, well, George is the man who everyone would be happily killed by. George has this overwhelming presence. You know when you buy a Cannibal record you’re going to get some insane vocal patterns and some brutal lyrics that make Hannibal Lecter shy away in the corner. This album offers everything: great musicianship and amazing songs throughout.

One of the drawbacks I found with this album was nothing actually in the record. For me, it was the album artwork. Now I’m not sure if this is because being a die-hard death metal fan has conditioned me to see ‘brutal’ album covers which makes censors cry and wish they were never born. I found that this album cover had the same impact as when I first saw the ‘Kill’ album cover. It didn’t excite me like the others did knowing there was going to be an awesome peace of brutal artwork that will stir up controversy and be banned from sight. This piece of artwork had more of a classic death metal feel, going back to the Death days with ‘Scream Bloody Gore’. It isn’t bad in my opinion, it was more, unexpected. In the sense that knowing Cannibal Corpse artworks have been major taboos in a lot of countries, seeing this just lowered the expectations. Evidently it will grow on me in time but for now, it was just a bit of a bummer. But in no-way shape-or-form does the album artwork change my opinion on the content of the album. This album is great and if you’re like me, you’ll look past some minor drawbacks and appreciate the album for the content rather than the visual appeal.