Cannibal Corpse
Gallery Of Suicide

THE REVIEW

The umpteenth masterpiece from the American cannibal quintet was announced as a work very different from its predecessors: after a mediocre “Vile,” there was an expectation for a grand comeback from the band, which seemed unable to recover from the blow of the great Chris Barnes’ departure. He left to form his group, “Six Feet Under," after having together with the other four individuals given birth to masterpieces and cornerstones of Brutal such as the extremely violent “Tomb Of The Mutilated” and the ingenious “The Bleeding,” which marked the last great performance of the group until this “Gallery Of Suicide” from 1998.
The intense anticipation, therefore, led to a series of acclaims and compliments when the notes of “I Will Kill You” first entered the ears of human flesh-craving anthropophagic listeners.
It is no coincidence that “Gallery Of Suicide” is placed among the best Brutal albums of 1998: Black Metal was retracing the path of success it had opened about three years earlier, Death Metal was feeling a crisis caused by the spread of Black, the Death of the late Chuck was heading towards disbandment, Morbid Angel had published just a year earlier the barely sufficient “Formulas Fatal to the Flesh,” and most importantly, the “cousins,” the biggest (musical) enemies of Cannibal Corpse, the equally (or even superior, in my opinion) valid Suffocation had disbanded the previous year, leaving behind only the memory of the wonderful EP “Despise The Sun” and the good old times.
It is no coincidence, then, that any new news about Cannibal Corpse was welcome. And “Gallery Of Suicide” is an album that, at the time, made deathsters exclaim: “Yes, damn, the Cannibals are back!”
They are back, and in better shape than ever: the sonic confirmation is the aforementioned opener “I Will Kill You,” which picks up Cannibal from where we left them: Pat O’Brien, already with Nevermore, brought to the band that extra handful of technique needed to reach unthought-of levels, as the past CDs were already a great demonstration of virtuosity. Meanwhile, George Fisher, the impressive ex-Monstrosity singer, elevates himself a cut above the excellent Chris: no longer a monotonous growl, always of the same gloominess, but a vocal range that goes from the darkest and most murderous growl to a screaming of almost Black nature, passing through a tone that unmistakably recalls Bret Hoffman of Malevolent Creation (listen to the Bret-like scream, still in the opener).
The technique is extremely high, mostly concentrated in the hands of the two phenomenal guitarists and the incredible bassist, while on drums we find an anyway outstanding Paul (I’m not sure how to spell it): the production, carried out by Jim Morris, is simply impeccable, offering clear and crisp sounds while maintaining a strong grind-all component. The ingenious riffs, highly technical and always in the service of the most extreme brutality, impeccably played by O’Brien and Owens, follow one another tirelessly, followed by Alex Webster (I’ve run out of adjectives for him…) who makes a kaleidoscope of colors behind the five strings, and a Paul Mazurkiewicz (I may have misspelled the last name) who delivers drumming often elementary, never too elaborate but still punctual and very precise.
Thus, after the progression of the opener, come thirteen more splendid gems of brutality, among which I highlight the extremely violent “Blood Drenched Execution,” the dreamlike title track, the phenomenal instrumental “From Skin To Liquid,” which initially recalls much of the melodic guitar parts heard on the masterpiece “Destroy Erase Improve” by Meshuggah only to have the Suffocation of “Pierced From Within” emerge among the riffs, and all the others, which should more be listened to than described.
The Cannibal Corpse (and especially Alex Webster) are in better shape than ever, and this alone would justify its purchase! Excellent material played as well as it possibly can be: what are you waiting for?!