Album Review: Cannibal Corpse - 'A Skeletal Domain'

Cannibal Corpse are, shall we say, a very acquired taste, but with 25 years and now 12 albums under their belt they have managed to make themselves one of the biggest and most controversial names in death metal. These guys have formed a brand and stuck with it and somehow, despite a lack of anything too different, this consistency has worked well for them. Their newest release, ‘A Skeletal Domain,’ is no exception to this rule with 12 tracks packed with brutality.

Opening track, 'High Velocity Impact Splatter,' is an accurate representation of what to expect from the rest of the album, insanely fast instrumentals, a fierce vocal style and a handful of solid guitar solos thrown in to add some beef.

The record picks up a little with the title track, which puts up some driving riffs and a powerful introduction. The instrumentals around 2.50 are fun and take everything up a notch with technicality.

However, 'A Skeletal Domain' takes on a formula with aggressively fast death metal then repeats. A lot of the songs tend to blend together and a lot of them sound really very similar to the last.

There are some interesting grooves in ‘Bloodstained Cement’ that add a little more interest to the album but as things come to an end on ‘Hollowed Bodies’ there is a slight tinge of disappointment in the air.

Don’t get us wrong this is by no means a bad album, rather it just lacks some diversity in its stock standard death metal lines. This is an album that will have Cannibal Corpse fans happy and head banging with their consistent brand of death metal prevailing once again, but for the rest of us it's probably not going to make it into your top 10.

'A Skeletal Domain' has some interesting bass lines, enjoyable guitar solos and purposeful, aggressive vocals. It has some impressive moments but, by a few songs in, it starts to all feel like the same song. Cannibal Corpse are definitely talented musicians but once you have heard one album you have just about heard them all.

1. High Velocity Impact Spatter

2. Sadistic Embodiment

3. Kill Or Become

4. A Skeletal Domain

5. Headlong Into Carnage

6. The Murderer’s Pact

7. Funeral Cremation

8. Icepick Lobotomy

9. Vector Of Cruelty

10. Bloodstained Cement

11. Asphyxiate To Resuscitate

12. Hollowed Bodies