Author: Primož Novak
Artist: Cattle Decapitation
Label: Metal Blade Records
Release: year_month
Runtime: 46:09
Rating: 4/5
American death/grind metal outfit Cattle Decapitation have climbed the ladder very slowly over the two decades since they formed. Even though they landed on the respected Metal Blade label pretty quickly, they only got real recognition with the album Monolith of Inhumanity (2012), which, thanks to solid production and a strong sound, reached a bigger pool of listeners. The seasoned producer Dave Otero helped a lot there too, managing to push the band above the average. Naturally, the band decided to team up with him again.
On Athropocene Extinction, too, vocalist Travis Ryan keeps spitting out his hatred for the human race, which wrecks everything in its path. This time he tackles environmental themes, hooking into the pollution of the oceans. The cover art backs that up, promising nothing but brutal music.
Opening track Manufactured Extinct makes it perfectly clear that Cattle Decapitation will show no mercy this time either. The bigger profile hasn’t softened them one bit. The recipe clearly hasn’t changed, either. The band swears by powerful, fast death/grind metal attacks with the occasional technical flourish, a crushing rhythm section, and an incredibly versatile vocal performance. The songs are packed with diversity; Travis Ryan’s vocals and the dynamic structures help here, as they don’t rely on speed alone, and a slower section pops up here and there. Not that those slower parts mean the band is about to chill out. The intensity only eases off on two tracks, the instrumental The Burden of Seven Million and Ave Exitium, where Ryan also contributes clean, undistorted vocals for the first time. Otherwise, besides the growls and black metal screams, Ryan puts a lot of emphasis on his distorted clean vocals, which he even uses to shape melodies, while still hammering home the darkness, which is pretty essential for this record. The drums are another standout, of course. David McGraw is a textbook example of today’s extreme drummer, who wants to push his inhuman speed further with every album. In short, the album is more than fitting for fans of modern death metal.
The band claims The Anthropocene Extinction shows a natural progression, but if we’re being honest, they hit their peak with the predecessor, and this release confirms they probably won’t get past it, which doesn’t mean it’s any less well-crafted or polished. With The Anthropocene Extinction, which is dark, merciless, and brutal, Cattle Decapitation prove they’re still in top form. And we hope it stays that way for a good while (at least as long as Dave Otero can keep steering them in the right direction).
Lineup
Travis Ryan – vocals
Josh Elmore – guitar
David McGraw – drums
Derek Engemann – bass
Production
Dave Otero
Tracklist
1. Manufactured Extinct
2. The Prophets Of Loss
3. Plagueborne
4. Clandestine Ways (Krokodil Rot)
5. Circo Inhumanitas
6. The Burden Of Seven Billion
7. Mammals In Babylon
8. Mutual Assured Destruction
9. Not Suitable For Life
10. Apex Blasphemy
11. Ave Exitium
12. Pacific Grim
13. Cannibalistic Invasivorism (Bonus)
14. No Light and No Life (Bonus)
