Cattle Decapitation is a death metal/grind band based out of San Diego, California. They formed in 1996, and there is no end in sight for them. With sixteen years of experience under their belts, Cattle Decapitation have unleashed one of their most promising albums to date, “Monolith of Inhumanity”. Their last album, “The Harvest Floor”, was released in 2009, which made any Cattle Decapitation fan itching for some new material. Cattle Decapitation combine festering guitar riffs, crushing vocals, and demolishing drums that end up portraying a deranged silhouette for every listener’s experience.
If you are unaware, Cattle Decapitation is strongly against the mistreatment of animals, consumption of animals, and the destruction of our environment. A great majority of their lyrics are focused around those ideas and concepts. Cattle Decapitation has written lyrics that portray humans in the situations that many helpless animals are bound in. A prime example can be found from the song “A Living, Breathing Form of Defecating Meat”, “Released upon the populace this “thing” shall breed, emit its seed a monstrous mold of cells resembling jellied meat assembly”. Cattle Decapitation convey a universal message through their music consistently in each production, which makes them very unique.
“Monolith of Inhumanity” begins with the first track, “The Carbon Stampede”. I am going to be comparing this song to a buffet. “The Carbon Stampede” has a little bit of everything of what the album possesses. There are incredibly heavy parts, sections that have thrashy vibes, and plenty of signature Cattle Decapitation touches. The tune eventually fades out and the listener is merely descending into the true madness that soon enfolds.
Cattle Decapitation have spent a few years making sure that this album is going to be their best yet. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the overall aggressiveness has not toned down at all from their previous productions. In fact, it seems as if Cattle Decapitation are more pissed off than ever. Songs that I would personally pick out are “Forced Gender Reassignment”, “Kingdom of Tyrants”, and “Projectile Ovulation”. I feel as if these tunes grasp exactly what Cattle Decapitation intended to portray to their audience.
With many highlights on the album, there were some elements that I did not care for. I was a fan of mostly every song on “Monolith of Inhumanity”, but felt that some songs like “Gristle Licker” and “Do Not Resuscitate” were not up to par with the rest of the album. The addition of little sound clips in various songs was a cool concept, yet I didn’t feel as if they did much homage to the song. Maybe if there were a few more of them in other songs too, it wouldn’t feel like an unfinished idea.
“Monolith of Inhumanity” had a very superior production sound. All of the instruments had gotten their fair share of the limelight on the album. The bass was not shoved to the side like most productions today. There were occasional bass solos, harmonies, and very catchy melodies that depicted Cattle Decapitation’s creative writing style. Guitar solos were sprinkled in very nicely in “Monolith of Inhumanity”. Though Cattle Decapitation is more on the grind side of the genre, solos did not seem out of place or feel like an afterthought. The vocals were the extra cherries on the sundae. It brought the album to a whole new level.
If you are a fan of Aborted, Misery Index, and/or Hate Eternal then Cattle Decapitation is worth your time investigating. Clocking in at barely under forty three minutes, “Monolith of Inhumanity” is sure to hit the spot for any metal head seeking some fresh new meat. “Monolith of Inhumanity” scored an 8.5/10. Cattle Decapitation has concocted a great new album with a very high replay value.
“Monolith of Inhumanity” will be released on May 8th via Metal Blade Records.
