Cranial Obliteration – Rancid Human Meat (demo)
8th October 2012
Band – Cranial Obliteration
Album – Rancid Human Meat EP (Demo)
Cranial Obliteration are a band that draw influences and blend a varitey of genres together including Brutal Death, Grindcore, Slam, Sludge. Before I start the review, here is what they have to say:
Cranial Obliteration formed at the end of 2010, playing their first gig just three weeks later. Live shows would include rotting animal heads, butchers clothes, weird samples and gruesome props! After a few shows the original drummer left, and the band went through a temporary hiatus, until the early months of 2011 when they recruited Abel Inglis (of Merciless Precision) on guitar and drum programming. A few months of drunkenness and member swapping later, they started writing a whole bunch of new material which ended up being recorded as the Rancid Human Meat demo, released August 2012. Rancid Human Meat talks largely about misanthropy, and the point at which a probing mind snaps and descends into sickening levels of violence. There is an idealist tone to the release too, as the last track suggests, talking about the desire to cull every living thing, and to start the world over completely from scratch. To hack away at the rotting root of humanity and plant new seeds to grow.
They are not just out to emulate their heroes. Cranial Obliteration are currently training up live members to take their aural assault to the next level, and new previously unheard songs are being written. Who knows what the next few months may bring?
The EP contains 7 tracks and lasts less than 11 minutes, this instantly reminds me of the early Napalm Death albums (Scum & From Enslavement to Obliteration) with songs lasting between 14 seconds and 4 minutes 20. The first song on this gorefested rollercoaster ride is the EPs title track 'Rancid Human Meat' and straight from start you are graced with an onslaught of high speed drums and riffs.
'Degrading the Damned' takes a different direction, the song has one of the best riffs I have heard in a long time mixed in with the demonic death metal growls. 'Clitshitter' is the shortest track on the EP but what it lacks in time it makes up for in brutality.
The vocal talents of frontman James sound inhuman and would go pound for pound with the talents of the likes of Cannibal Corpse, Cerebral Bore, Deicide etc. If you like Brutal Death Metal then definately check these guys out – their EP is available to listen to below and available to purchase for £2 – bargain!
I like this EP, what you need to remember when checking this out is that it is a demo and not a full studio release. I like the artwork, I like the songs, I like the vocals – the only critisism I have is that the shorter songs need to be longer, they have good catchy riffs and I feel they are over to soon.
7.5 out of 10
