The involvement of producer Erik Rutan
There aren’t many gore elements truly left now except the mandatory OTT songtitles (Sadistic Emodiment, Bloodstained Cement) but the choice of the Carnifex and Devildriver producer underlines the discreet shift initiated over a decade ago, when they started touring with much younger deathly up-and-comers. Then again, after an impressive 13 albums Cannibal Corpse have absolutely nothing to prove any more and you can’t really blame them for extending a polished and technically upgraded hand to the next generation of metalheads.
New schoolers will marvel at their now-lethal precision and Alex Webster’s prominent bass doodling, but part of the fascination with their earliest material was how utterly frenzied it sounded. By straddling two worlds, they’ve lost an important part of their barbaric appeal. So as tapered as A Skeletal Domain is, admittedly, only a handful of its tracks – like the raging closing number Hollowed Bodies – will devour your guts inside out like a true cannibal should.
Via Metal Blade
