Cattle Decapitation announces the next apocalypse.
Since 1996 in the United States, the band clearly asserts its ideals, and it is with Terrasite, their tenth album released by Metal Blade Records, that Travis Ryan (vocals, Anal Trump, ex-5/5/2000, ex-Nader Sadek…), Josh Elmore (guitar, ex-7000 Dying Rats), David McGraw (drums), Olivier Pinard (bass, Cryptopsy, Vengeful, ex-Obvurt), and Belisario Dimuzio (guitar, Eukaryst) celebrate their return.
The album opens with Terrasitic Adaptation, a massive track which lets its ominous introduction swell before revealing majestic and impressive sounds. The gripping scream will accelerate this heavy rhythm while giving it dissonant tones as the vocalist rages on, still leaving some soaring melodies to mingle with the wave of rage, continuing with We Eat Our Young, the extremely effective track chosen by the band to unveil the album. The tonalities are clearly similar to the previous album on this jerky and catchy composition, which lets the vocalist explore his limits. We also have a very short break, but the surge resumes again, followed by Scourge of the Offspring and its complex suffocating tones perfectly integrated to the aggressive basis. Every moment of this track is devoted to raw violence, while counting on oppressive parts thanks to samples and this plaintive and intense voice, then the heaviness leads us to The Insignificants and its devastating rhythmic. The band once again skilfully combines a jerky rhythmic’s devastating efficiency with more complex elements between Death Metal and Grindcore while taking advantage of expressive samples, but also a darker moment which welcomes some lyrics in clean vocals, then The Storm Upstairs comes to stomp us with a massive sound. The dissonant harmonics give an interesting relief to the groovy and catchy riffs which continuously run, leading us to …And the World Will Go on Without You, the next track, which also competes in violence with sharp leads. The crushing basis remains as effective as ever coupled with the monstrous screams, creating a real contrast with the softer and more melancholic parts which shelter heady vocals, then A Photic Doom returns to feed the fiery riffs with a raw saturation. The track is quite rhythmic, letting the vocalist lead the macabre and disturbing dance again before the intervention of samples and the solo before a masterly final, which leads to Dead End Residents and its disturbing melodies. We feel some Old School elements in this track, although the band also offers this fascinating and intriguing veil of darkness, under which it prepares the darkest parts before letting Solastalgia break through at full speed. Leads are also more marked, letting samples give them apocalyptic tones without denying heaviness, but the album comes to an end with Just Another Body, the last track, whose length and construction are not without reminding the previous album, allowing the band to feed every element of its universe in this long epic and virulent soundtrack, to close again this chapter with its climax, whether in violence or in crushing melancholy.
Cattle Decapitation has never disappointed me, and although I am a fan of the combo on both live and on album, I am still dazzled by the band’s performance. Terrasite is the worthy offspring of a flawless discography, proving that the limits of their style no longer exist.
95/100