Reading Time: 5 min read

4 out of 5 stars

Cattle Decapitation, Death Atlas [Photo Credit: Metal Blade]Death metal collective Cattle Decapitation returns after a four-year hiatus with an intriguing, ninth studio album, Death Atlas.

There is one thing is for sure – death/extreme metal band Cattle Decapitation has a distinct, totally unforgettable name.  Maybe the best way to characterize the name is as disturbing. Regardless, Travis Ryan and company back up the name with an intriguing brand of music that certainly isn’t for the faint of heart.  A few of song titles that stand out from the collective: “Gestation of Smegma”, “Carnal Fecophelia Due to Prolonged Exposure to Methane”, and “Colonic Villus Biopsy Performed on the Gastro-Intestinally Incapable”. Yes, the appropriate reaction should definitely be something to the tune of, WTF.  Moving beyond the past, after a four-year hiatus, the band returns turned-up on their eighth studio album, Death Atlas. Death Atlas is comprised of 14 tracks clocking in at just about 55 minutes in duration.


“The Geocide”

“Anthropogenic: End Transmission” commences Death Atlas with an instrumental cut – an intro/interlude if you will.  This soundscape truly sets the tone for the album in not only sound, but also thematically.  The Anthropocene is the most recent geological time period, one that is highly influenced by humans. Ultimately, it’s a superb preface to what is to come.

“Fuck the future / Fuck all mankind.” Wow, Cattle Decapitation certainly keep it 100 on ✓  🤩 “The Geocide,” the standout, first full-length record from Death Atlas.  The music is incredibly chaotic and unsettling, certainly a fitting soundtrack for the destruction of earth.  The guitars are utterly infernal, while the drums pummel to the nth degree.  Adding to this most damned occurrence, Travis Ryan delivers thrilling, incredibly malicious vocals, not to mention the brutally honest, pessimistic lyricism.  The keyword is brutal, as exemplified by the chorus:

“The universe, it always finds a way to purge
The sustainably inappropriate numbers that once surged
Death always wins, his molten torch forever burns
And to the ashes and the ground we are returned
Life exists to infuriate, berate, and subjugate
The hapless mortals shit-birthed on a human-altered planet Earth.” 


“Be Still Our Bleeding Hearts”

Post-geocide, Cattle Decapitation retain a truly deadly brand of metal – they don’t call it death metal for nothing! “Be Still Our Bleeding Heart” arrives with a quick pace, continual hard-hitting guitars and drums, and incredibly energetic, intense, and dramatic vocals. The most melodic part of the record is the chorus, which is still ‘rough around the edges,’ yet quite appealing simultaneously.  In line with “The Geocide,” death and loss remain the modus operandi:

“Be still our bleeding hearts
Death is part of life
Embrace time’s eraser
Ditch the ignorant philanthropy
The scale has tipped and not in our favor.”

The dark, deadly trajectory continues on “Vulturous,” which unsurprisingly references vultures – “The carcass beckons to the buzzards / Entitled to its pound of flesh.” Of course, that’s only an excerpt of the damnation Cattle Decapitation unleashes on the listener. If nothing else, Death Atlas is poetic, even if it’s in a dark sort of way.  Case in point: “Present-day predators now electing generations to die / Extermination defined.” Like the tracks that precede it, “Vulturous” is quite compelling, in a twisted sort of way.


“The Great Dying, Pt. 1”

Interlude “The Great Dying, Pt. 1” sticks with the concept of the album, discussing the devastating effects of the Anthropocene, again, caused by humans.  Naturally, the interlude is perfect ‘fuel for the fire’ as far as follow-up “One Day Closer to the End of the World.” There is no happiness, only morbidity: “Why do we keep letting this life come between us? / The years won’t wipe away desire for the end times.”  If that’s not depressing enough, Cattle Decapitation ups the ante on the post-chorus prior to the bridge:

“Lust for dying
Lust for extinction
Lusting for euthanasia
What have we done to ourselves?”

Of course, shit gets worst – there’s really no other way to put it! With the desire for death catalyzed by humans, according to Cattle Decapitation, the answer is to “Bring Back the Plague.” Naturally, ‘plague’ is a topic that’s sort of like candy for a death metal band:

“These scattering rats
Their diseased existence
Earth’s megalopolis, a plague focus
Eradicated with Death’s persistence.”

Wow. For as harsh as “Bring Back the Plague” tends to be, surprisingly, it has some lovely melodic moments.  That said, melodic is relative to the unrelenting, brutal nature of Death Atlas.  For good measure, “Bring Back the Plague” lists the plagues that can destroy the world: “Malignant / Virulent / Mephitic / Anthropomorphic / Pneumonic / Septicemic / Bubonic / Anthropologic.” If shit wasn’t already real on Death Atlas


“Absolute Destitute”

The big takeaway with the ferocious “Absolute Destitute?” We are all totally screwed, keeping it brutal of course.  Interestingly, Cattle Decapitation eschew profanity on this particular record. Don’t let that dissuade you – the record suggests there’s no fix for being totally screwed.  “A life in love with disrepair / In a world beyond repair,” Ryan sings on the chorus, continuing, “A global consensus that the powers that be are against us / Helplessness beyond compare.” Another interlude, “The Great Dying, Pt. 2,” continues the hopelessness – “Annihilation is necessary.”

With “Annihilation necessary,” “Finish Them” ends up being a fitting beginning to the end, with the keyword being ‘end.’ Oh, and you remember how I mentioned “Absolute Destitute” avoided profanity? The same can’t be said of “Finish Them” where the listener is blessed with references to skull fucking: “We fuck biology’s eye sockets / We skull fuck our futures for our profits.” Charming.

“With All Disrespect” is predictable, given the negative title.  That said, the band comes through with plenty of clever, yet shocking lyrics.  “A lesion on the soul and mind / Self-cannibalistic and sadistic yet self-eulogistic.” Who writes such specific lyrics like that every day? That’s only a small sample of the epic nature of the songwriting on “With All Disrespect,” and I didn’t even mention the musical backdrop itself. Badassery to say the least.


“Time’s Cruel Curtain”

As Death Atlas reaches the homestretch, there is no letdown from Cattle Decapitation. “Time’s Cruel Curtain” is as intense as the songs that precede.  The tempo is lightning quick (for much of the song), the music is wild. Still, like some of the other multi-sectioned songs on Death Atlas, there are some effective musical switch-ups. Also, the future is effectively kaput: “An element of species narcissism / A grandiose idea of self-worth / In a vessel of organic matter / In a league with its own feces.” Fair enough.

The penultimate selection, “The Unerasable Past,” runs nearly three minutes in duration, but it’s ultimately another interlude, in the mold of “Anthropogenic: End Transmission,” “The Great Dying, Pt. 1,” and “The Great Dying, Pt. 2.”  That said, “The Unerasable Past” has a slightly different vibe.

What better way to conclude Death Atlas than “Death Atlas,” a song that races past nine minutes in duration? Yes, it’s quite long, but, as one might expect, there’s a little bit of everything on the title track.  Sometimes, it’s incredibly brutal, while at other times, there are lightly more melodic ideas, particularly when it comes to the vocals. Musically, there are shifts that keep things intriguing.  Of course, the expiration date is imminent:

“And I count the days ‘til we expire our ways
To be alive is to survive everything
To make do with anything, until we die
To be alive is to squander everything
To stumble towards anything, to feel alive.”

Final Thoughts 

All in all, Cattle Decapitation releases a compelling, well-rounded metal album with Death Atlas.  Quite heavy and chocked-full of pessimism, Death Atlas also has its fair share of more melodic, even somewhat beautiful moments – relatively speaking of course.  The 55-minute runtime isn’t too shabby, as there’s no glaring miscues here.  Death Atlas may be morbid, but it’s intriguing, nonetheless.  

Gems: “The Geocide,” “Be Still Our Bleeding Hearts,” “Vulturous,” “One Day Closer to the End of the World,” “Bring Back the Plague” & “Absolute Destitute”

4 out of 5 stars


Cattle Decapitation • Death Atlas • Metal Blade • Release: 11.29.19
Photo Credit: Metal Blade

 

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the musical hype

the musical hype aka Brent Faulkner has earned Bachelor and Masters degrees in music (music Education, music theory/composition respectively). A multi-instrumentalist, he plays piano, trombone, and organ among numerous other instruments. He's a certified music educator, composer, and a freelance music journalist. Faulkner cites music and writing as two of the most important parts of his life. Notably, he's blessed with a great ear, possessing perfect pitch.

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