Day 5: Cattle Decapitation, The Geocide | 30-Day Song Challenge 🎶

Day 5 of the 30-Day Song Challenge calls for volume and Cattle Decapitation bring that on the brutal, pessimistic gem, “The Geocide.” 

Embracing the trendiness of social media, The Musical Hype unleashes its own, month-long version of the 30-Day Song Challenge.

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Day 5 Prompt: A song that needs to be played loud

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There is one thing is for sure – death/extreme metal band Cattle Decapitation has a distinct, totally unforgettable and disturbing name. Travis Ryan and company back up the name with an intriguing brand of music that certainly isn’t for the faint of heart – “Carnal Fecophelia Due to Prolonged Exposure to Methane” anybody?

Cattle Decapitation returned turned-up on their ninth studio album, Death Atlas in 2019.  Honestly, any of the songs would fulfill the prompt for Day 5 of the 30-Day Song Challenge: A song that needs to be played loud.  I go with my favorite song from the album, “The Geocide,” which appeared as a track of the week on Music to Atone to, as well as 51 Best Songs of 2019, 15 G Songs Selected with No Rhyme or Reason, and 11 Colorful Songs That Reference Devastating Disasters.  Yeah, I really, REALLY like this song. 

Death Atlas explores the Anthropocene, the most recent geological time period, highly influenced by humans. Cattle Decapitation are pessimistic about it, evidenced by lyrics like, “Fuck the future / Fuck all mankind,” that grace the brutally honest “The Geocide.” Because humans are so destructive and inconsiderate, and we’re firmly entrenched in the Anthropocene, in this foretelling record, we’ve screwed ourselves over.  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 overtly pessimistic lyricism.  The keyword is BRUTAL, 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.”

Given how over the top Cattle Decapitation are, particularly no “The Geocide,” you’ll have no problem playing this death metal gem loud.

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Cattle Decapitation • Death Atlas • Metal Blade • 2019

Day 5: Cattle Decapitation, “The Geocide” (30-Day Song Challenge) [Photo Credits: Brent Faulkner, Metal Blade, The Musical Hype, Pixabay]

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