ALBUM REVIEW: Cannibal Corpse – Red Before Black

01. “Only One Will Die” Kicks straight in with blasts, brutality and guttural vocals. Catchy riffs and everything we would want to open a Cannibal Corpse album. Great solos and plenty of whammy use. A killer opening piece.
02. “Red Before Black” has such a great opening riff which builds on a violent and chaotic atmospheric for the song. It has a feel like it was taken from “Eviscration Plague”. Really great tone and Alex Webster’s bass skills really come through on this.
03. “Code of the Slashers” is a song we are familiar with from its pre-release and a great track, a real classic Cannibal Corpse vibe which just makes you want to go insane. Real brutality in an old school Death Metal style here.
04. “Shedding My Human Skin” is opening with a dissonant and killer riff. I really like this track and it is just a perfect headbanger. Cannibal Corpse have really got some great songwriting done on this one! Super groovy on all instruments with great vocal technique from Corpsegrinder.
05. “Remaimed” is much slower, feels more doom like to start and just has a crushing tone to it. Things speed up but still hold the darker atmosphere the intro set. This song has masterful production and such an old school crusty Death Metal tone.
06. “Firestorm Vengeance” has a nice chugged guitar intro which just feels like a song that live will spark up some Mosh Pits. The momentum of this album has not been lost at any point yet. This track works really well as a sort of half way point for keeping everything in motion.
07. “Heads Shoveled Off” once again rolls on with brutality, unrelenting force and blasting from all instruments. It may not be the most original, but with Cannibal Corpse there is only so far their sound can be pushed and regardless of having a few similar songs they are nonetheless enjoyable.
08. “Corpus Delicti” picks up with some really kick ass riffs and insane drumming. Just makes you want to windmill until your neck detaches. This track is incredibly heavy and my favourite so far simply due to the crushing riffs, blood churning vocals, punchy bass and tight drumming.
09. “Scavenger Consuming Death” has a super dark intro with the guitar note descending and a rhythmic bass riff behind it (not too unlike the intro to Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man”) then the tremolo picking, blasting and groovy riffing comes back. An early but well placed solo fits nicely in and the song makes me think of early Cannibal Corpse which is not the first time I have listening to this album (not a criticism as I am sure many of us enjoy early CC). The mixing on this song has so much low end and it sounds really nice in a gruesome way.
10. “In the Midst of Ruin” is brutal, no others words the natural harmonics in a groovy riff just sound killer and then all hell breaks loose with this track. A joint favourite for sure, this is going to be on repeat I think for a while. Masterful work! Really lovely and melodic solos too!
11. “Destroyed Without a Trace” continues in the footsteps of the album so far, I do not have too much to say about this track, it is cool, but nothing that stands out too much for me personally.
12. “Hideous Ichor” is the closing track of the album, with some nice creeping riffs, a nice pace and brilliant atmosphere this track opens up nicely. With Corpsegrinders vocals of course come faster paced riffs and drums. This track is a classic closing track with everything you would expect from such a well established Death Metal band like Cannibal Corpse. A perfect closing piece for this album.

Overall this album was great. I preferred “A Skeletal Domain” personally, but still killer new material and I look forward to the physical UK release (which has been pushed back) so I can get a copy. Look forward to seeing this when they come on tour in March, as I have not seen Cannibal Corpse since 2015. Final rating: 7/10.