Search - Cattle Decapitation :: Karma Bloody Karma

P*ssed Off Vegans Return

hellrun | wisconsin | 08/13/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Cattle Decapitation are back with another platter of hate and loathing for mankind. Pretty much the same as all their previous releases, except for a couple things. This album is a little more cinematic in spoke than all their previous albums. Travis ryan also switches things up a little bit, this time injection black metalish shrieks into his voal assaults, something they've previously stayed away from. this album also sounds a little more black metalish than previous efforts as well.

have you ever seen a picture of vocalist travis Ryan? He looks like one tough vegan........I hope i never meet him in a dark alleyway at night"

A huge step towards greatness

A. Stutheit | Denver, CO USA | 08/19/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Upon hearing that Cattle Decapitation were releasing a new album, I merely shrugged. Their 2004 album, "Humanure," was good, but it didn't leave a very big "wow" factor. But I did get around to checking out the new album, which was fortunate because I was pretty blown away by what I heard.



"Karma. Bloody. Karma" is a huge step towards Cattle Decapitation being a great, epic band. The songs are longer, the music is much less one-dimensional and more complex, unique, and technical, and most importantly, it has a lot more standout tracks. But, despite what you may have heard, "K.B.K." has very little melody to speak of. The band's furious, teeth-rattling sonic brutality is never compromised; the drums wallop, the vocals are ultra evil (frontman Travis Ryan even mixes it up a bit by adding black meta-style shrieks to go alongside his ultra-evil growl), and the guitar riffs are feverish and uncompromising. But this grindcore quartet adopted one new, key ingredient to make "K.B.K." a leap forward: tempo changes. Listening to this disc sometimes feels like you're in a fast car which is about to veer off a cliff, but it's soon thereafter that the band pulls their lead foot off the gas pedal. Almost every song will start out almost deafening but, at one time or another, it slows way down before regaining speed/momentum and becoming brutal again. And even when the band reigns in its standard, bludgeoning sound, the momentum never dies down at all.



"Unintelligent Design" is a top-shelf death metal/grindcore song, and an excellent album opener. It bristles with brutal riffs, a quick, slamming blast beat, and roaring vocals, and also is the record's first example of a few great, strategic, professionally executed speed alterations where the song becomes a slower, pounding rhythm. "One Thousand Times Decapitation" may be only one minute long, but it's a full speed ahead, no holds barred assault on the ear drums. "The Carcass Derrick" features a sudden, shocking, mid-song pause, and some double bass drumming which makes the listener sound like his head is in an oil can which is being cracked open with a hammer. "Total Gore" and "Suspended In Coprolite" begin by blindsiding the listener with pummeling death metal blasts and careening guitars, but the band eventually pull back the reigns. The last (and perhaps biggest) standout track is the album closer, the hilariously titled "Of Human Pride & Flatulence." It begins very slowly, with some distant-sounding guitar strumming before it rockets into a breakneck speed. It's also highlighted by a slow breakdown where a melodic guitar runs over thunderous, head-rattling drums.



Every song on "Karma. Bloody. Karma." pack a high level of intensity and viciousness which will be overwhelming to everyone who doesn't have quite a bit of experience listening to death/grind. But the album is highly recommended listening to those who are experienced. This is one of the finest extreme metal releases of the year thus far, one of the best grindcore albums released since the turn of the century, and thus, it is undoubtedly a success and a leap forward for Cattle Decapitation."

Wow...

Jason | Sin City | 07/14/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am extremely impressed with the new Cattle Decap album for 2 reasons; 1. The boys have really seemed to improve on their instrument playing in terms of speed, complexity and tightness. 2. They broke the stagnation that was left by Humanure. It wasn't a bad album...it just easily turned into background noise within the first few songs and for something like that to follow their previous albums was a bit disappointing. There was really nothing there to hold on to your attention or say "Wow, this incredible!" After I heard the material from the split they did with Caninus I was impressed but was bracing myself to be let down and...that didn't happen. This album is impressive in every sense; from the new breakdown-like interludes that fill the gaps in a few songs to the 8+min track "Alone in the Landfill" I couldn't take this album off of repeat. I constantly go out and venture into bands that claim their sounds as "Death Metal" but find myself bored to tears or just unimpressed; when I first got a copy of "Ten Torments of the Damned" at a local show they played I was blown away. Sure their albums are less "Grindcore" nowadays but a few elements still linger, as well as tons of new ones. I may get a lot of crap for saying this but Cattle Decapitation (to me) are the saviors of a dying genre. Lately it seems that if you want Death Metal done right you have to go to the bands who've been doing it since the beginning (minus Suicide Silence and of course a few others) and Cattle Decapitation just bring an element of hope into the new generation of Death Metal, there are actually kids out there who call Aiden (and all other crap like that) "Death Metal" or "extreme"! If that's the case than bands like this shouldn't even exist, they're just too heavy. Hailz to Cattle Decapitation for putting out such an awesome album. Any fan of this genre or this band in particular will not be let down in anyway. Also as a closing note; Travis Ryan is one of the best vocalists in any Death Metal band today next to Joe Hovarth."