Cattle Decapitation - Karma, Bloody Karma
- Released: 2006
- Label: Metal Blade Records
- Rating:
Ok, so I’ll admit that it took me a while to understand Cattle Decapitation’s genius. Upon hearing the first track they ever sanctioned to Metalblade, “The Regurgitation of Corpses”, I was baffled at how Metalblade would allow something so horribly underproduced to end up on one of their compilations. However, as the weeks went on and I listened more intently to the track, I began to see that something very special was lurking underneath the filth of the production.
Indeed there was something very special about Cattle Decapitation…unfortunately, none of it came through on the band’s debut, To Serve Man – an overproduced and overhyped release that failed to catch my interest in every way. The band’s next release, Humanure, didn’t set well with me either. Almost a year after giving up on Humanure, a friend urged me to give the band another go – for it was he who received my original copy of the CD. So, I took his advice and gave the band one more shot…I was wrong. I don’t know why I didn’t see this album’s brilliance beforehand but once I did, there was no going back.
But as good as Humanure turned out to be, Karma, Bloody Karma is, without a doubt, the most mature and brutal offering Cattle Decapitation has ever released. With a sense of their own diabolic and lethal nature finally embedded into the band’s collective minds, the Cattle Decapitators have unleashed an album in which their powerful pro-animal, anti-human (I’m sorry dudes…I’m proud of my carnivore status) message truly comes to life in every possible way.
The first noticeable difference is in the production. The guys have never had good luck in this area, but thankfully their luck has definitely improved with this release. Everything sounds raw and abrasive, yet still clear enough to come across in a way where all of the instruments have a distinctive tone and sound. Musically, the precision is also on an absolutely superb level. If you thought Humanure was technical and complicated, wait ‘til you hear this stuff!
I’m also quite fond of the stop-start sections that have made their way into many of the song arrangements. This is really a different element for Cattle Decapitation, yet it works very well for them. The music has an even more insane quality because of this progression. Travis Ryan’s vocals are also a bit more putrid than on the previous material, but it’s also easier to discern what he’s saying. That, in itself, is miraculous because this album really, truly feels conceptual.
Karma, Bloody Karma is definitely the best release of Cattle Decapitation’s career and they’re going to have to work very hard to top it. However, it’s most certainly possible…possible indeed.
http://www.cattledecapitation.com
Josh | 07/14/2006