Review of Monolith of Inhumanity by Cattle Decapitation

1. The Carbon Stampede

2. Dead Set On Suicide

3. A Living, Breathing Piece of Defecating Meat

4. Forced Gender Reassignment

5. Gristle Licker

6. Projectile Ovulation

7. Lifestalker

8. Do Not Resuscitate

9. Your Disposal

10. The Monolith

11. Kingdom of Tyrants

"You don’t name your band Cattle Decapitation if you’re looking to subtly insinuate your way into the consciousness of the masses. Equally, unleashing some of the most intense, horrifying, and extreme metal known to mankind will not ingratiate you with those of a sensitive nature, for the San Diegan’s boundary-pushing music is designed to turn heads and snap necks, and not necessarily in that order. Returning with their seventh full-length, the devastating Monolith Of Inhumanity, the band have never sounded more focused, more aggressive, or more determined to get in the faces of those who erroneously believe they have already experienced the band at their extreme best. “One of the main things this band has done since the very beginning was to try to break tradition and break the mold of what’s acceptable, in any given genre we’re working in,” states vocalist Travis Ryan. “I’m really happy that with this record we’ve been able to successfully push those boundaries further than we ever have, and without going into the ‘suck’ realm or sounding contrived. We’ve gone so far out on a limb on this one, and I’m just ecstatic that we’ve pulled off what we were trying to achieve.”"

Not being a fan of Cattle Decapitation, Monolith of Inhumanity was the greatest introduction to the band I could ask for. I went in assuming it would be more grindy then straight up death metal, but that sure as hell wasn’t the case. The first song The Carbon Stampede, the toilet vocals had me ready for something along the lines of Disgorge for the whole album but this was changed when the more death metal vocals came in. The guitars were very face melting and the technical riffs and solo took the cake. The vocals on Dead Set On Suicide surprised me because I didn’t think the band would do higher growls. This song has a little bit of grind in it, but it goes by so fast you hardly notice it. A Living, Breathing Piece of Defecating Meat has a nice mix of fast machine gunner riffs and darker riffs, I like the vocals in this song. The next song Forced Gender Reassignment, has everything to expect from Cattle Decapitation be it every style of vocals you hear on the album, the types of riffs and a nice little solo. This is when the toilet vocals are released on this album in full force and I don’t mean that in a bad way. On the next song, Gristle Licker, the break down is tasty, leading into a technical riff that makes the song even tastier, the rest of the song is no surprises. Projectile Ovulation is the dirtiest song on this album, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. The toilet vocals in this song are entertaining but when you have the fast pounding riffs and drums its hard to even hear them, but for the title of the song that’s probably what they were going for. I think Lifestalker is one of my favourites off this album, I really like the higher growls on this song and the fast bit with the vocals really caught my attention. The slower bit is really great and I enjoyed the little break from all the fast, heavy stuff, the guitar here is well done. The opening riff and drums in Do Not Resuscitate are awesome, leading into the gut wrenching speed to introduce itself afterwards This is another song that needs no great show off as it is just your normal Cattle Decapitation track in my opinion but solo at the end was great. The riff at the beginning of Your Disposal was nice coming off of a solo, the blast beat with the highs in this song was nice, leading into a dark riff with some toilet vocals and growls. When the song slows down it sounds good, even the blast beat part again sounded great with the slow riffs. The Monolith is a great instrumental track and a great way to gear up for the final track, the slowness of the guitars and the background noises were very atmospherical. Kingdom of Tyrants is definitely my favourite for highs on the vocals and it is all you could ask for a final track.

All in all, I must say, Cattle Decapitation has made a masterpiece and it is no wonder they are on top of the death metal scene. If they aren’t then they should be. This album is so versatile and throws everything you would want from a band of their calibre at you. Nothing is forced and all of the tracks are unique in their own way. I’d have to say that Lifestalker, Projectile Ovulation, and Kingdom of Tyrants are my favourites off this album. I would definitely recommend this album to anyone who likes death metal or a little bit of grind.