Cattle Decapitation - Karma, Bloody, Karma [Metal Blade - 2006]At its base Karma Bloody Karma is a prime dripping death metal/ Grind album, but what make it stand out from the decaying crowd are the other elements that the band adds in. All manner of metal genre pick & mix, grimy melodic moments over slow dieing riffing, electronic twist and curls of sound, off kilter riffing that Meshuggah would be proud and the experimental touches weaved into there slaughter house death mix. At times this brings back found memories of Carcass take on the genre, balancing nicely memorable brutal riff-rama and atmosphere. Each track seems well thought out and complex beast in its own right, but never becoming too complex for it’s own good. Total Gore? Is a wiping storm of screwed up and bent riffs, mixed with electro under charge cutesy of John Wiese, that settles in and out of tuneful grind before throw it’s self back into maelstrom once more. There’s really loads of tempo changes here, like the statsfying break down mixed with chewing and gurgling that bounce around the stero channels. Its little moments like this that really bring this severed limbs and shoulders above other similar bands. Of Human Pride and flatulence, finds wiese electronics bubbling near the surface, over which chainsaw massacre clear guitar blood drip- drop and gut growls hover. Soon the track becomes engulfed by wiese's curdling black sea electronics, as it fades to grey. Certainly one of the more enjoyable metal albums to have appeared this year. It be interesting to see what they do next- I’d like to see them experiment even more, and maybe add more electronics and odd turns. But as this stands it’s a bloody good ride. Roger Batty
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