Cattle Decapitation is incredible, and their new release, Karma Bloody Karma, is really something unique. I need to talk a bit about the band before the review as these guys are far from your ordinary death metal band. Grind bands are usually guys who just want to be as brutal as possible, and although lyrically some of these bands really give you something to think about, you’d really never know what the fuck they were screaming about unless you bought the CD and read the lyrics. Cattle Decapitation seems to have matured into a great death metal band but the brutality is a major factor. Throw in some multi-genre influence and you have a finished product that could be easily overlooked as just another band - but that, they are not. They’re practically in a league of their own.

I read the lyrics to this CD (since Metal Blade Promos come with the covers, which is really great! Many labels only send the discs) after a few listens. I was a little confused, but impressed at the same time. This made me look at the band's site as well as what the label has for them on their site, and I came to realize just how different this band is from most. Most death metal is very typical. It consists of horror and gore movie influence, anti-religious themes, violence, and brutality. This record is full of hate, but it is towards humanity and spells it out quite clearly.

One of the most powerful moments for me on this record is in track one, "Unintelligent Design." When speaking of humans the hatred is delivered in a crushing hypnotic riff....
Idiots!...Backwards!....Self-serving!...Self Righteous!...All Consuming!...Bastards!

Lyrics like these can be considered common, however the band's lyricist/vocalist has been known for his “obsessively gore orientated musings laced with pro vegetarian/anti human posture.� There’s the twist. Some metal bands try to be cooler than the next by basically hating everything, and there is no explanation needed. It usually revolves around religion. There’s reason behind the hatred on this record and it is pretty bold in my opinion to go against the grain and offer something that not many other bands would dare try. Their bio mentions their Humanure album, featuring artwork described as the ultimate revenge on humanity. A cow excreting human remains. Now that is fucking smart...and sick! I mean, the record doesn’t make me wanna be a vegan, but hell, it makes you think about the sickness us carnivores support, since we do not often think about how the food we eat gets on our tables. I mean being a snake breeder the amount of rodents I personally basically kill doesn’t bother me much, and I am not too sympathetic when I drive past a field of cows. I’d kill the damn thing myself if I was hungry enough.

Regardless, this record gets under your skin. It makes you think about things, and it points out the faults that we should be ashamed of but aren’t, as well as mocking the way some people follow what they believe without much question. It is harsh and it goes in many directions from technical arrangements to an occasional simple haunting moment - as I mentioned before, almost hypnotic. The guys know how to play, and they do it well. I would like to know how long they worked on writing this record because it is phenomenal. The sound quality is killer, and each member has done an outstanding job, but the vocals and lyrics are just too much .... I mean fucking amazing.

There’s an abundance of chaos on the record, but this is not grindcore. I would call this death metal. Plenty of blasting drums, but that does not equal grind. The same goes for a few sweeping arpeggios, that does not make a guitar solo - but I think this guy knows that. His guitar work is excellent and the minimal soloing keeps the heaviness of the record at the level of intensity that sometimes is lost when death metal guys become possessed by Malmsteen. I’d bet this guy was a Human Remains fan. Either that or he must have relatives in New Jersey where us oddball metal musicians come from. Some say there’s something in the water.

The band will be touring again soon, something they apparently do a lot of. They have Kevin Talley (ex-Dying Fetus) drumming and will be on the road with Goatwhore. I will not miss this tour and have to tell you, I have listened to this disc no less than fifty fucking times. This review has taken me so god damn long I have a pile of discs collecting dust on my desk and many of them are great. The thing is, I feel I have barely done my job here. I hope I piqued your interest in hearing this record. You'll understand after you listen to it and read the lyrics why I felt it was so important to make you understand this is not a typical band or record. This is the type of record you could overlook, and that would not be cool. This record is a masterpiece and it is addicting. I myself almost stuck with the initial thought that this was some sort of typical record and I am glad I took so long to really take it in. The more you listen to it, the angrier you get. It is fucking powerful, chaotic and brilliant. Check it out

When I started writing for this site I announced I would not waste much of my time on bad reviews - and I won’t. This record has some good points, but I will never put this on again, one spin was enough for me, thanks.

The write up on the Metal Blade site says there’s almost a raw punk vibe on this record. Really? Where the hell is that? This to me is 85 percent Slayer worship to the point of cloning. The vocals are different and some of the drumming is faster, but the guitars have Slayer written all over them. Why Slayer is not mentioned in this write up is just ridiculous.

It is a great sounding record. I am sure some people will find this very appealing, but if I wanna hear Slayer I'll listen to Slayer.

The production leaves nothing to complain about. Crisp and heavy and very audible. The vocal style fits the music well, no singing or melody here. The guys can play, it's a tight record without any sloppiness. I think for me, it's just the fact that after listening to the disc, and reading what the label and band has to say about this band, I'm sitting here wondering, how you could say you’re old school but doing something different as compared to bands of today? There has been a resurgence of old bands making comebacks and current bands showing this influence, so I don’t get it. To claim nothing thrashy is coming out anymore? Huh??? They describe themselves as street metal? I just can’t stand it.

The lyrics... Well, here’s an example:

Assassins unscavenge.
Aesthetic trauma.
Bringer of the rising tide of low carb suicide.

I seriously hate this guy's lyrics, can’t stress that enough but....

In all seriousness. If you like the type of metal with the first few notes of "Reign In Blood" rearranged eighty-nine different ways, this record is for you. It does not suck at all, it's a good record, but for me it's something I've heard a million times before. I love the older metal records and I'm glad these guys are trying to rekindle some of the old spirit, but hopefully their next record will be a bit more original. This record shows potential, as they as a group have the ingredients to make great records, but I don't think this is one of them.