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CATTLE DECAPITATION

 

 

Karma. Bloody.  Karma

Metal Blade 2006

by Sully Payton

 

No matter how gory or violent many death metal bands' lyrics are, you just know that many are written without any seriousness of intent. C'mon, do you really think the guys in Cannibal Corpse ascribe to the lyrics of such songs like "Force Fed Broken Glass" or "Devoured By Vermin"? They don't. But then there are bands out there that take their mission and their lyrics very seriously. Cattle Decapitation takes their lyrics very seriously and the messages they send on Karma.Bloody.Karma (Metal Blade) are worth hearing and thinking about.

 

 

 

 

Karma.Bloody.Karma sets the tone of being a thinking person's death metal band right off the bat with a cover featuring a Shiva-like representation. This deity, however, sports a cows head and six arms holding butcher knives. The intellectual discussion begins with a vicious cut at the Christian Right and the Intelligent Design agenda on "Unintelligent Design". From there, we begin the descent into allegories of human excess, stupidity and violence and how they have impacted the world. "Success Is...(Hanging By The Neck)" may contain one of Cattle Decapitation's most prophetic lines when they state "Had we stayed lichens, had intellect not have been...a paradise this would be...". This is a band that truly believes that human excess is the downfall of the world we know. Think their pessimism is just a one-song shot. Try listening to the uncomfortable "Alone At The Landfill", ("The world is a trash heap where we bury the past. We try not to ponder the fact that our detestable actions will forever last) or the title track, which is their warning that for the worldly misdeeds humanity has wrought, payback is going to be a bitch. By the end of the record, you'll get the sense that should the Apocalypse finally occur, Cattle Decapitation will be standing on the sidelines saying "We told you so!!".

 

 

 

 

Musically, Karma.Bloody.Karma isn't going to break new ground in the

world of death metal. Cattle Decapitation continue their reputation of

being top-flight technical musicians and there are plenty of brutal time

changes to make even the most seasoned headbanger develop a case

of whiplash. The production is a bit stark, but it ultimately adds to the

bleakness of the record. Karma.Bloody.Karma won't set the world on

fire, but it will make its listeners smarter in the end.