Style: Brutal death metal
Primary Emotions/Themes: Look at the cover... does this question even need to be asked?
Thoughts: Name a more iconic death metal album. Go on... I'll wait. Sure there may be albums that are better than this one. Sure there are albums that I regard more highly than this one, but this thing is essentially the flagship album for the genre.
I knew of Tomb of the Mutilated before I even knew of death metal. Watching Ace Ventura when I was a wee little lad imprinted this album on me. I didn't know that the scary music was death metal, and I didn't know that Hammer Smashed Face was even a song then. When those connections were made years later my mind was blown.
Tomb of the Mutilated has one of the best one two combo punches I've ever heard in death metal. Hammer Smashed Face opens the album in brutal fashion with riff after fucking riff. Every time I think it's going to let up, it only gets more intense. The vocals are a key part in this as well. Chris Barns may be a joke these days, but in the early Cannibal Corpse days he was one of the absolute best.
He helped pioneer the whole brutal death sound with this album. The vocals here are the essence of what you hear these days. Deep, gurgled, completely incomprehensible. Brutal. There is no other word. These are the very definition of brutal vocals.
The second track is a long time fan favorite and one that has made waves across the internet with the way that Corspegrinder announces it. I Cum Blood is a legendary song, and much like Hammer Smashed Face it's nearly instantly recognizable. Despite all the chromatic progressions, as soon as that blast beat hits it's hard to do anything but head bang.
This continues for the next thirty minutes - the perfect length for an album like this. Anything longer and it feels like the album starts to blend together. Anything shorter and it's more of an EP than it is a full length. There are a few good Cannibal Corpse albums, but this one is the best. In all of it's disgusting glory, this one rules on top of all the others.
Written May 21st 2024
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