Having released an impressive array of albums, Cannibal Corpse cultivated its venerable legacy of domination over the genre of death metal since the early nineties. On “Chaos Horrific” the Florida quintet expands with a high-end aggression and is so innately merciless in its intensity, these ten tracks will bash your skull. The imposing impact of guitarist Erik Rutan who has made noticeable refinements to the songs instantly grabs the listener as the album’s opening track “Overlords of Violence” showcases the ever-increasing churn of barbarity. Immediately, Cannibal Corpse embraces its frantic battering meticulously and vocalist George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher is always fitting as the perfect persona of the band’s gory style bringing his signature inhuman growls in a world-class performance.

While “Frenzied Feeding” has a slower change of pace, the guitars launch a barrage of blistering riffs and drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz brings his merciless bludgeoning. As brutally sleek as the album’s cover artwork you will be amazed at how the veterans have strengthened their sonic forte, Cannibal Corpse has envisioned its sonic mayhem to an unprecedented level. Straight from the demonic crypts of hell, the gore-drenched riffing perfectly captures the brutal quality of songs like “Summoned for Sacrifice”.

That being said, the grisly riffs surge forward with the zombified guttural growls under the growing excess of the rampaging drums. Blistering riffs sharp as knives unleash a total force of savage death metal riffs, giving us relentless violence as the bloodbath ensues. In their feral pursuit of brutality Cannibal Corpse steps up its pandemonium madness, each riff seems to be curated with dexterity of craftsmen and guarantees cruel bloodiness all brimming with fiendish chugging.

In terms of riffing, “Blood Blind” shows enough consistency and while the drumming on the album is absolutely monstrous, the performance is organic and full of unnerving talent from Erik Rutan and Rob Barrett. The blood-chilling fierceness on tracks such as “Vengeful Invasion” results in some whirlpool grooves with drums sounding brutal and in your face, meanwhile the rhythm work focuses on a remarkable intensity that projects tons of chunky riffs. “Chaos Horrific” fashions the ultra-heaviness of these veterans and there is not even one track that lacks in variety, Cannibal Corpse aptly managed to deliver endless carnage that is precisely conveyed with unparalleled brutality.

“Fracture and Refracture” emphasizes the unique riffing prowess and cements a clinical slab of vicious death metal. The onslaught continues with massive pummeling, powerful bass tone, and breakneck speed that feels truly a prominent feature of the band’s signature sound. Cannibal Corpse extent visceral contents and combines tons of jackhammering riffs, and pulverizing drum beats, acquiring top-notch technical skills yet pushing for incredible dynamics on “Pitchfork Impalement”.

Erik Rutan’s presence and his adeptness truly enhanced the songwriting creativity to newer grounds untrodden before. Despite sticking to the same formula, Corpsegrinder’s signature growls, the five-string bass guitar of Alex Webster and savage rhythm guitar work in tandem with the grinding drums, all these sonic components are fantastically demonstrated throughout “Chaos Horrific”. There are some melodic guitar segments and some catchy solos that add to the intensity of the songs providing a backdrop for tracks like “Pestilential Rictus”. Which is one of my favorite tracks on the album where the quintet unleashes unstoppable rampage bringing in feral riffage delivery and thrashing drums bolstered by immense chugging guitars.

The solos are always on the spot and are perfectly tailored for this kind of style, with tremolo-picked riffs and double bass as a result, the songs seem more memorable. The well-orchestrated riffs in the closing track “Drain You Empty” imbue a dark tone and paint a horrific, dark vision of a zombie resurrection. The frenzy growls sound more effective than usual, but also show the genius of the veterans in providing some memorable hooks. Dark-arrayed riffs and bulldozing drums keep the momentum at a mid-paced tempo with the astonishing and catchy rhythm guitar adding textures to the song, there is absolutely no shortage to the drum filling. This is definitely one of the best songs that offers a similar riffing style to Hate Eternal, but the obscure atmosphere of the guitar work fits the band’s gore-theme style of brutal death metal.

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