I saw this band live at Milwaukee Metalfest and they gave a deceptively good performance in their short time slot so I decided to borrow the CD from a friend and check it out. I mean, for fuck's sake, the hype around Cephalic Carnage lately rivals even that of Necrophagia. "Innovative, energetic, overwhelming, one of the best brutal death bands on the scene today." "A flawless performance that influences the entire future of goregrind." With propaganda like that, I figured that I at least owe the group a listen, despite my apprehensions to the media.

Well, this is proof fucking positive once again that when the majority has a conformist opinion about something, it is almost always wrong. Why I subjected myself to listen to this entire incredibly boring array of non-stop shredding guitars and a drummer and bassist with absolutely no dynamism is beyond me. The vocals range from high screeches to gutteral belches and grunts, the band relies on blast beats to fight their way through the tracks, and the varying structures quickly lose their "unpredictable appeal." It basically comes down to the fact that this has all been done before, and any references to Cephalic Carnage reshaping the entire genre are complete and utter bullshit. Backing vocals, interesting artwork, and the injection of occasional samples can hardly be a savior for this insipid schizophrenia.

The only thing more worthless than the music here is the pathetic image that the band portrays, proudly holding themselves as the inventors of "Rocky Mountain Hydro-Grind" while explaining time and time again how weed is their foremost and solitary inspiration. What the band members do is their own business, and I don't want to be affiliated with any part of it, but continuously pressing how marijuana is their "creative zoning" and "crucial input" is simply fucking pathetic.

Stay away from this garbage. You have been warned.

© 2001 hando