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Cephalic Carnage - Xenosapien
Relapse Records – May 29, 2007
By Ryan Starr
It’s been two long years since Cephalic Carnage’s last effort came out. Anomalies was an incredible release which featured a more straightforward approach to their spastic grind style, and would certainly prove to be a tough act to follow. Xenosapien features all the usual elements found in every Cephalic Carnage record including grinding riffs, odd time signatures, and their signature tapping. But this album does lack one thing that their others have: progression. There is nothing new, which is upsetting, because they have always been on the cutting edge of metal. This album just doesn’t stack up to the rest of their catalog. But when you put out one amazing release after another, that’s bound to happen at some point. Let me be clear though, this is NOT a bad album. There is a great variety in songs, ranging from hyper speed grind (‘Ov Vicissitude’) to atmospheric doom (‘G.lobal O.verhaul D.evice’, which is my personal favorite). And there is no shortage of great musicianship either. The songwriting is solid and the riffs shred, just like we all expected.
Overall, Xenosapien is a solid release, and most people won’t be disappointed by it. But for my money, it just doesn’t stack up to Lucid Interval and Anomalies.
Official Cephalic Carnage Website
Official Relapse Records Website
Relapse Records – May 29, 2007
By Ryan Starr
It’s been two long years since Cephalic Carnage’s last effort came out. Anomalies was an incredible release which featured a more straightforward approach to their spastic grind style, and would certainly prove to be a tough act to follow. Xenosapien features all the usual elements found in every Cephalic Carnage record including grinding riffs, odd time signatures, and their signature tapping. But this album does lack one thing that their others have: progression. There is nothing new, which is upsetting, because they have always been on the cutting edge of metal. This album just doesn’t stack up to the rest of their catalog. But when you put out one amazing release after another, that’s bound to happen at some point. Let me be clear though, this is NOT a bad album. There is a great variety in songs, ranging from hyper speed grind (‘Ov Vicissitude’) to atmospheric doom (‘G.lobal O.verhaul D.evice’, which is my personal favorite). And there is no shortage of great musicianship either. The songwriting is solid and the riffs shred, just like we all expected.
Overall, Xenosapien is a solid release, and most people won’t be disappointed by it. But for my money, it just doesn’t stack up to Lucid Interval and Anomalies.
Official Cephalic Carnage Website
Official Relapse Records Website
