If ever you needed proof that a Cadaver could rise and roar again, here it is! Reanimated after the Necrosis of the last album had set in, the limbs were flexed and rigor-mortis was eased by a new E.P D.G.A.F. earlier this year. Whereas there had been name changes tagging an Inc and bodily clean-up crew had been despatched including members of Aura Noir last time around, here we are down to just two members. First, we have founder Neddo aka Anders Odden who originally set the body-count rolling way back in 1988 and joining him is drummer Dirk Verbeuren. Veterans of many acts they should not really need much of an introduction to death metal aficionados but for the uninitiated the pair have performed for Megadeth, Devin Townsend, Soilwork, The Project Hate MCMXCIX, Aborted and live with Satyricon, Celtic Frost & Testament to name but a few. Make no mistake though Cadaver are old school gory death metal though and through.
First thing to note is that the album does not contain any of the previous tracks from the EP, this is all freshly rotting material. It starts with Morgue Ritual and sounds like a massacre in Herbert West’s mortuary as huge ghastly roars are throatily hollered. Then the drums pile in and boy they are one hell of a fixture of this album. To call them meaty beaty big and bouncy would be an understatement, rolling and cracking skulls at huge speed they pulverise everything and hardly stop for the duration of the album. It is one of the best and most destructive performances heard in a long time. Needless to say, that it is up to Anders to fill the gaps and this he does with aplomb. Guitars as sharp as scalpels, vocals gurgling the Carcass of death metal is truly eviscerated and organs plonked down in bowls of rancid offal. Melody is strong, despite the speed and the extremity grinds away without mercy. One wonders if the title ‘Circle Of Morbidity’ was nicked from Tom G Warrior when he wasn’t looking and it has a hefty groove and cracks the backbone proving that although the dead are rising not all of them are going to be able to tango. Vocals are absolutely ghastly but you don’t quite need a medical text-book to unravel them. There are a couple of cameos to be found, this track features Jeff Beccerra of Possessed and the all out assault of gibbering madness that is Feed The Pigs has the porcine grunts of Kam Lee of Massacre etc trading off with Odden, the pigs are happy and so are we as this is an OSDM sausage fest that is more than palatable with plenty gristle served up along the way.
“Don’t tell me what to do’ growls the singer on Final Fight as the drums crush. These salvos are mainly under a round of a boxing match, speaking of fighting. Tracks are lean and mean some of them under the three-minute mark, leaving you battered and punch drunk. It means the album which hones in at just over the half hour mark has been getting plenty of spins here and I can assure you it well and truly blows off the cobwebs. Still you can pick out some highlights along the way, the midway instrumental passage of Deathmachine being one such part to focus on whilst Odden rests his larynx. Reborn seems to have a message about it perhaps to any detractors from the past as the line “’ll win, I’ll win The others made that sin Of underestimating my grin” is rasped out. Well look whose laughing now! You too might be wondering about Edder and the title track of the album, is it all gallbladder related? I’m not sure either but there’s plenty of bile to be found here for sure as the title is spewed out with rancid finesse. It’s only at the last track that one gets a chance to slow slightly ‘Let Me Burn’ is the album’s Autopsy in more ways than one, cadaverously crawling, skin flailed by guitar solos, back to the tomb but hopefully not to rest for too long again….
(8.5/10 Pete Woods)
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