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Cannibal Corpse - Gallery Of Suicide
1998 Metal Blade
 Cannibal Corpse - Gallery Of Suicide

Track Listing:
1.  I Will Kill You
2.  Disposal Of The Body
3.  Sentenced To Burn
4.  Blood Drenched Execution
5.  Gallery Of Suicide
6.  Dismembered And Molested
7.  From Skin To Liquid
8.  Unite The Dead
9.  Stabbed In The Throat
10. Chambers Of Blood
11. Headless
12.  Every Bone Broken
13. Centuries Of Torment
14. Crushing The Despised

Line-Up:
Vocals:  George Fisher
Guitar:  Pat O'Brien, Jack Owen
Bass:  Alex Webster
Drums:  Paul Mazurkiewicz

Website:  www.cannibalcorpse.net

Skin Splitter's Rating:  B
Average Rating:  B

Skin Splitter's Review:
 When Cannibal Corpse decided (forced) to change their line-up or give up the band, I was very skeptical of their choice and what the results might be.  To lose your front-man and a very good guitarist can be devastating to a band and can lead them to changing their sound, style, or worse case scenario, their genre (Cannibal Corpse rap?  Techno?  Opening for Seal at the Soft Rock 'Hug Till You Love' Festival?).  Well, the good news is that they didn't change genres.  They did however, change their sound a little.  The guitarist went with 7-strings (down tuned 1/2 step to Bb for the tuning that can only be called the official tuning of hell), and George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher used his "special blend" of growls to do the lyrics.  One of the main differences between Chris Barnes and "Corpsegrinder" is that (sir) Barnes was more of a low guttural sustaining sound while (sir) Fisher is more of a chanter.  Think of Corpsegrinder as more of a religious/spiritual/pagan ritual leader chanting style.  Like trying to raise the dead or playing with something you know you shouldn't (if only Fisher could chant in Latin, now that would be scary), but enough about that technical crap.  Did Cannibal Corpse change their sound too much and begin to go down the road to the common death metal sound that anyone cane do?

Well, it isn't The Bleeding I can tell you that, but it's not common death metal either.  The sound change may be because of the 7-strings, or a change in amplifier distortion, but production quality was dropped.  However, that's about it.  Cannibal Corpse once again releases an album that strips the flesh off of Jesus on a Sunday afternoon.  In fact, the 7-strings helped them out a bit because now they can continue their "signature sound" with even more grinding lows, screaming highs, and squealing harmonics.  The musical aspect of Cannibal Corpse changed a little into where they went into a more technical side of their music instead of just pure pounding aggression.  However, that still doesn't change the fact that it's still damn good and fun, and I mean fun like a 3-foot crowbar to your worst enemy's head (or limb to prolong the excitement) fun.

Song summaries include...

  1. I Will Kill You - And hell opens!  Typical Cannibal Corpse song.  Good Chorus transition.  B+
  2. Disposal Of The Body - Fast, blatant, chanting, dangerous.  Another typical CC song (can hear a little bass) but not very original.  B
  3. Sentenced To Burn - They made a music video for this one.  Slower than Disposal Of The Body.  Nothing too special except at 1:55 they put in some harmonics.  Doesn't save it.  C+
  4. Blood Drenched Execution - Someone pissed off Fisher for this one!  Good screams.  Short and painful.  Two transitions in the song (1:15 and 1:45) make this one fun and not a bad solo either.  B+
  5. Gallery of Suicide - Slow lurching intro.  Very guitar/bass driven.  1:45 hell breaks loose.  Good transitions after.  A-
  6. Dismembered And Molested - Pure speed, pure fun.  Shortest track on the album.  Sounds like a track off of The Bleeding.  A
  7. From Skin to Liquid - INSTRUMENTAL!  And a damn good one.  They let you think your own bad thoughts on this one.  Best song on the album.  A+
  8. Unite The Dead - Fast and chaotic intro.  Tempo changes and harmonics are abundant.  Can get repetitious.  B-
  9. Stabbed In The Throat - Guitars playing up, down, all around!  Good grinding tune.  The music change at 2:06 makes no sense!  A-
  10. Chambers Of Blood - Fast, slow, fast, slow.  :50 seconds in, the chanting hell begins.  Then back to fast, slow, fast, slow.  2:34 it gets "interesting".  A-
  11. Headless - Straight from The Bleeding intro!  Fast, good harmonics, but can get a little repetitious.  B+
  12. Every Bone Broken - At this point in the release, this song sounds like a combination of the first three.  Not very fun and pretty straight forward.  C-
  13. Centuries Of Torment - Same problem as Every Bone Broken.  Little change at 1:45 but nothing too special.  C-
  14. Crushing The Despised - Intro a little too long.  (sir) Webster plays by himself which is great in any song, good ending song to pump you up for a good punch to the face.  B+

Skin Splitter's Rating:  B

Also be sure to read:
 Cannibal Corpse - The Bleeding by Skin Splitter
 Cannibal Corpse - Bloodthirst by Skin Splitter
 Cannibal Corpse - Live Cannibalism by Uncle Meat
 Cannibal Corpse - Tomb Of The Mutilated by Skin Splitter
 Cannibal Corpse - The Wretched Spawn by Skin Splitter

Discography (last updated 10.22.05):
Eaten Back To Life - 1990
Butchered At Birth - 1991
Tomb Of The Mutilated - 1992
Hammer Smashed Face EP - 1993
The Bleeding - 1994
Vile - 1996
Gallery Of Suicide - 1998
Bloodthirst - 1999
Live Cannibalism - 2000
Gore Obsessed - 2002
Worm Infested EP - 2002
15 Years Killing Spree box set - 2003
The Wretched Spawn - 2004