Cattle Decapitation is a group that has definitely earned a reputation for themselves with a career spanning nineteen years and with six full length releases on their belts they have truly knocked the ball out of the park with their 2015 release The Anthropocene Extinction. Conceptually focusing on The Anthropocene Era, Cattle Decapitation has created a forty six minute metal record that resonates of a period of time when human beings had the most profound negative effect on the earth. Buckle yourselves in for an album that pushes the limits of extremity and extrapolates itself as it continues.

The album opener “Manufactured Extinct” is a very anthemic march that builds into classic Cattle Decapitation styled chaos with Travis Ryan’s trademark vocals enunciating every syllable with a tenacious delivery and with enough variety throughout the whole record.  Ryan’s clean vocals are really the only thing that bothers me about the album and maybe for me it is just that they feel like they are placed in similar positions throughout each song on the album.  They are not terrible but to me it is sort of how they are used in a band like Fleshgod Apocalypse where I don’t necessarily the need for it on every song but again there have been worse clean vocals on worse albums and this is more just a small observation.

Josh Elmore’s lead work is on point.  His arpeggio laden sweeps are picked clean and add to the trademark atmosphere that is a kin to Cattle Decapitation and their past efforts. David Mcgraw’s drum work is absolutely vicious start to finish and his unbelievable chops are on full display through all of The Anthropocene Extinction. “Prophets of Loss’ has almost a Norwegian black metal vibe about it akin to maybe Keep of Kalessin or 1349 but then builds into intense breakdown sections that lead to great groove sections and then circle back into relentless Cattle Decapitation aggression.

“Pacific Grim” the album ender not only has a catchy title but also is one of the most straightforward songs on The Anthropocene Extinction.  I cannot emphasis enough how solid Mcgraw’s drumming is throughout this album.  Cattle Decapitation remind me of Aborted in that way in that they seem to continue to be able to keep their music unbelievably quick while still keeping enough variety from song to song to keep a full length record interesting.

Metal Blade Records has had a busy 2015 this year and this album is definitely one of the best things that has come out on the label this year and can say for me this is first Cattle Decapitation that has had me hooked and I think it is a matter of just how well these guys have jelled for so many years and have continued to perfect their craft.  This one will be releasing shortly and is definitely worth the investment. Cattle Decapitation has been consistently pushing the boundaries in their approach to extreme music and The Anthropocene Extinction stands out amongst the flock.

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