The dozen is complete! US Death Metal legend CANNIBAL CORPSE has churned out its twelfth studio album and while some whining wieners out there complain about “Torture” being “just another, boring CANNIBAL CORPSE album”, every Metal head with a basic understanding of Death Metal will of course immediately disagree. Actually, I think it is kinda hip at the moment to attack artists that never produced any stinker in their whole career after it was cool to bash everything obviously bad (e.g. new MORBID ANGEL, “Lulu”), so let them fat kids and blog smart asses have their go at CANNIBAL CORPSE while we enjoy a record that definitely has nothing torturous to offer but proves once again why CANNIBAL CORPSE remain the best active US Death Metal band on this goddamn planet! Kicking off with the face-ripping opening track ‘Demented Aggression’, the quintet makes it crystal clear from the start that they are mastering the art of sonic killing as great as ever. While the first song on this platter is a perfect example of CANNIBAL CORPSE’s recently increased amount of thrashing elements culminating in the extremely intense SLAYER-homage ‘Encased In Concrete’, the catchy growl-a-long ‘As Deep As The Knife Will Go’ and murderous climax ‘Torn Through’ are instant classics with their perfect balance of powerful hooks, sick riffs and stunning technical proficiency and exemplary for the album’s diversity (within the stylistic boundaries of CANNIBAL CORPSE of corpse). Bassist Webster has some brilliant moments to offer (check the solo in ‘The Strangulation Chair’), guitarists Barrett / O’Brien impress with frantic yet coherent playing and the best, often quite melodic leads ever on a CANNIBAL CORPSE album. Add to that the ever perfect vokills of Corpsegrinder and Paul Mazurkiewicz’s unpretentious tight and driving drumming you should know that CANNIBAL CORPSE can also be synonymous with “constant consistency”. “Torture” might not be showcasing any surprises nor the opulent technicality of “Gallery Of Suicide” and with ‘The Scourge Of Iron’ the slowest track on this record is also its weakest, but apart from that there is no sloppiness, no watering down, no weaknesses to spot here. In direct comparison to its two predecessors “Kill” and “Evisceration Plague”, the band’s 12th opus is definitely the winner because of its sheer flawless songwriting and assures the Metal world that CANNIBAL CORPSE will remain the finest soundtrack to all your perverted rape and murder fantasies for ages to come. www.cannibalcorpse.net