A few songs into Cannibal Corpse's Evisceration Plague I recognized one of the first coherent lyrics. Vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher barks, “Tear your face off!” Fuck yeah, now that's what Cannibal Corpse fans want!

For a death metal band that has built a successful career on gore-drenched lyrics, censorship and controversy, Evisceration Plague lacks much of this. The album doesn't suffer, but I found it surprising. This is a band that has been banned in certain places, had album covers censored and has been prohibited from playing songs live due to lyrical content. Could it be that I've just heard too many death metal bands since Cannibal Corpse's rise to gore metal fame? Or has Cannibal Corpse finally put a tourniquet on the forever-bleeding wound? Bassist Alex Webster was quoted as saying, “We wanted death on an epic scale, as opposed to the individual, murderer-stalking-his-prey stuff we’ve done in the past—although the album still has a few of those songs.”

We get fun-loving gore-metal song titles like “Beheaded and Burning,” “Shatter Their Bones,” and my personal favorite, “Skewered from Eye to Eye.” The strongest songs are built around more devastating, low-end, chugging riffs, bursting into spontaneous and frequent blast beats. Great examples are album opener “Priests of Sodom” and “Evisceration Plague.” The standout, though, is the riff frenzy of “Cauldron of Hate.” The others are all undeniably fast and brutal and stay true to the roots of the old-school death metal sound that Cannibal Corpse helped forge. I absolutely love this straight-from-the bowels-of-hell, shred-through-anything guitar sound. It reminds me of early classics from Entombed, Sepultura and Obituary. And Fisher's vocals are as horrific and deadly as ever, using layering effects, making it sound like three demons all barking at different pitches simultaneously. Hate Eternal's Erik Rutan (Mana Recording Studios) was responsible for the precise production of the album. This guy has built an impressive resume of death metal productions.

Evisceration Plague's intent is to focus on the ruthless brutality of the band rather than blood-thirsty, gore-infested lyrics and controversy. Let's face it, any normal person couldn't tell you what the lyrics are about anyway. They could be about viciously murdering someone and eating their bones, or about taking a walk with your dog in the park. Who knows? Cannibal Corpse hasn't abandoned their trademark “hammer-smashed-face” identity, it's just lurking behind the bushes now, rather than gutting you with a butcher knife.