When I first started Teufel’s Tomb back in 1995 it was created as a Cannibal Corpse fan site named Teufel’s Tomb Of The Mutilated. Back then I was easily one of the biggest Cannibal Corpse fans you’d find anywhere as they were one of the first death metal bands I’d been introduced to in the early 90s. I can’t even estimate the amount of times I listened to Eaten Back To Life, Butchered At Birth, Tomb Of The Mutilated and The Bleeding, but it’s somewhere in the hundreds of listens for each of those four albums.

When Chris Barnes was kicked out of Cannibal Corpse in 1995 and replaced by George Fisher I was sceptical, but once I heard 1996’s Vile all doubts I had disappeared instantly and the disc remained spinning in my stereo for months. I had high hopes for the future of the group, but, unfortunately, guitarist Rob Barrett parted ways with the band and was replaced by ex-Monstrosity guitarist Pat O’Brien. The following full length, Gallery Of Suicide failed to reach my expectations and I quickly lost interest in the band with each passing effort.

The problem for me wasn’t the departure of Chris Barnes, or even Rob Barrett, but the overall change in musical direction of the group, from a simplistic, heavy and brutal death metal outfit to a more technical-oriented act. With that came a strange sense of deja-vu with each new album and each new song as each effort seemed to be a carbon copy of the release before it with only slightly different artwork.

Following 2004’s Wretched Spawn long-time guitarist Jack Owen parted ways with the group. After a brief search for a successor, it was decided Rob Barrett would rejoin the group and play alongside his previous replacement Pat O’Brien. The latest incarnation of Cannibal Corpse then entered studios and recorded their 10th full length effort Kill.

After listening to the album a few times I have to admit I’m greatly surprised by the latest effort. Kill sounds like what Gallery Of Suicide would have sounded like had Barrett not parted ways with the group. While there is a lot of technical riffing on the album, the overall song structure is more simplistic with more emphasis being put on writing solid catchy songs rather than duelling guitar riff-offs.

Even though there were steady improvements in a lot of areas, mainly in the song writing department, the album fails to deliver anything solid enough to stand out above their previous material. The musicianship displayed on the effort is exactly what you’d expect from a Cannibal Corpse album; steady drumming, solid bass work, good guitar playing and Corpsegrinder’s patented vocal style, but there is no single song you’d consider including in a ‘best of’ compilation.

As a Cannibal Corpse album Kill is a surprisingly solid piece of music, but as a death metal release in 2006 it’s a solidly average album. I honestly don’t see myself becoming as obsessed with Kill as I did with The Bleeding and Eaten Back To Life, but this likely will not be the last time I listen to the album as, at worst, it is good background music. Fans of Cannibal Corpse will love Kill but likely won’t reclaim any serious interest for past fans that’ve moved on, though it is a very good start. Definitely worth a listen.

Review byTeufel