Bone Gnawer: Cannibal Crematorium

Some people argue that horror-related art is based on a paradox that goes something like this—why would anyone pay to be entertained by something that would repulse them in real life? It's an interesting question, one that many people have tried to answer but never quite do so to everyone's satisfaction. Whatever the answer, there is no doubt that plenty of people enjoy movies, music, and books that feature horrific things that would not be pleasant in real life.

I won't dwell on the paradoxes of horror any further. My purpose, instead, is to talk about Bone Gnawer's second full-length release, an album that would easily qualify as one of those paradoxical entertainments. After all, the song titles all suggest some variant of being stuck in a real-life version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or one of those cannibal movies that is so gory that only a small number of people actually get through it. I'm a fan of horror movies and of horror-related metal, so I think I understand what Bone Gnawer is doing. The best thing about an album like this is that the music is consistently strong, especially the guitars and the vocals. The songs are mostly comprised of death metal tracks that are both fast and intense. The lyrics, not surprisingly, are inspired by horror movies or by scenarios that ought to be horror movies. There is also plenty of dark humor on display here. The nice thing about Bone Gnawer is that the band doesn't take itself too seriously. The quality of the music tells us all we need to know about these guys. If they want to liven things up with horror elements, so be it.

For those who don't know, Bone Gnawer features Kam Lee, a former member of Mantas (the band that became Death), Massacre, and Denial Fiend. Lee has respect within the Death metal genre and he deserves it. The guy plays metal with the best of them and here gives fans a taste of what he does best. Fans of death metal should definitely check this one out. I recommend that fans check out "Chrome Skull," "Chainsaw Carnage," and "Horrors in the House of Human Remains." I was less impressed with the overly-long introductory track "Anthropophagist Inferno" and didn't get much out of "Ill Sesso Bizzarro Di Canniballi." The latter, however, demonstrated the band's commitment to straddling the line between horror and humor whenever possible. I wonder, too, whether "Modern Day Cannibal" isn't trying to be funny with its guttural vocal noises. Bottom line: this album is ready and waiting to blow you away.

Track Listing:
1. Anthropophagist Inferno
2. Modern Day Cannibal
3. Chainsaw Carnage
4. Horrors in the House of Human Remains
5. Chawed, Mauled, and Gnawed
6. Ill Sesso Bizzarro Di Cannibali
7. Chrome Skull
8. Below a Murder of Carrion Crows
9. Carnivore Beneath
10. Untold Story: Human Pork Bun
11. Cannibal Crematorium

Added: September 28th 2015
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Bandcamp Page
Hits: 1561
Language: english

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