Gallery of Suicide

With 1998’s “Gallery of Suicide,” we see another major lineup change in Cannibal Corpse (CC). Rob Barrett who played on the previous 2 CC albums, quit the band over musical differences between him and the rest of the band in 1997. This lineup shift caused CC to have to require another guitar player, that guitarist would be Pat O’Brien. An absolute monster of a guitar player who would bring much more technicality and intricate guitar work into CC’s sound.

Each album within their discography shows CC becoming tighter and tighter musicians while also maintaining a straightforward death metal style. This album is no different as with all 15 (soon the be 16) CC albums released. 1998 wasn’t necessarily a good time to be a death metal band, with the rise of black metal in the early to late ’90s people’s attention steered away from death metal. But CC was one of many death metal bands that didn’t fall out of relevancy, they continued to stay on top of the pack throughout those rough years for death metal. This album is severely underrated and in need of more attention and love from fans.

One thing I noticed after listening to this album so many times is that it gives off a way more evil and creepy atmosphere than on other records previously. Especially with Jim Morris’s production. While he’s no Scott Burns, he does an incredible job here. Everything is rawer and murkier, but nothing is buried in the mix to where you can hear the instruments or vocals. Straight from the get-go with “I Will Kill You” this album grabs you by the throat and never lets go, it’s absolutely barbaric and technical. The solos also get exceptionally technical, with the solo on “Disposal of the Body” being a highlight of the album. It’s a very quick song but it’s extremely memorable. “Blood Drenched Execution” and “Dismembered and Molested” are also extremely quick and furious songs. With “Sentenced to Burn”, “Centuries of Torment” and the title track adventuring into the slower, groovier, and more ominous territory.

Pat O'Brien immediately makes his presence known on this record, to me he’s easily the best guitarist this band has ever had. His technical and brutal way of writing and executing is unlike any other guitarist CC has had before. While every single guitarist CC has had throughout the years is awesome, something about Pat O’Brien feels special to me. I love his solos and leads, the way he writes technical yet hooky and catchy riffs, and just his playing style overall. He’s a god-tier guitarist who makes CC sound so much better and way tighter. He and Jack Owen go wild on this album. Corpsegrinder also sounds amazing on this album, you can tell that he sounds more comfortable with CC here. His vocals are powerful and sadistic, with his high shrieks he delivers continuing to send chills down my spine every time I jam this album.

Paul Mazurkiewicz’s drumming is also superb. He never slouches whatsoever, he’s always on point and barbaric when it comes to blasting his drums to death. Alex Webster's bass performance is also top-notch, always being a prominent part of CC’s sound. All the band members bring something unique to the table, they all sound incredible together and work extremely well. They always make it their job to be consistent and to improve something with each and every coming record. With each song on here theres always a memorable part, whether it be a solo, a catchy ground-and-pound riff/hook, or a cool lyric verse that gets stuck in your head. There’s always something to appreciate on each CC album.

Now it's time to talk about not only the best song on the album but also one of the best CC songs ever written. That song in question is the lone instrumental on this album “From Skin to Liquid”. Holy shit everything is perfect about this song. It begins with a creepy opening riff before kicking into a slow chuggy section, shortly after switching into one of the best riffs I have ever heard from this band ever (specifically around the 1:03 mark). The bends and squealy parts in the background also add to the atmosphere, making this an instant standout. This song also contains some of the best solos I have ever heard a band write and perform. But the one that truly stands out is the closing solo of the song. it’s a very soul-crushing solo and slowly fades away after time. I have listened to this song thousands of times and it still hits me the same way it did when I first heard it, this song never gets old no matter how many times I listen to it. Easily a perfect song in my eyes.

When it comes to the whole CC discography this is my second favorite. It’s hard to decide between this and their most recent album on who gets second place behind “Tomb of the Mutilated”. It can honestly switch depending on my mood. But “Gallery of Suicide” screams perfection to me, it’s got all the things I’m looking for in a death metal album. The brutality, the groove, and the emotion/feelings I get from listening to it. A fucking incredible record.

Boy, Cannibal Corpse had certainly gone through some lineup changes during the mid-90s, hadn’t they? With Vile, we were introduced to the vicious vocalisations of a mr George Fisher, who lived up to his Corpsegrinder moniker. Then here in Gallery of Suicide, we find ourselves with Pat O’Brien adding an even more manic approach to their already burgeoning technical sound that had been taking shape over the prior two albums. With that, Gallery of Suicide would go on to be…

...a big deal in its own right, although not quite as good as it had every right to be. That being said, much of what would become their signature sound can be found here. It’s not as if this album is secretly some kind of failure – no Cannibal Corpse album really is. Honestly, the album gets off on a pretty righteous start! “I Will Kill You”, “Disposal of the Body”, “Blood Drenched Execution” and “Dismembered and Molested” are filled to the brim with some right fiery riffing like Owen and O’Brien are actually on fire. Particularly the case with “I Will Kill You” and “Blood Drenched Execution” where they show absolutely no mercy! Notes fly out like no tomorrow, yet given the more subtly complex arrangements and little time signature changes, they keep themselves from going stale. It’s like a bipolar person on one of their good days. Oh, you want something slower? No problem. “Sentenced to Burn” is a more mid-paced tour de jour of pummelling riffs. Then there’s the title track. Like... fuuuuuuck me, this song is absolutely sick! It’s definitely a top contender for being one of their most dynamic tracks. The slow, dreary riffing certainly gives this gallery a rather unsettling atmosphere, and then the switching up between more crawling heavier riffing and the fiery riffing and occasional soloing that defined the other songs.

Although the winner of that little contest is the instrumental, “From Skin to Liquid”. I’ve always found the intro does go on a touch too long – it’s a pretty sick groove and all, and the odd thrashy riff and honest to god textured riff gives it some real nice touches, but it does drag a bit. Although it says more about how much the second half really brings the thunder as the soloing goes from showy but dreary to practically unsettling with how they drag out the arrangements. Much of the album before and after this do contain some rather blazing solos – taking a page out of Jeff Loomis’ book before leaving Nevermore, I presume – and this much would certainly be a Cannibal Corpse staple going forward, but the pure atmospherics found in this instrumental would be a huge goal for any of their future instrumentals to reach.

Then the album continues, and there’s a definite drop from here on out compared to the first half. Not that it’s without trying, because they do maintain the energy and the thunder here too. But it’s just oh so underdeveloped compared to the prior half. It’s weird to say since it also kind of maintains the variety too – blazing fast songs, juxtaposed by mid-paced and the odd slow-paced sections. At the same time, the songs come across more disjointed, without any solid foundation to build off. It’s like you get a bunch of moments that are vaguely intertwined, but just never really come together. They also largely lack any major hooks or riffs that really make an impression. Like, I guess “Chambers of Blood” has that semi-memorable groove, and “Headless” has that tremolo that you’d hope would put it up there with the blazing fast songs from the beginning of the album. Part of the problem is that the big fuck off 14-song tracklist which, in general, does lead to a bit of fatigue, feeling more bloated than a Javascript-laden webpage. But the bigger problem is that none of these songs captivate like “I Will Kill You” and “Blood Drenched Execution”, and there aren’t really any songs like “Sentenced to Burn”, “Gallery of Suicide” and “From Skin to Liquid” that break it up. I really wanted to come out of this saying that they’re still good – they got all the right ideas and everything, but execution is king and unfortunately, it just wasn’t quite there in the latter half of the album!

Corpsegrinder’s vocals have a bit more fluidity to them than the dryer, hoarser approach he had in Vile and the wetter production on them does emphasize them rather well. Not to mention, he makes rather effective usage of rasps here and there to deliver some rather ghoulish vocals (kinda like he did in Monstrosity’s Millennium but moreso here than there). The production’s more razor-sharp than the brutal lower-end ones that they had gone for in their earlier albums, really allowing O’Brien’s more manic style of riffing and soloing (and vicariously, Owens’ guitaring) to shine. This is particularly the case with the occasional atonal riffs they’d play, which definitely have an uncannily warm sound to them to really nail that atmosphere, especially on “From Skin to Liquid”. These two elements give Gallery of Suicide that edge even after all these years, yet – like with Vile before it – in retrospect, this was only the beginning…

...because while Gallery of Suicide is a great album when it’s on its game (particularly with “From Skin to Liquid”), it does fall into the same underdeveloped rut that Vile did – all the right ideas but the execution ain’t there. It makes the album a frustrating listen when taken as a whole because half the album is good-to-excellent death metal and the other half is decent at best. If this was an EP of the first half and it ended on an exquisitely high note like “From Skin to Liquid”, it’d likely be Cannibal Corpse’s/death metal’s/the 90s equivalent of Haunting the Chapel. As it is, regardless of its kinda up-and-down overall quality, it is still an important album for Cannibal Corpse and for death metal as a whole. It at least maintained the streak Cannibal Corpse had of never having a bad album, nor falling into the rut a lot of death metal bands had at the time. That’s definitely gotta count for something!

According to the band - the album that was less successful and at that moment did not fully reflect their vision of music; in my humble opinion - a solid album and something far from failure. Well, even if the truth about "Gallery Of Suicide" is somewhere in the middle and seems to be too fanciful (also on my part), then...it's hard to consider the sixth Cannibal Corpse album as a downgrading for this group! The Americans (with a new guitarist, Pat O 'Brien), in two years after the release of "Vile" managed to maintain their previous style and created another album at a high level. Well, according to interviews from those years, they did not manage to get the old-school raw and "aggressive" sound, for which they were so much striving for Jim Morris, but to be honest, in such a rather massive production (i.e. similar to the previous one) the quintet also presented itself here with a decent dose of excavation.

So if someone deluded themselves into bigger changes after "Gallery Of Suicide", I come to such people with unpleasant news - Cannibal Corpse remained in their characteristic sounds, but only shifted individual accents (after that cover and title, it's really difficult to expect a revelation and discovering the "new face"). However, the results of this approach turned out to be surprisingly good. There is no intrusive scraps from previous albums, and at the same time, despite the greater number of simpler (sometimes even too much simpler) patents, paradoxically, there is some place for some bizarre or less friendly atmosphere on "Gallery...". On the one hand, the group serves concise, sometimes a bit more "melodic" and without any combination of death metal shots like "Sentenced To Burn" (ultra-hit despite only one pace), "Headless", "Dismembered And Molested", "Blood Drenched Execution" or "I Will Kill You"; on the other, more schizo like "Every Bone Broken", the title track or instrumental "From Skin To Liquid". Also, in general, music here is ear-catching, despite the appearing (standard) monotony from them and - consequently - placing too many songs.

After the not bad reception of "Vile", the Americans from Cannibal Corpse quickly hit with a decent successor. They managed to create a good-sounding album, quite abundant in terms of the number of tracks and meaningfully continuing the familiar patents. It's surprising then that the creators of "Gallery Of Suicide" didn't appreciate this release too much.

Originally on: https://subiektywnymetal.blogspot.com/2022/02/cannibal-corpse-gallery-of-suicide-1998.html

It usually takes a certain amount of time for a band to find its definite sound. It's often got to do with the available technology, beyond the obvious song-writing improvement factor. Band members hone their skills individually, tend to become better at writing songs, and benefit from newer technology that'll definitively allow them to capture what the band's sound will be. When the name Cannibal Corpse is brought up, only a few nostalgic fans immediately think of Chris Barnes (ex-vocalist) and their comparatively thin sound and basic song-writing. Some might prefer old C.Corpse for its raw and classic quality, however a vast majority of people immediately think of the sound of C.Corpse from albums "Gallery","Bloodthirst", "The Wretched Spawn", "Kill", etc. People immediately picture "Corpsegrinder" Fisher and his tree trunk of a neck headbanging onstage, and think of a deep and wide modern guitar tone with clarity on all instruments, along with dynamic vocals and a hyperactive composition style. That ultra dark, low-tuned, clinical death metal Cannibal Corpse sound. And 1998's "Gallery of Suicide" here is probably the beginning of that era of the band having found its sound, a sound they will uninterruptedly continue to practice til decades later.

New vocalist Corpsegrinder joins the band on the previous record, "Vile", but that album was the transition/buffer point in the C.Corpse discography. It was quite possibly too different to be considered a great classic by the fan base, added to the not-too-memorable song-writing. They were still searching for their sound. On 'Gallery' however *that sound* of wide, deep down-tuned guitars as well as an atmosphere that had turned more to a darker, more sinister style rather than the thrashier abrasive early death metal from the first records, had been achieved for the first time. The song-writing still is a bit disparate and the album definitely comes across as uneven; there are too many tracks, some are extra short bursts of fury, other songs have a much deeper atmosphere...; but the sound itself that would become the band's trademark sound had been established. They would fine-tune the riff distribution and composition on the very next record, 'Bloodthirst', arguably their most accomplished (or at least most polished) and catchiest record. On 'Gallery' though, just what the songs sound like from a purely audio-engineering standpoint was something to behold. Death metal as an entire genre had managed to sound nasty and aggressive til that point, but none or very few records sounded positively gigantic. 'Gallery' manages a perfect marriage between retaining an organic and genuine sound, and that surgical feel and clarity of modern metal. Metal bands around at the time like Strapping Young Lad or Fear Factory had very deep and wide sounding guitar tones, but I can't think of a death metal record sounding like that. Nile as just one comparison released their debut album that year, 'Catacombs...', and it didn't sound nearly this big or precise. Alex Webster had also nailed his bass sound here, as he kept that thick presence on the record while adding more treble attack and definition. He sounded like modern tech-death metal bassists sound today, in 1998.

As mentioned the album is rather inconsistent and a bit all over the place. Not wildly chaotic, but more on the uneven side. I think they wanted it that way, which is fine as it makes for a fun ride, but ultimately the album surely suffered from this as fans found a more distinct identity to other albums whether previous or following. It's hard to keep the plot when one song is 3min long and starts with no intro, the next one is 5min and contains 15 riffs, and there's what, 14 tracks total. In spite of that, there are at least a few high quality, memorable songs on here for sure while most tracks to be fair are solid at least. In fact the riffing is mostly high quality death metal all around, but few songs stand out as there's too much content overall. The opener "I Will Kill You" is hard not to like as it's such a cheeky way to start a death metal record, and it's just catchy. Other highlights include "Sentenced to Burn" (they had a video clip for that one), or "Gallery of Suicide" the album title track which introduces C.Corpse in full dramatic dirge mode. Slow, ponderous, and pitch-black dark. "Centuries of Torment" is similar, however more on the (rare for this band) melodic side. But the champion on this record is unquestionably, to this reviewer at least, the song described in the next paragraph. I know this is an album review, but this track as an exception needs a dedicated section.

Cannibal Corpse do have a reputation of playing ketchup death metal. Like they're a cardboardy version of death metal, too polished and mainstream sounding. Without getting into that debate here, I would simply point to Track 7 on "Gallery of Suicide" here, without saying a word and maybe, like, stepping back into the shadow at the back of the room for more dramatic effect. Behold: "From Skin to Liquid". This instrumental is as deep as death metal depth can reach. The intro establishes an atmosphere that I could only describe by saying it's like a musical depiction of 'disease' as a living theme. It sounds clinical and cold, reminiscent of the soulless white walls of a hospital and almost like the soundtrack to the actual gallery of suicide, some sort of forgotten decrepit hospital for the agonizing. It's so poignant, and sounds so "real". Then, the main riff, which I'll spare a technical description for and merely say I don't know if even today, so very many years after being blown away on that first listen, I've ever heard such a heavy piece of music. It's sick, instantly grin-provoking, brilliantly composed, totally unique, twisted and heavier than Jupiter's mass times a thousand. I'm assuming Jupiter is actually heavy here, just to be clear. That main riff is another depiction of malady in all its drama, as it's got this awkward gloomy groove to it, almost like the writhing motion of a zombie, and that tail part with the squealing harmonics makes it particularly ill and diseased. The second part is actually even more intense, and still in full god-mode composition wise. The tempo slows down even more, as if anticipating the coming of greater danger yet. Seconds later, the theme starts, like the appearance of a Lovecraftian cosmic deity over the horizon, a giant covering the skies. The soaring, wailing guitar leads at the top guide the instrumental towards depths of vertiginous musical nausea, like the music has taken the listener to some sort of a dark cult's ritual, right in the middle of it. The music just commands our utmost attention and pulls us closer and closer into its somber parallel universe. The second riff with the utterly menacing octave chords ending with rapid tapping at the tail returns to the scene of a titan walking impassibly, each step slow and weighty, like a giant hammer hitting the ground.

But the track ends at some point, and we return to ordinary old earthly life. No Lovecraftian cosmic entities, hairs on the arms unraised, pupils undilated. Butthole unclenched. So in conclusion this album's main flaw is it's got too much of it, too much of its own self, and it really could've used a disk cleanup on its C:/ drive. It's a lot of fun when you put it on, but you likely won't find yourself doing that much because you're just not thrilled at the idea of so many songs, many of which you'll never memorize, and having to press the skip button more than you'd like. Not because the material is bad, but because there's just too much of it, and you'd rather listen to a tidier version of this Cannibal Corpse, with more recognizable tracks, so that would be "Bloodthirst" or possibly "Kill", both often considered the most popular.

The Cannibal Corpse name has become synonymous with that of death metal, to the point where no conversation on the latter can occur without the former being discussed. They weren't the first band to pioneer the sub-genre, in fact, they were relatively late to the game compared to forerunners such as Possessed, Death and most of the key players in the corresponding Florida scene. Likewise, they haven't really made any particularly progressive strides that can be credited directly with birthing a distinctive variant of the style such as the now popular melodic and progressive strains, though one might argue that their commitment to violent imagery and matching sonic aggression helped pave the way for strides in the brutal subset further explored by Suffocation and Cryptopsy. Truth be told, this is a band that defines death metal primarily through a refined yet stripped down approach that walks a thin line between technical prowess and primitivism, cutting away all extraneous elements until only a pure product remains. Nevertheless, their early days were largely an exercise in self-discovery that yielded mixed results, despite making no auspicious evolutionary leaps.

Following one of their better early offerings in The Bleeding and the exodus of original vocalist Chris Barnes, death metal's most commercially viable institution stumbled a bit with the mixed bag Vile, despite recruiting an arguably more competent vocalist in George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher. This brief rut would quickly be redressed with the release of 1998's Gallery Of Suicide, CC's 6th studio offering and a full on powerhouse of an opus that actually surpasses Barnes' final studio outing with the band. Taking a step away from the cartoon-like ridiculousness of the last album for something a bit more haunting and somber, this is an album that could be best likened to Fisher and company exploring the metaphysical horror depicted in the Forest of the Suicides in Dante's Inferno, albeit in their own twisted way that has more of a nightmare in a museum feel to it. No expense is spared in the brutality department in most of the 14 songs rounding out this offering, yet this is also an album that presents a more nuanced and multifaceted picture than any of their previous works, one that bridges the gap between their Slayer-inspired thrash roots and the more disjointed and dank world that death metal had moved towards in the mid-90s.

To an extent, the sort of frenetic and compact presentation that typified Vile still remains here, but in a far more effective and organized fashion that occasionally gives way to longer and more ambitious songwriting. Short and frenzied bursts of violent mayhem such as "I Will Kill You", "Disposal Of The Body", "Blood Drenched Execution" and "Dismembered And Molested" present the typical smattering of exaggerated Slayer-influenced riffing and blast-happy drumming, occasionally throwing in a brief chromatic shred fest courtesy of Jack Owen or Pat O'Brien, each embodying an exaggerated variant of the original King vs. Hanneman insanity that has generally permeated American death metal since day one. While these and much of the other shorter offerings on here work quite effectively at bashing the listener into submission, the real goods on here is when CC deviates from their established niche a tad and transport the audience into a more subtle state of horror. The extended instrumental "From Skin To Liquid" is arguably the most musically ambitious offering to ever come out of this band, wheeling through a series of dissonant riffs at a creeping pace. The absolute coup de grace, however, is the title song, which coasts at a haunting atmospheric stride like a nightmarish variant on a jazz ballad.

Opinions will likely continue to vary as to which Cannibal Corpse album or era towers above the rest until the end of days, but as far as this reviewer is concerned, the most consistent and effective sound this band has established has been the one that first reared its decaying head in the late 1990s with Fisher at the helm. In many ways, this album is a bit less fancy than much of their previous work, as the blazing solo work has been trimmed down to a minimum and even omitted from a couple of songs. This has naturally coincided with a more well-rounded picture that includes some more adventurous riff work, occasional forays into new territory, and a more unique presentation by the rhythm section. The bass work of Alex Webster has generally been quite understated on CC's early offerings, not to mention downplayed in the mix, but here it is given a healthy degree of sunlight to go along with a more eclectic stylistic display in the drumming department. It might come off as a tad underwhelming to those who prefer the overt old school thrashing character of Eaten Back To Life, and the same story basically goes for the brutality junkies who ate up Butchered At Birth and Tomb Of The Mutilated, but anyone looking for a fresh take on the style will find an absolute winner here, not to mention one that holds up extremely well more than 20 years later.

In aghast honesty, I've never been a huge fan of this band, but will say that I respect some of their work, especially this one. I like some brutal death metal which is what they represent -- well established in the metal community for the past several years in existence. 'Gallery of Suicide' captures their brutal death sound with chunk laden guitar activity whizzing all in various arrays of significance. From beginning to finish these guys hit home here with a solid, well put together album. They take their guitars and tune them down to B-flat, making that heavy, distorted sound with musical compositions that embrace you alongside "Corpsegrinder's"lyrical tyranny including a vocal onslaught.

What distinguishes this album from their previous others is the fact that it touches on major musical progression featuring compilations of sounds that include heavy palm-muted riffs with tremolo (fast) picking, tapping sequences on the fretboard, innovation of ideology in composing musical supposition and genuinely original extremity of idealization. Their earlier work featured more thrash oriented licks alongside deeper vocals as there was a different vocalist (Chris Barnes) and they seemed to have experimented a lot -- their first 3 albums were brutal death metal like this, but the musical style meaning their combining thrash metal guitar with death voice changed on 'The Bleeding' and on here is different also. Not only did they change vocalists for the better, they thickened their whole entire sound.

The band I would say progressed, sort of regressed then progressed again especially on here. I didn't bother reading any of the current reviews of this album, just the ratings and my contention is that musically this album features something that is quite moving -- a progression, not only with the music, but variation on the vocals as well. You get their thick and heavy sound which most songs here contain fast paced phenomenon, but also catch the listener off-guard with a slow instrumental. There is a combination of intensity, brilliance in the riff-writing, aggressive vocals spewing out gore lyrics, and drum-work that's tight which fits with the music as well as the final outro on the album.

Essence is key when writing successful albums -- here, Cannibal Corpse gives you that. The production quality was magnificent and the music was entirely original. Taking influences on extreme music then conducting songs that seem to entice a number of listeners, making the fans look at brutal death metal in a whole different category...a category that is in a league of its' own. You can hear everything going on here including the guitars, the drums, the vocals and the sound in the recording came out triumphant. This is one underrated album. I don't see why the scores here are in the lower range because it deserves so much more. I'm not saying flattery, I'm saying recognition.

This one is NOT boring, but interesting. Lyrically it has no value to me, but musically it covers a heathen of dynamics and inspirational riffs especially for guitarists. This is one to own that will not, cannot be dull and if it is to that particular listener, then this band is not for you. The music on here captures all different avenues of musical triumph -- originality, intelligibility, technicality and variety. I think this band with this album can inspire because the music is what is so owning to the listener. What exists in the brutal death metal community is 'Gallery of Suicide', a triumph in musical exploratory genius. These guys slay and this album should be owned by all fans because it's in a league of its' own!

Cannibal Corpse music has always gone in the same direction: straightforward death metal. Their earlier albums featured a conventional use of song structures and riffs weren’t especially technical but their punch and aggressiveness made everyone’s day. Album after album they managed to become more and more adventurous musically. This album, the second release after Chris Barnes being kicked out and the addition of Corpsegrinder, even if it’s not their best is not bad at all either, and it’s criminally underrated. There is not one good reason to hate this if you are into death metal, that's for sure.

The use of more drastic tempo changes as in the instrumental “From Skin to Liquid”, some relaxed chord/arpeggio section (as in the beginning of the title track, “Gallery Of Suicide”) are some of the few but still memorable new elements incorporated by the band to this album. Some really awkward high pitched riffing, like the break down before the end of “Blood Drenched Execution”, very uncommon in death metal –always close to the low end, with saturated distortions and bass oriented equalizations- set a different tense and dissonant mood that breaks with the overall brutal and dark atmosphere Cannibal Corpse use to display, adding more textures to the music. Gallery of Suicide is not a revolution in the band’s sound, but the riffing without being highly innovative is fresh, even more than in their preceding effort I would dare to say. It’s undeniable that they stepped up to a whole new level of complexity too, riffing is more syncopated and attractive than it was before. All of this happens without compromising the evil and accelerated climate that governs their music. The use of 7 string guitars is another variation to their classic era sound, lower tones in guitars may not be a synonym of heaviness but it darkens enormously songs. They used them on Vile too, but I think they finally figured out how to use them better on this album. Fast paced tremolo riffs can get blurred by the extremely low tuning making them illegible, this little issue was corrected on this album.

Production is way more polished that it was on Vile, guitar distortion is not so raw but is still sharp and mindblowing. Bass guitar sounds louder, not as loud and crunchy as on the classic albums but it still adds some extra heaviness to the guitar riffs, which slay as always. Drums can be fully heard and appreciated, the hi-hat has too much treble for my taste but that’s my only complaint, the recording sounds amazing anyway. The last thing I want to point out is Paul Mazurkiewicz evolution behind the drum kit. On “Eaten Back to Life” for example, you can hear him delivering a demolishing performance but it isn’t exact. There are some fast drum beats were the bass drum and the snare are totally coordinated and even but if you listen closely you will notice cymbals go along with them in another tempo and at the end of the riff he tries to hide the mistakes, getting to next riff in the correct time. As time have passed he have corrected this, and even if he isn’t the most talented and creative drummer in death metal at least he is a machine now, nailing every note where it goes.

I'm in the minority when it comes to Cannibal Corpse. I find many of their earlier albums passable, occasionally even enjoyable, but I don't think they really hit their stride until they added George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher to the lineup. Not only do I prefer his vocals to Chris Barnes, but the band seemed to have stepped it up musically, to create not only more complex songs, but more memorable, evil riffs. Vile was a step in the right direction, but aside from The Bleeding, consider this the first truly 'great' Corpse album, and it still remains one of their best.

There are 14 tracks here, each is an exercise in both brutality and a passion for roots death metal riffing with a focus on evil. "I Will Kill You" starts us off with a rather profound truth, because that is just what this record is going to do. "Disposal of the Body" features a classic Corpse 'trill' riff but is also fast. "Sentenced to Burn" is a brutal thrasher. The title track is perhaps the most memorable here with its eerie intro riff, alternating in a kickass old school death metal verse worthy of old Death. This is but a taste, of course, all the songs are worthy.

Alex Webster's busy bass is a real anchor for the riff orgy being unleashed, and the album is the perfect setup for its successor, Bloodthirst, which in my opinion their masterpiece. But this is the first Cannibal album I would find myself listening through completely, and then pressing repeat. Though they were already massively popular by this point, this is where I first felt the musical output lived up to the hype.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Well....seems Gallery of Suicide gets alot of hate, and for different reasons I might add. Some say the production is shit, others point out that the songs themselves are boring and what have you, and many have called this the low point in the discograpy of Cannibal Corpse. While Gallery is far from the band's best (that honor goes to Bloodthirst), this is still a solid offering from Alex and company.

Alrighty then, the production. Okay, it's muddy sounding compared to say, Gore Obsessed or even some Barnes-era offerings. This was CC's first album without longtime producer Scott Burns and he had a signature sound of sorts, so yeah, it's gonna sound different. But the production fits, the riffs can be made out, the bass is clearly audible and the drums don't sound like trash cans a la St. Anger so I can live with that.

On to the songs. I'm not gonna do a track-by-track here so I'll just point out some of the highlights. "I Will Kill You" starts the disc off with some fade-in feedback before erupting into the typical fast-paced Cannibal Corpse opening track. Next song "Disposal of the Body" shows off Fisher's rapid fire vocal delivery before ending with a solo. I'm mentioning "Dismembered and Molested" only because the title and lyrics made me laugh my balls off the first time I heard it. Musically, it's a short (under 2 minutes as are "Disposal" and a yet to be discussed track) and fast cut (pun unintended) about cutting someone open and basically blowing your wad on their insides. Just makes your mouth water, huh? Time for pie.

"From Skin to Liquid". The highlight of Gallery, the second instrumental from Cannibal Corpse, and one of the best death metal instrumentals ever written. Yeah, there's only a few riffs, yeah, it's slower than jizz dribbling down a mirror, and yeah, it gets repetitive, but that's why it works. Cannibal Corpse had never written anything like this before and it sticks the fuck out amongst everything else on Gallery of Suicide. "Centuries of Torment" is probably the doomiest song on the album besides the instrumental but tends to get a little boring. The closing cut "Crushing the Despised" is the yet to be discussed track mentioned above. I like the riffs, the drumming is rapid and there's even a bass solo in there. So what's wrong with it? The songs is too short and feels incomplete. Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, and then it fades out. What the fuck? Ends the albums on a decent but unfulfilling note.

There's really no lowlights but some of the songs tends to just go through one ear, out the other. I've owned Gallery for ten years now and I still don't remember every riff from, say, "Every Bone Broken". Other than that and the fact that some of the songs feel unfinished, Gallery of Suicide is a worthy purchase for anyone into Cannibal Corpse, at least the Fisher-era stuff.

From some reason the people on Metal-Archives have a habit of blasting great albums. Perhaps it’s because the album in question doesn’t fit the mold of the bands prior releases, or perhaps they want said band/album to sound identical to everything else they’ve ever done. Whatever the reason, this is CC’s finest moment, and the beginning of their development as one of the better Death Metal bands around.

The first thing you experience is the far from standard album cover. This is a departure for CC as it doesn’t have their trademark zombie/monster, but rather it has a long hallway with “normal” people seeing where “real” people have either committed suicide or are in the process of. This is perhaps the bands most shocking to date.

The music on the other hand is even more shocking. While not their fastest work, over all the guitars are incredibly heavy and unexpectedly grind happy. The riffs from any song are presented with a bludgeoning and hate filled intensity. The few leads/solos that are there only add to the bitter rage that is the sound of this cd.

The bass and drums do they’re usual good job of following the guitars. There is nothing to noteworthy from either. The vocals on the other hand are a testament to the bands best career move, the firing of Chris Barnes. Corpsegrinder does an amazing job and shows why he out classes Barnes.

This is somewhat of an experimental album as we see CC’s first instrumental (hear ‘From Skin to Liquid) as well as a few slow songs. Take the title track for example, it’s the slowest thing the band has ever done. This is a tasteful track that starts slow and at the half way point hits the break neck speeds we’re familiar with.

This is a very mature album for a Gore/Death Metal band for a few reasons. First off, it’s brutal as hell, but yet refined; but while refined however, it’s still far from polished. The band (FINALLY) experiment with slower tempos and lay the ground work for their next 5+ releases. They also start to work with more technical riffs.

One cannot say enough about how good this recording is. The fact that so many reviews here are so unwarrantedly dismissive is criminal. This is the best thing the band has ever done.

With a genre so focused on aggression and brutality as death metal, you’d think that it’d be somewhat difficult for a band to create an album that fails to engage the listener in a fit of headbanging mania. Cannibal Corpse, prior to 1998, had twice achieved this seeming impossibility with their Butchered at Birth and Tomb of the Mutilated albums. But with the addition of George Fisher to the band’s lineup and a generally badass album with Vile, it seemed like the band were on an upswing, never to release a boring album again. Alas, it was not meant to be. Gallery of Suicide, the follow-up to Vile, is unimpressive indeed, with only a few choice cuts keeping it from a total comatose-inducing lack of good ideas.

Now although I’m certainly not going to sing this album’s praises, I certainly don’t consider it a ‘stain’ in the band’s discography. After all, only like half of their output to date is worth listening to, keeping even a mediocre effort like this in fairly good standing when compared to some of their earlier/later work. But it’s a general consensus that this album is the first dip in Cannibal Corpse’s quality. Some attribute this to the loss of Rob Barrett, replaced by ex-Nevermore guitarist Pat O’Brien. This would be a mistake, as the songs are still written in the same vein as those on The Bleeding and Vile and O’Brien actually proves himself to be a much better lead player than Barrett. Others attribute the problem to be the production. Well the production is fine: the bass is perfectly mixed and there is a very unique atmosphere to the album (the title track is a good example, as is “From Skin to Liquid”). Still others blame the presence of George Fisher. But Fisher isn’t the problem, as he sounds just like he did on Vile, which is still tremendously better than if Chris Barnes was singing here. No, the problem lies in a general inconsistency between the album’s various songs.

On one hand, you have some of the most unique material the band has released up to this point in time. “From Skin to Liquid,” the instrumental, is long and fucking slow. But the doomy atmosphere produced chills to the bone, establishing it as one of the album’s standout tracks. The title track creates a similar effect, alternating between the tension of the main riff and the groove of the heavier verse/chorus sections. But on the other hand, you have a bevy of generic CC-style death metal filler tracks that neither excite nor disgust. Same goes for the lyrical content, which is pretty lightweight compared to their earlier material. Some of the faster ones are still somewhat innovative (“Disposal of the Body,” “Dismembered and Molested”), but the rest of the album is very disorganized, very unremarkable, standard issue Cannibal Corpse. Album opener “I Will Kill You” is a fine example of this. Somehow praised by CC fans as a band classic, it pummels forth at the same unrelenting tempo for more than the first half of the song, using and reusing the same couple riffs. I’d say at least 2/3 of these tracks are comparatively uninteresting in this vein.

Big fans of Fisher-era Corpse might dig this anyway, but it’s mostly fucking boring coming from the supposed gods of brutal death that just a few year prior gave us Vile. They’d get their mojo back by Bloodthirst, but in ’98, this album offered little hope that they’d do anything but continue to decline into the abyss of death metal mediocrity they seemed to be descending towards.


Originally written for: http://www.metal-observer.com

Cannibal Corpse is a band that has to withstand a lot of criticism when it comes to this album. People say its underproduced, uninspired and a “stain” in CCs discography. I don’t get it. What’s wrong with these people? Some of them blame the loss of Rob Barret for a lack of “memorable riffs” and “song structures”, but while Rob is definitely a great guitar player, Jack Owen was the most consistently delivering force in Cannibal Corpse; To cut a long story short, I see no lack of memorable riffs or lame song structures; riff and songwriting mastery - that’s one part of the formula that hasn’t changed since the modulation in sound with the arrival of George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher.

“Gallery of Suicide” is definitely a strong effort, featuring gut-wrenching vocal work by Fisher, whose tremendous vocal skills have steadily improved over the years, an increased technical proficiency in all aspects – drums, guitars and bass - and a slightly melodic touch in Owen’s leadwork.

While its true that “Gallery of Suicide” suffers from a rather wacky production job, it’s nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be. The guitars do suffer from a slightly “wet” sound, but as an avid black metal fan, this is not much of a concern to me, since this aspect does actually enhance the evil atmosphere and sound of Owen’s lead guitar. This is the only gripe that I see as being understandable. The drums sound as well produced and tight as ever, the bass is clearly audible, as is Fisher’s guttural vocal work. “Gallery of Suicide” might not pack as much punch as outstanding works like “Bloodthirst” and “Kill” but it makes up for it for the yet unmatched atmosphere and feel it possesses.

The highlights are songs like the excellently grooving “Sentenced to Burn”, the sinister and evil title track and the brutal and pounding “I Will Kill You”. Also worthy of praise is the first CC instrumental at the time “From Skin to Liquid” which further enhances the evil leanings of the title track.

“Gallery of Suicide” might not be as good as the outstanding albums before (“Vile) and after it (“Bloodthirst”), but it’s definitely a unique piece of CCs discography.

If you still doubt the quality of this album, you should at least give it a shot; chances are you might enjoy this as much as I do.

It's only a matter of time before a great band puts out a poor record. Cannibal Corpse was able to dodge such bad luck by releasing five albums that received large amounts of positive feedback, but their streak had to end sometime. After the release of "Vile" in 1996, Cannibal Corpse went back into writing mode and recorded the most dreadful album of their career. After all those classic albums, Cannibal Corpse finally released "Gallery Of Suicide," an album that stinks as much as a rotting corpse.

If one object in our crazy world could relate to the music on "Gallery Of Suicide," it would be a knot. That's right folks, a knot. A knot is a piece of string that is just randomly put together; a knot doesn't having a starting point, nor does it have an end point, it's just a big mess, and that's exactly what "Gallery Of Suicide" sounds like. Most of the songs are composed of crazy death metal riffs, blastbeats, messed up vocal patterns, and the occasional solo. This unorthodox song writing style builds up to be a huge pile of shit. If one track demonstrates this the best, it's gotta be "Blood Drenched Execution." At about a minute and forty five seconds into the song, these horrendous random riffs and blastbeats come in and completely throw off the mood of the track. It seriously sounds like they decided to play a bunch of random notes and call it good.

A lot of the songs that are properly formatted are plagued with severe musical overkill. Once on riff starts, it doesn't change until the song finally ends. "Chambers Of Blood" is probably the most disappointing song on the album because of this. The riff sounds very different and original, but it gets really boring after being played countless times. "Disposal Of The Body," "Dismembered And Molested," and "Crushing The Despised" are boring tunes that were clearly made to add space to the album. Like "Chambers Of Blood," they all repeat until the end.

Despite some poor vocal patterns, George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher is able to have a decent vocal show. Corpsegrinder adds a lot to this poor album because of his spectacular vocals. Just like any Corpsegrinder album, his growls reach deep into the ground and add tons of energy to the music. His voice gets annoying on "Blood Drenched Execution" when he operates some high pitched vocals, but most of his growls are praiseworthy. Like I said before, some of his vocals are badly misplaced, but he does a nice job overall.

Aside from the many negative aspects of this album, there are a few moments of clarity that help soften the blow. "I Will Kill You" is a classic Cannibal Corpse track that has great riffs and striking vocals. "Sentenced To Burn" has some solid riffing and a great dueling solo. "From Skin To Liquid" is an interesting instrumental with a doomy, yet kind of technical riff; this riff repeats for a majority of the song, so it tends to get boring after a few listens, but it's still a fun track. These three tracks are the only passable moments on "Gallery Of Suicide."

Out of complete honesty, this album is simply revolting. Out of the entire Cannibal Corpse catalog, this one strikes me as their worst. Unless you love Cannibal Corpse, you shouldn't even think about buying this.

This review was orginally written for: http://www.Thrashpit.com

What’s up with this, really? First of all, Cannibal Corpse have never been known for their mixing or production of their albums, but this has gone way over the line. As opener “I Will Kill You” enters, one begins to question if this really is the same band that put out quite violent sounding records, and made it sound really brutal. It’s as if they’ve gone for the subwoofer generation instead of thinking about the overall sound. Everything sounds blurry, and you can hardly make out what is going on. The mixing is ok, but it doesn’t save it from being badly produced.

Next, the song material is weak compared to their former outlettings. A few songs stand out, like “Sentenced to Burn” & “Headless”. The former mentioned is very simple, with its main riff driving it forward. It’s actually one of those songs which sound quite violent at times, and they made a killer video for it as well. “Headless” is worth mentioning for its weird structure, and different tempo style. Speaking of which, the drums sound identical on every track. This is, in my opinion, an issue that Cannibal Corpse have always had, but here it tends to be even more repetitive as almost every goddamn song is boring.

Maybe they thought they didn’t succeed so well with “Vile” that they just had to put something different out on the market after that one. In that case they made a huge mistake. Nevertheless, “Gallery of Suicide” reeks of noise instead of music, monotone tones instead of atmosphere and most importantly, ugliness instead of beauty. After this one, they got it right. It’s a shame that they ever released this when they could’ve released an E.P. based on Sentenced to burn instead.

Cannibal Corpse had a lot to prove after Vile. This CD was to prove that the record sales, billboard chart position, and media-attention were not just products of the fued/creative force of Chris Barnes but instead a reaction to a deeply improved product from the CC party. Sadly, this was not the case under any circumstances...

This CD is an relentless display of all-talent-no-creativity. The opening few songs show some great promise, but the overall nature of the CD is mindless and grinding. Who needs sixty minutes of terriblly composed blast-beats that contain no build, no ebb/flow and little attention to melody? "Gallery of Suicide" and a few others show a great attention to melody that the previous releases lacked and the vocals are qaulity (if not terribly typical) death metal grunts, but all in all this CD lacks anything unique, catchy or vibrant to add to the morass of death metal that is constantly being vomited to the marketplace.

The band on this release, seems to have cooked up some stellar artwork, yet also seems to have fallen asleep musically. Quick single note scale changes, blasting drums and increasinly tepid death metal lyrics hardly inspire the soul to go out and kill. This CD...actually...encourages me to go and take a nap, as most of the riffcraft has reduced is just that damned boring.

Cannibal Corpse were in creative freefall at this point, living on strong musicianship and a 'legacy of brutality' that would carry them through dull release after dull release until they vomited forth the power "The Wretched Spawn" album.

If you're a hardcore fan you probably have no other choice but to purchase this...if you aren't...well...don't even bother.