Cephalic Carnage
Misled By Certainty

October 2010
Released: 2010, Relapse Records
Rating: 2.5/5
Reviewer: Demonator

They've certainly picked an ironic handle for their fifth full length studio foray, have Cephalic Carnage. Because make no mistake about it, up to and including 2007's XENOSAPIEN, the self-dubbed kings of “Rocky Mountain hydro”-grind had the whole goddamn genre pegged, tag-teaming uber-brutality with remorseless experimentation that head-butted the listener into another plane of existence every time they hit the play button.



And here we are, ready for more of the same lunatic thrills - only this time Cephalic Carnage have opted to deliver in half-measures. That MISLED BY CERTAINTY is heavy as all get-out is beyond and doubt whatsoever; "The Incorrigible Flame" introduces the record with an avalanche of spastic time-signatures and belligerent snarling that belie a wall of detuned sludge. "Pure Horses" conversely is white-knuckle ride, almost too fast for its own good and over in than a minute. And yet both tracks, though executed with Samurai-like precision lack a common element - menace. What oozed in abundance on records like ANOMALIES, is a rare commodity here. When it does rear its head it transforms songs like "When I Arrive" into an instant classic. When it's absent - as is mostly the case - the quintet appear cut adrift, relying only on their sonically adventurous leanings and hollow brute force to carry them through.



Of course, some quarters have referred to it as a sonic journey and you can bet your bottom dollar that the band would at least have you make repeat inspections before passing judgment. I have done so and was dismayed at what I heard - a group renowned and cherished for their consistency delivering a decidedly choppy affair by their usually impeccable standards.