[this post is part 1 of a 6-part series called "A Critical Investigation of Cattle Decapitation’s Six Full-Length Albums"]

Label: Three-One-G
Runtime: 12:26
Tracks: 18

The sound:

Shitty, shitty drums, sloppy and awful. General lo-fi atmosphere, but not the worst quality you’ll hear from a grind record. Buzzing guitars are executed proficiently enough. Vocals come in pairs, always one high rasp and one low gurgle, unafraid to condense whole sentences into a two-second incomprehensible guttural sound. And in sections without lyrics, they’ll often just make gross noises to pass the time. With an average song length of about 40 seconds, there’s not much songwriting necessary, and the songs stick for the most part to straightforward grind formulas, though they occasionally incorporate mid-tempo thrash or primitive grooves.

The rhetoric:

Three basic lyrical themes here: getting diseases from eating bad food, cattle being butchered, and humans being disgusting and stupid. There is one song about a baby born from smegma. The basic lyrical theme of the album is that humanity is depraved and worthless, and the band’s vegan-activist outrage manifests itself entirely through shock-value images of slaughter. The superiority of other forms of animal life over humanity is implied by this juxtaposition. The unifying thread between all lyrics is the evident desire to be gross.

Lyrics of note:

“AAAAAAHHHHHH! THE CARNAGE!
BLOODSOAKEDMAGGOTINFESTEDROTHEAP!”
from “Stench From The Dumpster”

“Sticking to the walls of your insides
A corrosive enzyme lives and breathes
Only to be excreted
With help of fiber and balanced diet”
from “Colon Blo”

Song titles of note:

“Parasitic Infestation (Extracted Pus Mistaken For Yogurt, And Then Gargled)”
“Flesh-Eating Disease (Flu-Like Symptoms Of E-Coli With Complete Digestive Shut-Down)”
“Constipation Camp”
“Veal And The Cult Of Torture”
“Bludgeoned, Beaten, And Barbecued”

Tags: vegan