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There are absolutely no surprises regarding “Atrocious Retribution”, the debut full-length from Sweden’s Strangulation. Strangulation play straightforward Florida style death metal that mercilessly copies from Cannibal Corpse’s post- “The Bleeding” playbook. Consisting of nine tracks clocking in under a half hour, “Atrocious Retribution” (on Retribute Records, how’s that for irony), sounds exactly like any of Cannibal Corpse’s cookie cutter albums with George Fisher. Vocalist Jonathan O.G. even has Corpsegrinder’s vocal style, minus George’s periodic odd high-pitched wail, down pat.
So, is “Atrocious Retribution” any good? Well, the music’s well played and is reasonably technical. The production’s good with all instruments clearly heard (drums need a little more emphasis), including some great bass work reminiscent of Alex Webster (what a surprise). In fact, the bass work is a highlight and forms a creative backbone to the songs. There’s enough variation to the riffs, breakdowns, and overall speed to keep you interested.
The question is; do we need another Cannibal Corpse clone (especially when C.C. is past the creative prime)? Not really. Strangulation was smart to keep this debut short and to the point. Anything over 30 minutes would fall apart rapidly as I would imagine getting very bored. However, there is promise here and I’d like to see if Strangulation is capable of moving forward and developing their own identity on their next release. Until then, I suppose this will tide you over as you wait for C.C.’s next opus.
| Tracklist |
| 1. Atrocious Retribution |
| 2. Flesh Harrier |
| 3. Suffer And Die |
| 4. The Strangulation |
| 5. The Art Of Torture |
| 6. Human Wreck |
| 7. Exit The World |
| 8. Visions Of Death |
| 9. I Need To Kill... |
: 26.06
| Buy other Strangulation albums |
