1993 The glory period of old school death metal is coming to an end but in the United Kingdom this band unleashed one hell of an death metal album. After their much praised and slightly overrated release "Death Shall Rise" which featured James Murphy on guitar and was produced at Morrisound studios. That album contained all the elements of a death metal album you would expect production wise and riff wise.
But this album Cancer went in a different direction. Injecting a large amount of thrash and going a lot more rawer production wise. Cancer unleashed one hell of an album , every song on this disc contains a lot of riffs that flow extremely well and are that perfect middle ground between thrash and death.
Kicking things off we have "Cloak of Darkness" which instantly gets your attention with a quick little riff that then leads into a very heavy death metal tremolo picking riff. This is a prime example of why this album is so good the riffs are very catchy and intricate. Also I believe the growl off John Walker gives the riffs an extra edge when they are used for verses. His lyrics are intelligent and you can tell what he is saying. But he does not compromise any power or heaviness in his voice.
As mentioned before in the review the riffs have a major thrash influence and are quiet unique in places. The riffs in "Meat Train" come to mind with some very clever hooks and varied drum work. Speaking of which the drum work of Cark Stokes is superb. He is not far out and doesn't add to many fills distracting you from the amazing riffs on offer. The beat is usually kept straight with standard death metal drumming adding in the odd little short fill. The drumming follows the riffs and the band are on top form, not one member is trying to take center stage. Which I approve of completely.
The production off the album is perfect for this type of death metal. It may not be as bass heavy for some peoples tastes. But it works for this album. The guitar tone is thin and allows you to hear the articulation of the riffs clearly, but still does not fail to smash the listeners face in.
I am not going to bother naming individual moments that are awesome on this album because the review would turn into an essay. Every single second of this disc full out smokes and there is not a moment wasted. Get this now.
/C
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