I don't deem this Cradle of Filth's worst album, actually at points it's quite luminous and shining in metal glory, but 1 thing they could've omitted from this hour and 15 minute+ output could be the lead guitars.  At some points these guitars were quite melodic and evanescent, though never boring.  Tempos here varied and for the most part they were quite mild.  This album is in no way really heavy and very dark.  Dani was not at his highest shrieking point, I actually think he's pretty mild in his screaming.  Most of it isn't stale, yet it was not overtly pounding.  Cradle toned down a bit on this one.  They I think were going for melodic vibes and not darkness.

What's different about this album not described yet would be it's probably most mellow Cradle release in existence.  Yes, they were on Roadrunner here, which doesn't to me make a difference when it comes to songwriting.  This was highly experimental and effective.  I think that they probably made use totally of guest vocalists enough, with a female voice expounding Lovecraftian lyrics.  There are very many changes here and overall this was a combination of great musicianship and songwriting.  It's enjoyable from the opening song "Nemesis" till the end fade out to eternity.  I grew to like this one, didn't think much of it as many people didn't hold value of this release.

I think that their music is the strong point, not the intensity, even though at times they do show some brutality.  Sounds like they're in D tuning, the guitars that is, maybe even a little bit lower.  In any event, you'll hear bar chord mania along with some tremolo picking riffs, but almost no blast beating whatsoever.  This one is ambient, though the production quality was a little flat.  That's why I took off from some of the overall effectiveness of the album.  But yeah, it's one to get to grow on you, don't expect anything overly brutal or explosive.  Dani's vocals are moderate as mentioned, he's really toned down on here.  Whispers, semi-shrieks, a little deep and that's the gist of it.

This release is really long, but it has a lot of variety.  Yes, there are synthesizers as pretty much all Cradle of Filth albums have, but at least on this one they don't drown out the music.  There's a massive lineup here plus like I said guest vocalists and pianists.  Just for short periods though, most of the album features Dani plus the guitars that can be quite melodic in whole, captivating, yet pretty simplistic.  They stuck to the basics and as a friend pointed out, became very creative.  I don't think this as "garbage" or a total wasted album, I think that it just takes some listens to before your make that final overall judgment of the release.  It's definitely worth ordering!

Rate: 75%.
Reviewed By Death8699 ([email protected]).

Awesome death/grind, even though I was never a big fan of the vocals, they still had an all-star lineup and musical output.  A lot of faster tempos which are characteristic of these kinds of bands.  Musically I think Jesse did a lot of great riff-writing here, even though there were 16 tracks and it was an under 40 minute release.  This is the ONLY Terrorizer I will listen to, especially since Jesse is gone.  Amazing that they had Morbid Angel guests on here i.e. David Vincent on bass and Pete Sandoval on drums.  These guys were the ultimate 4-piece act that knew how to rip it up musically to the core!  'World Downfall' is a classic.

I think a lot is to be said here.  First of all, they're not all about blast beating.  Jesse wrote a lot of creative riffs that fluctuate between slower tempos to faster to the fastest.  So in that respect, they're all over the place.  That doesn't mean that he didn't know what he was doing on this effort, it just means that there's variety.  It's got a pretty decent production sound here with Earache, where most top notch bands in this era originated.  So yeah, I enjoyed the music the most, it was variety and worth listening to.  I think that Jesse had a good idea of what he wanted to do with this mix and Oscar on vocals just uttering few words per song.

The death/grind is reminiscent of Napalm Death's 'From Enslavement To Obliteration' and 'Scum', not surprising that they recruited him as guitarist on their future releases, ND I'm referring to.  He was more than capable as a guitarist to really put out some really awesome riffs.  His tremolo picking style is top notch and he definitely hacked it even in the early days with this band.  His concepts for writing for Terrorizer featured mainly the chord fluctuations and fast picking of the chords as well as the strumming of the distorted guitar.  Sounds like they tuned to D, which is true of ND too, especially during the 'Harmony Corruption' days with them.

Songs were very short as you would expect, but some newer death/grind bands definitely have longer songs, but for Terrorizer, no song on here lasts a little over 3 minutes in length.  So yeah, the intensity is there, just the lyrical topics I was never a big fan of, but who cares, the music is awesome!  Jesse just ripped and a lot of what he did is set the tone for the tempos, David Vincent helping out filling in on bass.  No not a permanent member and Terrorizer trying to reform was a joke.  I think that 'World Downfall' has everything that a death/grind band should incorporate in their outputs--originality, short songs and right to the point.

Definitely worth checking out and an album where you can hear the grind riffs totally, the drums by Pete don't drown out the music.  If the vocals were better, I would've given this probably a perfect score.  There just needed to be more effort on Oscar's part, it was in one word: BORING.  Good thing that most of the songs just featured the music anyway.  So yeah, Terrorizer wasn't around for too long, then of course the ultimate death of Jesse will never have them remain as a band.  He basically made this band.  I definitely think that he was the reason why ND hacked it on repeated efforts.  'World Downfall' is where death/grind was at it's original peak.

Rate: 90%.

Reviewed By: Death8699 ([email protected]).

Talk about brutal/technical/grind frenzy, this album is all over the place.  However, it does mesh together in unison.  The rhythm guitars are hard to follow because of their complexity, something that takes a few listens to before they kind of sink in to your brain.  A lot of tremolo picking going on here with chords and single strings, everything mixed well though, which is good because to have a bad mix to an album like this would do it a great injustice from all aspects.  I would tend to go with this as Cryptopsy's finest work.  You may disagree, but every album a band puts out is subject to speculation and criticism.  As long as it's constructive, it's good.

8 tracks of just sheer brutality.  Again, it's hard to follow the riffs because they're always changing.  The vocals are a combination of deep throat/somewhat screaming, but not to an extreme.  Mostly deep throat.  Lord Worm was replaced on this one, but still the vocals go well with the music.  They're not drowned out in any sort of aspect.  The leads on songs are technical and some even go into part of the vocals if you can imagine that!  But really, both guitarists show true talent and the originality on this album is what makes it so likeable.  Nothing that I've heard in the past or present that is like this, only for a couple of albums, maybe some Suffocation.

To not like this means that you have a despicable attitude towards extreme music.  There aren't a whole heck of a lot of blast beats, just a lot of tempo changes, mainly fast guitar, but when the double bass drums and blasting are going on, you can still hear the music.  Never been a fan of the lyrical concepts, but they do fit with the music quite well.  I'd say the horror, death, gore, etc. suits an album or band like this.  I don't think that anything they put out can equate to this.  There is just so much energy and originality going on here.  I think that this does justice for the entire genre of extreme metal.  I have not heard this album in years either!

If you're not able to obtain this one from any online source (which is doubtful), then YouTube has the collection of songs together for listening to.  This picks up from the scraps of which other albums do disdain.  Amazing that these guitars seem to fly all over the place, the leads again were well done, fast and furious.  Both guitarists contributing on that front.  So yeah, key into this one on YouTube to get a taste of severe divinity.  It's worth it.  Maybe extreme metal is not to your liking, but that doesn't make this effort something to damn.  Nothing is ruined by anything here.  Not the vocals, production or musical quality.  Check it out!

Rate: 95%.

Reviewed By Death8699 ([email protected]).

I think that this release is a good combination of death metal in a brutal form and not as intense as say 'Whisper Supremecy.'  They have somewhat of a newer lineup, but still the riffs are good.  Their focus is less on technicality, it's more on the brutal end.  Of course a better production quality and the vocals are brutal, low end-bellows, combine that with some screaming.  So there is some variety, but not as intense as say on their older albums especially if you follow them or have followed them for quite some time.  Their concepts are mainly gore, not too appealing, but it fits the music as does the vocals.  They're more brutal than what I heard from 'Whisper Supremacy.'

The main guitars here are chunky sounding, low tuning concentrated mostly on a more death metal output than anything else.  So yeah, I like this album and it's a great comeback, but still my belief is that their older material was more classic.  They didn't really progress, they kind of digressed.  The drums aren't as intense as older albums, the leads not as sharp, still good music.  A lot of tremolo picking and in some instances, as weird as it may sound, a tad bit of jazz style guitar before the intensity of the next riffs come into their own.  Definitely an album that's for people into extreme metal.  Older releases for me were easier to get into because they were so damn intense.

This album is as I say a great comeback album, is original in it's own way, recording quality really good and songs that are just brutal as all hell.  I think that they really focused on the gore aspect, as you would expect something that say Cannibal Corpse would put out.  Not Cryptopsy, but they did anyway, turned out to be a great recording, but still a "B" average, that would be because of the fact they rather explore different avenues of extreme music.  A great listen to if you're needing something that just blasts you away, just don't expect something that's in the vein of extreme technical metal that they once were.  They're still somewhat technical, but the bar chords and tremolo picking are varied.

I really like what they've done here, but nothing's as solid as 'Whisper Supremecy.'  The reason is because the riffs are as I desribed, less technical, the vocals deeper with intensity, however, they weren't as intense as on older releases.  They wanted something brutal which is what they got here, just don't expect overtly technicality, even though it's still a talented band.  If they disbanded and wish no more to contribute to extreme metal, this is a good one to leave in its' trail.  But for me, my favorite will always remain to be 'Whisper Supremacy.'  Nothing tops it's extreme terror as that album.  Still a solid comeback and brutal as all hell, justs not as technical.
 
Rate: 85%.

Reviewed By Death8699 ([email protected]).

Most of what's exhibited here is a bunch of death/grind songs, remembering how old Napalm Death was.  This album features somewhat like 38 songs and 45 minutes of pure in your face extreme metal.  The production quality was quite good, ever since the get go you have brutal vocals and crunch tone guitar riffs.  Very intense release.  This is one that you can play numerous times and hear something different each time.  Songs weren't too long in length.  A lot of screaming vocals combined with the death metal style ones.  It kept the music really extreme and the lyrical content I could somewhat get into.  But yeah, really fast/short songs.

I'd say that the mixing here is great because you hear everything.  Too bad this band is eternally split-up.  I heard some of their earlier material and it didn't grab me as much as this one did.  The reason mainly was the production quality.  So yeah, 'Inhale/Exhale' would be something that you'd always want in your mix if you're craving extreme metal totally.  This is more death metal oriented than it is grindcore.  But the focal points were just to put out as extreme as extreme can get.  They could've left out the lead guitar and just only had rhythm.  Not saying that the lead guitarist was bad at lead, but on grind albums, my preference are just main guitar.

It's hard to tell song from song because it's streaming really fast.  There are some letup in songs, but not a whole lot.  Most of the songs you'll hear low, deep and thick guitar sounds.  A lot of the blasts reflect the heavy tremolo picking kind of like Napalm Death's earlier days.  I think that some riffs sound like 'Harmony Corruption', but still are good and brutal.  There's no doubt this is total brutal death metal mixed with grind.  Somewhat technical, but not too much.  Nothing as extreme as like say acts to the likes of Suffocation, Cryptopsy, et al.  The majority of the songs are rhythms that are more faster than they are groove or slow.

Actually heard about this album and band from a friend and thought I'd give it a try.  First time around, I'm just like to myself: "I can totally immerse and get into this."  But that's because I'm into extreme metal.  No doubt that I'd have immediate respect for the band.  Amazing that they put together so many songs!  It's 45 minutes of the extreme stuff.  I don't think that the blasting is as fast as Mick Harris was.  But yeah at least it gives you a combination of both.  Also, this band sounds kind of like old Terrorizer.  Mainly off of 'World Downfall', a classic death/grind release.  I'd rate this higher if they left out the leads.  But still it's solid for sure!

Rate: 85%.

Reviewed By Death8699 ([email protected]).

Old Napalm Death is dead, long live old Napalm Death.  As much as I like this album, nothing equates to 'Harmony Corruption' or even 'From Enslavement To Obliteration.'  The early grind days were great, so was 'Scum' and 'The Peel Sessions.'  I mean if you want chronic crazy blast beating with grind/noise, then old Napalm Death is for you.  But here, they take on much more of a death metal oriented style, which isn't bad, just don't expect to hear any of what was featured on the early grind years.  There are some blast beating going on, but it's solid musically and they've definitely progressed, but lacked the extremity that was retained on older stuff.

I'd have to say that I was expecting to hear just utter crap on this album, but I was sadly mistaken.  ND really delivers with the riffs here and keeps you interested the whole way through, even though it is slower.  I still think that it ranks in a good rating despite what other critics of the band think.  I think that this is a really solid put-together and everything seemed to flow fluently on here.  No real objections, just the intensity.  The music is way slowed down and definitely a more solid production than earlier days.  It's good that Jesse was on this one too along with Barney, Mitch and the newer drummer Danny.

Definitely think that if Mick Harris was still with ND, I don't think that he'd let them slow down.  But Mick doesn't even play the drums anymore and only owns a pair of drumsticks.  If you caught 'Live Corruption', he said that their musical ability was getting better which it was, but why did he have to leave the band?  That really created a lot of turmoil between him and Mitch.  I doubt that they even talk anymore.  I remember them having a quarrel about a year and a half ago on Facebook.  It wasn't pretty.  Mick kept them extreme and I think Mitch wanted a more death metal oriented ND which is what's featured here.

Not saying at all that the band members slacked off on their musical performance here.  They captivate the listener with pure in your face death metal.  I really like this album because it's just different.  Somewhat groove oriented with the riffs, not a whole lot of backup screams by Mitch here, and good that Jesse was still alive to keep them doing what they do best--kill on the guitars.  There aren't a lot of tremolo picking on the riffs here, there's more chords and fast picking, kind of like some groove thrash.  Barney displays a little bit of clean measures here, but really brief.  The production quality was really really solid.

No complaints on this one, just don't expect that much fast blasting.  Expect a more death metal ND, not grindcore or even death/grind.  Just mostly death metal.  It's really noteworthy and the music really sticks.  Awesome what they were able to produce here.  There is SOME tremolo picking going on, but not blasting.  I think Mick was the fastest blaster ever.  Those were the glory days, now onto a newer type of ND, something that I thought would never happen, but it did.  They put on one helluv a live performance though, even with the newer material and Jesse no longer with the band and living period.  Expect diversity.

Rate: 80%.

Reviewed By Death8699 ([email protected]).