Violence Unimagined is the fifteenth studio album by American death metal band Cannibal Corpse, released on April 16, 2021.[5]

Violence Unimagined
a silver-haired woman with a horrifying, toothy maw
Studio album by
ReleasedApril 16, 2021 (2021-04-16)
Recorded2020
StudioMana Recording Studios, St. Petersburg, Florida[1]
GenreDeath metal
Length42:48
LabelMetal Blade
ProducerErik Rutan
Cannibal Corpse chronology
Red Before Black
(2017)
Violence Unimagined
(2021)
Chaos Horrific
(2023)
Singles from Violence Unimagined
  1. "Inhumane Harvest"
    Released: February 1, 2021[2]
  2. "Murderous Rampage"
    Released: March 23, 2021[3]
  3. "Necrogenic Resurrection"
    Released: April 19, 2021[4]
Alternate cover
Explicit cover art by Vince Locke shows a naked female cannibal tearing apart a baby after disemboweling two other victims.
Alternate "Explicit" cover of Violence Unimagined

It is the band's first album in nearly four years since Red Before Black (2017), the longest gap between two records in Cannibal Corpse's career, and the first studio album to feature producer Erik Rutan on lead guitar, replacing Pat O'Brien in February 2021 after nearly two years of filling in for him on tour.[5][6]

Background

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Cannibal Corpse began writing for new material in 2019, and in 2020 the group began demos for Violence Unimagined. In a new interview with Wall of Sound, drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz spoke about Erik Rutan joining the band revealing: "He's a great guy, great worker, great guitar player. He wrote some great songs and it's been a challenge to play his stuff and fun to learn somebody else's take on what Cannibal Corpse would sound like in their eyes. It's been positive all round having him for sure."[7]

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Consequence of SoundB+[8]
Kerrang!     [9]
Louder Sound     [10]
Sputnikmusic3.8/5[11]
Pitchfork7.3/10[12]

Violence Unimagined received positive reviews. Sean McLennan of New Noise Magazine wrote, "Continuously reinventing each album around creative new ways to kill or be killed, Cannibal Corpse continue their mission to spread global devastation through the dominant beast that is Violence Unimagined. Marking the band's fifteenth release through Metal Blade Records, the upcoming terror embodies every horrendous characteristic we've come to love about this band and then some. Instrumentally unstoppable and visually indescribable, Violence Unimagined sees Cannibal Corpse entering the post-pandemic world as the colossal conquerors of death metal."[13] Wall of Sound's Duane James praised the release (and inclusion of new guitarist Erik Rutan) giving it a 9/10 and revealing, "these icons of death metal have once again risen above and delivered a rock solid classic"[14]

Loudwire called it one of the best metal albums of 2021.[15]

Accolades

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Publication Accolade Rank
Consequence Top 30 Metal & Hard Rock Albums
Decibel Top 40 Albums of 2021
Loudwire The 45 Best Rock + Metal Albums of 2021

Track listing

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No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Murderous Rampage"MazurkiewiczBarrett4:07
2."Necrogenic Resurrection"WebsterWebster3:06
3."Inhumane Harvest"BarrettBarrett4:32
4."Condemnation Contagion"RutanRutan4:17
5."Surround, Kill, Devour"WebsterWebster4:10
6."Ritual Annihilation"RutanRutan3:48
7."Follow the Blood"BarrettBarrett4:39
8."Bound and Burned"BarrettBarrett4:04
9."Slowly Sawn"WebsterWebster3:30
10."Overtorture"RutanRutan2:28
11."Cerements of the Flayed"MazurkiewiczWebster4:07
Total length:42:48

Personnel

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Cannibal Corpse

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Additional personnel

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Charts

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Chart performance for Violence Unimagined
Chart (2021) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[18] 28
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[19] 5
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[20] 51
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[21] 101
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[22] 53
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[23] 52
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[24] 12
French Albums (SNEP)[25] 132
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[26] 6
Italian Albums (FIMI)[27] 60
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[28] 105
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[29] 27
Scottish Albums (OCC)[30] 9
Swedish Hard Rock Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[31] 1
Swedish Physical Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[32] 5
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[33] 7
UK Albums (OCC)[34] 81
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[35] 2
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[36] 4
US Billboard 200[37] 45
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[38] 5
Billboard Top Albums (Billboard)[39] 6
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[40] 3
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[41] 6

References

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  1. ^ "CANNIBAL CORPSE's PAUL MAZURKIEWICZ Says 'Violence Unimagined' Features His 'Most Intense Drumming Performance Physically'". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. February 21, 2021.
  2. ^ "Cannibal Corpse To Release New Album "Violence Unimagined" In April". ThePRP. February 1, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  3. ^ "Murderous Rampage" – via YouTube.
  4. ^ "#NecrogenicResurrection • 4.19.2021 🔔: youtu.be/lxrmQZUFf3Q" – via Facebook.
  5. ^ a b c "CANNIBAL CORPSE Announces 'Violence Unimagined' Album, Officially Recruits Guitarist ERIK RUTAN". Blabbermouth.net. February 2, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  6. ^ "CANNIBAL CORPSE Recruits Guitarist ERIK RUTAN For Upcoming Tours". Blabbermouth.net. January 18, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  7. ^ walladmin (April 13, 2021). "Paul Mazurkiewicz – Cannibal Corpse 'Crushing Cancel Culture & Censorship'". Wall Of Sound. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  8. ^ Schafer, Joseph (April 15, 2021). "Cannibal Corpse Expand Their Brutal Palate with Violence Unimagined: Review". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  9. ^ Ruskell, Nick (April 15, 2021). "Album review: Cannibal Corpse – Violence Unimagined". Kerrang!. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  10. ^ Chillingworth, Alec (April 12, 2021). "Cannibal Corpse's Violence Unimagined: death metal legends gouge out a new classic". Louder Sound. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  11. ^ Alves, Fernando (April 13, 2021). "Cannibal Corpse – Violence Unimagined". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  12. ^ Sodomsky, Sam (April 16, 2021). "Cannibal Corpse: Violence Unimagined Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  13. ^ "Album Review: Cannibal Corpse – Violence Unimagined". New Noise Magazine. April 9, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  14. ^ walladmin (April 16, 2021). "Cannibal Corpse – Violence Unimagined (Album Review)". Wall Of Sound. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  15. ^ a b "The 45 Best Rock + Metal Albums of 2021". Loudwire. December 10, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  16. ^ "Top 30 Metal & Hard Rock Albums". Consequence. December 15, 2021. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  17. ^ "Spoiler: Here Are Decibel's Top 40 Albums of 2021". Decibel. November 18, 2021. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  18. ^ "ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. April 26, 2021. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  19. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Cannibal Corpse – Violence Unimagined" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  20. ^ "Ultratop.be – Cannibal Corpse – Violence Unimagined" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  21. ^ "Ultratop.be – Cannibal Corpse – Violence Unimagined" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  22. ^ "Cannibal Corpse Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  23. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Cannibal Corpse – Violence Unimagined" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  24. ^ "Albumit 16/2021" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  25. ^ "Top Albums (Week 16, 2021)". SNEP. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  26. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Cannibal Corpse – Violence Unimagined" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  27. ^ "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 16 (dal 16.4.2021 al 22.4.2021)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  28. ^ "カンニバル・コープスのアルバム売上ランキング". Oricon. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  29. ^ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  30. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  31. ^ "Veckolista Hårdrock, vecka 16" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  32. ^ "Veckolista Album Fysiskt, vecka 16" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  33. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Cannibal Corpse – Violence Unimagined". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  34. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  35. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  36. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  37. ^ "Cannibal Corpse Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  38. ^ "Cannibal Corpse Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  39. ^ "Metal band Cannibal Corpse notches its best sales week yet & first top 10 on Top Album Sales No. 6". Billboard. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  40. ^ "Cannibal Corpse Chart History (Top Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  41. ^ "Cannibal Corpse Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 27, 2021.