Band:	Cattle Decapitation
Album:	Terrasite
Style:	Deathgrind, Death metal, Grindcore
Release date:	May 12, 2023
A review by:	omne metallum

01. Terrastic Adaptation [feat. Dis Pater]
02. We Eat Our Young
03. Scourge Of The Offspring [feat. Dis Pater]
04. The Insignificants
05. The Storm Upstairs
06. ...And The World Will Go On Without You
07. A Photic Doom
08. Dead End Residents
09. Solastalgia
10. Just Another Body [feat. Dis Pater & Dave Otero]

"Bring Back The Plague"? What other prophecies have these modern day Nostradamuses got up their sleeves? 

With each passing year, Cattle Decapitation seem more poignant and relevant to the world we inhabit, suggesting they are maturing as songwriters... or that the world is as doomed as a Formula 1 car driven by Mazepin. With Cattle Decapitation raising the bar as the world sinks deeper into the melting ice caps, Terrasite has a tough act to follow, with the band on a roll up to this point. Fortunately, the band seem more energised and focused than before, managing to not only keep themselves on said roll, but add further momentum to their climb up metal's ranks. 

"Terrastic Adaptation" opens the album with the perfect mix of atmosphere and deathgrind bombast, with Terrasite picking up where Death Atlas left off, before "We Eat Our Young" ditches any semblance of auditory set dressing and goes straight for the jugular. The world maybe broken, but Cattle Decapitation certainly aren't, sounding more vibrant and poignant than ever before. With the preceding four years since Death Atlas adding weight to the band's musical forewarnings, the group are as vital lyrically as they are musically. 

Where Death Atlas signposted the next step in the band's evolution, with a desire to create an experience rather than solely just an album, Terrasite takes a step back from this progression and makes for a more compact experience. Gone are the interludes and spaces to catch one's breath, for in their stead are versions of these ideas that maintain the same level of ambition, but replace them with more condensed tracks like "Dead End Residents". While on face value, this direction may seem regressive, it makes for a stronger and more impactful album on the whole, merely reshaping the form of sonic ambition rather than ditching it altogether. 

"Scourge Of The Offspring" (the kids really aren't alright) highlights the sonic quality on offer with Terrasite. With sharp yet concise guitars alongside a punchy snare drum, the album is tight, powerful and well-balanced in sound. The bass tone on "The Insignificants" is vibrant yet dense, adding power and depth to the pounding rhythms, while highlighting how well Pinard has adapted to the group. It's this combination of sound and songwriting that makes "The Insignificants" a highlight of the album. However, it is not the sole highlight as "...And The World Will Go On Without You" mixes a subtle groove a la McGraw with the band's usual high-powered attack, giving the track an added string to an already well stocked bow. Indeed, it also showcases Ryan's unique vocal approaches, and highlights why he is one of the best vocalists in extreme metal. 

It is unfortunate that, for as well as Terrasite does throughout, the album ends on a weak note in "Just Another Body". While its focus on atmosphere bookends the album well with "Terrastic Adaptation", it stretches itself too thin over its ten-minute duration and, aside from the nice orchestral flair to the track, misses the mark in terms of making for an 'epic' track, feeling like the band went into the studio to make a ten-minute track for the sake of it, rather than it being an organic result of any songwriting sessions. 

As the world goes to hell, we can rest assured on one thing, that it does so with a kick-ass soundtrack courtesy of Cattle Decapitation. Managing to keep going from strength to strength, the band sadly won't be short of inspiration anytime soon, whatever scant level of comfort that provides you.