How have Cannibal Corpse not been cancelled yet?! From years of violent and misogynistic lyrics to a guitarist literally stockpiling weapons, the ingredients are ripe for a righteous internet mob. Yet if anything the general affection for George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher and co has only grown, the vocalist's obviously happy family life undoubtedly wholesome in direct inverse proportion to his band's subtle-as-a-sledgehammer-to-the-skull sound. And replacing said guitarist with scene mainstay Erik Rutan has resulted in a huge shot in the arm for Cannibal Corpse to the result that even cynics will have to admit that Violence Unimagined is their best album in years, possibly since 2006 highlight Kill. Hate Eternal's Rutan gives the band an added complexity and technicality throughout the record, not just on the three songs he wrote, and provides a very welcome injection of freshness to the Corpsean formula without spoiling it or mutating it beyond recognition.

The aggression and brutality that the band have always wielded so savagely is present and correct in the opening songs, particularly crushing opener Murderous Rampage with its galloping opening and clever layering of infectious thrashy riffing as it progresses, not to mention the widdly soloing that is applied sparingly, just enough to leave you wanting more. Each song follows much the same bludgenious path but does something different with it, the astonishingly heavy tempo shifts in Necrogenic Resurrection worthy of a chinstroking genre aficionado's respect before the following Inhumane Harvest shows the band's songwriting talents off perfectly. Cutting and slicing the band's battery into manageable chunks, this was the first song to be released from the album and is still one of the best, showing off the strangely infectious vocal skills of Corpsegrinder while cleverly using grinding and grooving riffs as the backbone (and almost as a chorus!) of the song. There's plenty of extended soloing to provide welcome melodic highlights between the sledgehammering; utterly fantastic, precisely judged death metal, broken down to its core components but still impressing you with the twisted shapes it forms.

And what is even more impressive is how Cannibal Corpse craft an entire bloody stew out of each misshaped piece of meat presented. Condemnation Contagion, the first Rutan-penned song here, will doubtless get attention for the pandemical lyrics, yet it's a more than solid burst of murderous death metal in its own right, built around a solid, machete-sharp base of riffs and blasts. Songs barely stray much beyond the four and a half minute mark, cutting off at the perfect moment and never outstaying their welcome. This isn't music that needs a ten minute track for full impact, as crazy as that would be from this group! Yet listening to the chaotically heavy likes of Ritual Annihilation it's hard to see any need for that when the band are already this brutal, and the sheer impact that this track will have live makes future Cannibal Corpse gigs a must-attend for anyone who wants to witness a moshpit completely lose itself in aural aggression. They still kill the old way; not a transcendental record, but a remarkably enjoyable and intense fifteenth full-length from these practised hands.