San Diego, California-based deathgrind mavericks, Cattle Decapitation, have unleashed their “Scourge Of The Offspring” video today. The band’s latest bruiser appears on their tenth studio album, “Terrasite”, set for release May 12th via Metal Blade Records.
Though many bands have tried, no one articulates the real apocalypse humanity is facing as vividly and succinctly as Cattle Decapitation. With 2019’s “Death Atlas”, they reached the apex of this, perhaps leading some to believe they had no place left to go beyond such an achievement, but alas, the band returns with “Terrasite”, which is as bold a statement as they have ever made. Roaring to life with the savage yet hauntingly melodic “Terrasitic Adaptation” and advancing through the likes of the relentless “We Eat Our Young” and culminating with the ten-plus minutes of “Just Another Body,” it’s an album that constantly shifts dynamics and demands a variety of emotional responses.
The record pushes the Cattle Decapitation sound further into more epic and varied territory, and in the hands of vocalist Travis Ryan the governing concept takes a new and disturbing direction. “I wanted to do the 180° opposite of Death Atlas. I already had the concept idea from years back and since Death Atlas was so dark and brooding, I wanted a completely opposite effect – I wanted this to take place in the daylight. I’ve always found daytime horror to be really unsettling so I wanted to make sure what was going on on the cover took place in the light of day, which also finds its place within the lyrics.“
When asked to elaborate on where he is coming from lyrically on this record, Ryan states frankly, “from a place of distress. Anger, rage, resentment, depression, anxiety, a poor outlook on our species both on a day-to-day level, a broader, worldly level as well as a philosophical level.”
Latest single, “Scourge Of The Offspring,” he further elaborates, “makes up the bulk of the album’s concept that the first song, ‘Terrasitic Adaptation,’ and the cover art sort of set into motion. In the first song, we find out what’s going on on the cover, and this song deals more with what our children will end up being – adult humans, shat out and left to make sense of this world only to end up being part of the problem simply by existing.”
“Terrasite”, which features the artwork by longtime collaborator Wes Benscoter (Vader, Kreator, Bloodbath, Hypocrisy), was produced by Dave Otero (Cephalic Carnage, Allegaeon) and includes Tony Parker of Midnight Odyssey handling piano and synths.