Corpsefucking Art - Tomatized

Corpsefucking Art is a death metal band from Rome, Italy who formed in 1996. “Tomatized” is their sixth full-length album; They have also released a demo, EP, Split and a live album.

“Tomatized” is a fun, brutal blast of a death metal album. Wait, a minute…did I say fun?  I thought death metal was supposed to be horror drenched, abrasive and against the grain of good taste? It is and this album checks off all those boxes. But it's also an album that embraces the odd and doesn't concern itself at being taken too seriously, at least in terms of lyrical content

But make no mistake: the musicians are deadly serious. Across the blistering 9 song 29 minute runtime, a cacophony of rhythm prowess and gutturals rip through the decayed atmosphere. The bass and drums standout just as much as the guitars. Massive swaths of pummeling grooves highlight the tumultuous songs. 

Both the production and instrument tone are exactly how I like it: raw but still with enough clarity to allow the violence to shimmer with all the vibrancy blood splattered carnage...and tomato juice. 

This is my first experience with the band so I can't really compare this to their previous works. However from my limited understanding all their albums are part of a larger story. This one appears to be about….tomatoes? Sure, why not. 

The album begins with the title track and what, I assume, is squelching sounds from tomatoes  That's a sentence I never though I would write but I'll be damned if it doesn't work for both me and the band. The keys are disturbing, setting up the horror theme well. The song is fast in places barreling through when needed but it isn't afraid to dial the tempo back and let the riffs crush very slowly, leaking juices and all.

The bass on “Blood Kitchen Garden” kicks the song into gear immediately while the tight, crisp drumming catches the ears and helps pull attention to the riffs. The guitars are wild, whipping back and forth between speedy groove and massive crunches that hit like being beaten with a bag of potatoes. I can talk about other food, right?

“A Nightmare On Tomator Street” is a ridiculously awesome title and the music is just as impressive. The tempo jumps back and forth between slow and mid paced for a bit before introducing sudden bursts of speed.  The band is fantastic at using tempo to their advantage . 

“Dead Sushi” throws in sound bytes and a cinematic approach for the song's intro before the Hell gates open at the 45 second mark. This one of my favorite songs on the album because of the sweet, sweet riffs and hurricane drums. As expected, the song impresses with its seamless transitions from one tempo to the next.

“Escape From Alpha City” ends the album with the same urgency that opened it. This is another personal favorite of mine, I especially like the clever drumming that compliments the rage and energy that rolls off the song.

Corpsefucking Art's “Tomatized” is a nice late year surprise for this humble reviewer and I don't even like tomatoes.   Any fan of riff based death metal, or perhaps angry vegans, will get a kick out of this.