Album Reviews : Cephalic Carnage – Misled by Certainty

How does one review an album when still struggling to comprehend what has been heard? How does one put into words music that almost defies logic or categorisation? Well, Cephalic Carnage have created just such a quandary with their brilliant new album “Misled By Certainty”.

It is just not a release that is easily understood or absorbed, even after repeated listens I am still trying to get my head around what Cephalic Carnage are doing such is the complexity and breadth of styles that have been incorporated into their sound. Everything about it is obtuse and disorienting however, once you eventually get your bearings, this complexity becomes one of the albums greatest strengths.

Traces of grind are still there to be found in “Pure Horses”, “P.G.A.D”, “Power and Force” and closer “Aeyeucgh!” (even the song titles take some getting your head around!) but this is starkly contrasted with the penultimate song on the album “Repangaea”. Here we have an ambitious twelve minute epic that covers a lot of territory and builds up in intensity as it unfolds whilst also featuring piano, saxophone and clean vocals that give new dimensions to the music.

With so many disparate elements mixed together there was always the potential for a disaster, and I have read reviews elsewhere that are less than complementary about the direction Cephalic Carnage have taken, yet this is certainly not the case. Sure, it can be confusing in places however the musicianship is beyond reproach and there is still the necessary brutality, e.g. “Abraxas Of Filth”, that shows the band haven’t forgotten where they came from.

Whilst it is unlikely that “Misled By Certainty” will be comprehended by many on the first listen as there is so much going on it can be argued that Cephalic Carnage have easily surpassed what they have done before. Love it or hate it, there is no denying that “Misled By Certainty” is distinctive and bizarre in equal measure and therein lies its brilliance. It just needs the listener to give it an ample chance to work its intelligent, technical magic! 8/10

Band: Cephalic Carnage
Album: Misled By Certainty
Year: 2010
Genre: Death/Grind
Label: Relapse
Origin: U.S.A

www.myspace.com/cephaliccarnage

Track Listing:

1. The Incorrigible Flame
2. Warbots A.M
3. Abraxas Of Filth
4. Pure Horses
5. Cordyceps Humanis
6. Raped By An Orb
7. P.G.A.D
8. Dimensional Modulation Transmography
9. Ohrwurm
10. When I Arrive
11. A King And A Thief
12. Power And Force
13. Repangaea
14. Aeyeucgh!