Death Atlas
2019 studio album by Cattle Decapitation
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Death Atlas is the seventh studio album by American death metal band Cattle Decapitation. It was released on November 29, 2019, via Metal Blade Records. Its release coincided with Black Friday and came more than four years after their previous studio album, 2015's The Anthropocene Extinction.
| Death Atlas | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 29, 2019 | |||
| Recorded | May 2019 | |||
| Studio | Flatline Audio, Westminster, Colorado | |||
| Genre | Technical death metal, deathgrind | |||
| Length | 54:58 | |||
| Label | Metal Blade | |||
| Producer | Dave Otero | |||
| Cattle Decapitation chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Death Atlas | ||||
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It is the band's first album to feature rhythm guitarist Belisario Dimuzio and bassist Olivier Pinard. At just under 55 minutes, it is also their longest album to date. The album debuted at number 116 on the US Billboard 200 and at number 56 in Germany.
Background
Death Atlas was recorded at Denver's Flatline Audio with producer Dave Otero. Album artwork was by Wes Benscoter.[2] Vocalist Travis Ryan comments: "We have crafted what we feel is our strongest album to date",[3] (...) "Musically and lyrically, there is a lot of grief, anger, hate, passion, and emotion poured into this one".[4] Prior to the album release, the band co-headlined the 2019 Summer Slaughter Tour.[3]
The opening track "Anthropogenic: End Transmission" samples the Greetings in 55 Languages from the Voyager Golden Record.
During the production of Terrasite, vocalist Travis Ryan called Death Atlas his "favorite Cattle record to date" and referred to the album as the band's magnum opus.[5]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [6] |
| Blabbermouth.net | 9/10[7] |
| Consequence of Sound | 10/10[8] |
| Distorted Sound | 9/10[9] |
| Exclaim! | 6/10[10] |
| No Clean Singing | favorable[11] |
| Metal Storm | 8.1/10[12] |
Loudwire named it one of the 50 best metal albums of 2019.[13] Decibel magazine named it the 20th best album of 2019.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Anthropogenic: End Transmission" | 2:15 |
| 2. | "The Geocide" | 3:43 |
| 3. | "Be Still Our Bleeding Hearts" | 3:54 |
| 4. | "Vulturous" | 4:59 |
| 5. | "The Great Dying" | 1:12 |
| 6. | "One Day Closer to the End of the World" | 3:47 |
| 7. | "Bring Back the Plague" | 4:28 |
| 8. | "Absolute Destitute" | 4:35 |
| 9. | "The Great Dying II" | 1:05 |
| 10. | "Finish Them" | 2:55 |
| 11. | "With All Disrespect" | 4:31 |
| 12. | "Time's Cruel Curtain" | 5:31 |
| 13. | "The Unerasable Past" | 2:50 |
| 14. | "Death Atlas" | 9:14 |
| Total length: | 54:58 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 15. | "In the Kingdom of the Blind, the One-Eyed Are Kings" (Dead Can Dance cover) | 4:10 |
| 16. | "An Extreme Indifference to Human Life" | 3:15 |
| Total length: | 62:23 | |
Personnel
Cattle Decapitation
- Travis Ryan – vocals, keyboards (track 5, 9)
- Josh Elmore – lead guitar
- Belisario Dimuzio – rhythm guitar
- Olivier Pinard – bass
- Dave McGraw – drums
Additional personnel
- Jon Fishman – narration (track 13)[14]
- Riccardo Conforti – keyboards (track 1)
- Laure Le Prunenec – vocals (track 14)
- Tony Parker – keyboards (track 13)
- Ottone Pesante – horns (track 16)
- Melissa Lucas-Harlow – narration (track 5)
Production
Charts
| Chart (2019) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Digital Albums (ARIA)[15] | 10 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16] | 56 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[17] | 97 |
| US Billboard 200[18] | 116 |
| US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[19] | 3 |
| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[20] | 12 |
