UMUR "The Harvest Floor" is the 5th full-length studio album by US, California based grindcore/death metal act Cattle Decapitation. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in January 2009. It´s the successor to "Karma.Bloody.Karma" from 2006 and there´s been one lineup change since the predecessor as drummer Michael Laughlin has been replaced by David McGraw.

"The Harvest Floor" is stylistically a continuation of the chaotic, technically well played, and brutal death/grindcore style of "Karma.Bloody.Karma (2006)". If anything Cattle Decapitation have become even more erratic and adventurous in the way they play and write music compared to their preceding releases. Sometimes the experiments work well and sometimes they leave me wishing for something to hold on to...maybe a regular power chord riff, or anything resembling a catchy hook or vocal phrase. On the other hand you have to admire their completely uncompromising approach.

"The Harvest Floor" features a decent sounding production job, although the drums do have a relatively unpleasant "cardboard box" sound. Sometimes it´s hard to differentiate between the clicky sounding bass drums and the snare drums and because of the way the drums are mixed, there is a mechanical feel to them. The guitars could have prospered from a more meaty heavy sound too, but on the positive side the vocals sound great in the mix. And the vocals by Travis Ryan actually deserve a special mention. Ryan performs several types of extreme metal vocals ranging from gurgling grunting, to death growls, to inhuman screaming, and even gives his first brief clean vocal performance.

So upon conclusion "The Harvest Floor" is another bold and uncompromising death metal/grindcore statement by Cattle Decapitation. I understand why they are often called an aquired taste, but their music is arguably both interesting and technically impressive with multible tempo changes, breaks, and unconventional song structures. A few more catchy moments would have made the album even more interesting, but a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

bartosso Every genre has its visionaries

I'm pretty sure that "progressive deathgrind" is an unusual combination of terms, and for a good reason. The scene is dominated by imitators, splashing around in the same puddles of gore and brutality their idols did before them. And that's where Cattle Decapitation steps in, shining like a stallion among hordes of muddy cattle. The band got lots of praise for their 2012 release MONOLITH OF INHUMANITY and even though I love the album, it's THE HARVEST FLOOR that deserves to be called their opus magnum.

THE HARVEST FLOOR is the first proper concept album by Cattle Decapitation and you can hear it already on the first listen. Every track is like a jigsaw puzzle piece, making up a consistent sequence of technical deathgrind songs. And what a deathgrind it is! When you hear that a band is technical, you expect the music to be calculated and cold, impressive yet with the human element being of secondary importance at best. THE HARVEST FLOOR is a brilliant exception to the rule though. It combines proper aggression of deathgrind with purely artistic approach to composition. Twisted parts of technical death metal are interspersed with clever and emotionally charged riffs and build-ups. Vocal parts by Travis Ryan are just like the music - brutal yet clever, complex yet passionate, varied yet consistent and most of all, completely inhuman...

It's an evocative and brave masterpiece of technical death metal, hands down. Fans of Cryptopsy's NONE SO VILE and ONCE WAS NOT, Cephalic Carnage and Suffocation should love this. I haven't been mesmerized by a deathgrind album for a very long time but Cattle Decapitation have brought twisted riffs, frantic shrieks and blast beats back to my life. Thank you guys, thank you for the passion and conviction that what you believe in is right. Thank you for putting it all into this intriguing music. Listen to death metal - stay veggie!