Review: Albert The Cannibal – None of Us Are Saints
When you think of a band, a deathcore band, what all comes to your mind? Do you think of your average lyricism of death, destruction, and the like? Well, allow me to introduce you to deathcore band Albert The Cannibal. Albert The Cannibal, a band consisting of current members Hunter Sessions on vocals, David Travis on guitar, Kevin Casten on bass, and Joseph Gonzales on drums. Together, this four-piece band creates a entity that takes a rather morbid step in concept and a brutal step in sound for Albert’s first EP None of Us Are Saints. Before going full fledged into this review there is a bio given from the band to be shared with you, the readers.
Albert The Cannibal Bio:
The deathcore band, Albert the Cannibal, from Bakersfield, CA, was conceived by guitarist David Travis and drummer Joseph Gonzales as a side project with which to explore their love of heavier styled music. Not long after, Joseph Gonzales departed the band and David Travis continued on to form the band’s first full line-up, consisting of himself on guitar, Hunter Sessions on vocals, Chase Thomas on drums, Joey Olsen on guitar and Brian Melgar on bass. The band began practicing songs written by David Travis as well as writing new songs.
Eventually, both Chase Thomas and Brian Melgar decided to leave the band, due to personal reasons, marking the return of Joseph Gonzales to the band he had helped create. Soon after, Kevin Casten was recruited on bass to fill out the new line-up that would be performing the first shows played by Albert the Cannibal.
About a year after joining, Joey Olsen and the rest of the band decided to part ways, citing creative differences as the reason for the split. Soon after, Brian Melgar returned to the band, this time taking over the guitarist position vacated by Joey Olsen. Unfortunately, Brian Melgar soon parted ways with the band once more, due to family issues.
At this point, the band decided to remain a four-piece, their current lineup consisting of David Travis on guitar, Joseph Gonzales on drums, Hunter Sessions on vocals and Kevin Casten on bass.
Albert the Cannibal has since gone on to record their first EP, titled “None of Us Are Saints,” which was released on March 21st 2017.
Now that we are fully acquainted with Albert The Cannibal, lets begin the review. To start off, we have the track Monster. Monster begins rather dark, reciting a letter of Albert Fish, a serial killer/cannibal, to one of his victims’ parents. In this instance, it is a Mrs. Bud, and in this audio letter, as it were, the description of horrendous acts began to unravel. Finally, after a minute or so, you’ll have heavy distorted guitar work, and then the song jumps straight into some heavy vocals that have a very head bang-able pattern and tone. Later, the song takes an immediate turn in tone, and kicks up the pace of the drums and presses in on a more hardcore pattern. The song fluxes in these slow to faster pace drum patterns giving you that feeling of, when is it coming? Overall, a great way to start off a concept EP. Now, we step onward.
The second track is titled Condescender. Condescender starts out right heavy, and its great. It’s one of those songs that when you hear it live, you would get super amped up for whatever else the band has in store. This song is full of heavy riffs and vocals all over the place, and is all very well placed to boot (especially being just an EP, not to mention the band’s very first one). All in all, this song does well in carrying the pace of the EP.
Now, we come to the track Forgotten. Forgotten is very similar to Condescender in the sense of heaviness. At the get go, I get reminded of an early day Suicide Silence, instrumentally speaking. Then, the song takes a turn into heavy riffs with a very smooth vocal transition that rides carefully together with the guitar and drums. Again, a great song to carry on the EP towards the ending tracks.
Nearing the end of the track list at track number four Darkened Places. This song is super bouncy and immediately slaps you in the face with high and low screams that then branch of into some very Chelsea Grin-isque content, vocally and instrumentally speaking. This song utilizes a lot of riffs and drum patterns that give a sense of leeway into heavier than life breakdowns. Darkened Places is definitely a nice way to ease your way for the final track.
With all of this being said, we make our stop at the last track of this EP with the track titled Lost Deities. This song definitely a good way to end the EP. It’s exceedingly reminiscent of some nice slam metal mixed with some tasty deathcore vocals and tones. Thus ends the EP None Of Us Are Saints. This EP was an absolute stellar experience to listen to! Thanks to the guys at Albert the Cannibal for letting me review it! You can find the full EP on Spotify, and make sure you give them a follow on there, as well as a like on Facebook!
Score: 8/10
