''The Anthropocene Extinction'' is the sixth studio album by American

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

band

Cattle Decapitation Cattle Decapitation is an American deathgrind band formed in San Diego, California, in 1996. The band's current lineup includes vocalist Travis Ryan, guitarists Josh Elmore and Belisario Dimuzio, and drummer David McGraw. Since 2001, none of th ...

. It was released on August 7, 2015, on

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records (often shortened to Metal Blade) is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982 based in the U.S. state of California. The label primarily focuses on heavy metal. History Metal Blade Records was ...

. It became Cattle Decapitation's first album to chart on the ''Billboard'' 200, debuting at No. 100 (No. 44 on "Top Albums").

Lyrical concept

The previous record, ''

Monolith of Inhumanity ''Monolith of Inhumanity'' is the fifth studio album by American death metal band Cattle Decapitation, released on May 8, 2012. Upon its release, it was met with positive reviews praising the addition of melody into their sound. Promotion Music ...

'', dealt with the future of

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

, if mankind keeps its current style of life. ''The Anthropocene Extinction'' deals with the results of mankind's influence on the environment, such as the

Great Pacific Garbage Patch The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (also Pacific trash vortex and North Pacific Garbage Patch) is a garbage patch, a gyre of marine debris particles, in the central North Pacific Ocean. It is located roughly from 135°W to 155°W and 35°N ...

Critical reception

The album received widespread acclaim from music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

(a review aggregator site which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 from music critics), based on four critics, the album has received a score of 86/100, which indicates "universal acclaim". Reviews particularly praised Travis Ryan's vocal performance, with

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

writing that "Littered throughout the wasteland of gurgling growls and shrill shrieks that fill ''The Anthropocene Extinction'' are the snarls that the vocalist experimented with on 2012's ''Monolith of Inhumanity'', a sort of pseudo-singing that just might be more unsettling than his more traditional death metal scream, and which showcases his impressive range."

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly The Mining Company, About.com and Dotdash) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, hom ...

praised the variety and songwriting on the album, praising the band's attention to detail: "Cattle Decapitation write albums, a quality that allows each song to fit within the entire grand vision. An interlude like 'The Burden of Seven Billion' may seem like filler, but its placement allows a reprise from a first half of life-draining potency. A similar claim follows the gloomy 'Ave Exitium', which follows in the vein of 'The Harvest Floor' and 'The Monolith' as a haunting intro to a momentous closer in 'Pacific Grim'."

Track listing

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes. Cattle Decapitation * Travis Ryan – vocals, keyboards, drums on "Ave Exitium" * Josh Elmore – guitars * Dave McGraw – drums * Derek Engemann – bass, additional gang vocals on "The Prophets of Loss", keyboards and drums on "The Burden of Seven Billion" Guest musicians * Philip H. Anselmo – narration on "The Prophets of Loss" Additional musicians *

Author & Punisher Author & Punisher is a one-man band from San Diego, formed in January 2004 by mechanical engineer and artist Tristan Shone. Most of the instrumentation and controllers Shone uses, called "Drone Machines" and "Dub Machines", are custom-designed a ...

– intro of "Plagueborne" * Jürgen Bartsch (

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

) – spoken word on "Pacific Grim" Production * Dave Otero – production, mixing, mastering * Shane Howard – engineering assistance Artwork and design *

Wes Benscoter Wes Benscoter is an American artist who is best known for his work album covers, especially heavy metal albums. He also has made covers for magazines and books, and shirt designs, and his art is featured in many galleries around the world. Most ...

– album artwork, photo editing * Brian Ames – album layout * Sam Lanthrem – photography * Denise Ryan – photography * Zach Cordner – photography * Travis Ryan – art direction, concept Studio * Flatline Audio,

Westminster, Colorado The City of Westminster is a home rule municipality located in Adams and Jefferson counties, Colorado, United States. The city population was 116,317 at the 2020 United States census with 71,240 residing in Adams County and 45,077 residing i ...

– production, mixing, mastering

Charts

References

External links

*
''The Anthropocene Extinction''
at

Metal Blade Metal Blade Records (often shortened to Metal Blade) is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982 based in the U.S. state of California. The label primarily focuses on heavy metal. History Metal Blade Records was ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anthropocene Extinction 2015 albums Albums produced by Dave Otero Albums recorded at Flatline Audio Albums with cover art by Wes Benscoter Cattle Decapitation albums 2010s German-language albums Metal Blade Records albums Albums about climate change Environmental songs Anthropocene