CADAVER
The Age Of The Offended
Nuclear Blast Records
Norway's CADAVER has had an on-again and often off-again run over the past 35 years. The blackened metal troupe has split up and reformed a couple of times - including once as CADAVER INC. - endured a decade-long hiatus and shed all but one of its original members along that way. But founding guitarist/vocalist Anders "Neddo" Odden seems bent on making a serious go of the band once again.
After offering up Edder & Bile, CADAVER's fifth album and first in 15 years, in November 2020, Odden and his current partner in crime, MEGADETH drummer and veteran session man Dirk Verbeuren, are back in short order with a sixth full-length, The Age Of The Offended. With COVID effectively shutting down touring opportunities for the year-plus that followed Edder & Bile's release, and Odden having battle colon cancer during the year prior, there was plenty of time to reflect and write.
And there certainly has been no shortage of fresh material as a result. Where Edder was 10 tracks bashed out in a lean and mean half-hour, The Age Of The Offended presents its 13 tracks - including a gnarly cover of TNT's "Deadly Metal" - in a no less urgent 42 minutes.
Not surprisingly, the new one picks up pretty much where the last one left off. But while "Postapocalyptic Grinding", which launches Offended after the "Sycophants Swing" introduction and its trombone caterwauling courtesy of Svein Johannessen - who opened CADAVER's debut Hallucinating Anxiety with "Tuba" way back in 1990 - may be overstating the approach here, Offended certainly provides its share of raucous, pummeling thrills.
CADAVER's blackened death 'n' roll is raw, freewheeling and as direct as a fist in the face with its hardcore-like oomph. Offended delivers a torrent of riffs and Odden's scabrous vocals overVerbeuren'scareening tempos, which typically alternate from fast to faster. "The Sicker, The Better", "Death Revealed" and "The Craving" bite down hard from the get-go and hold tight "like a pitbull on a poodle" - to borrow from Seinfeld's library cop Mr. Bookman - while "Dissolving Chaos" and "The Drowning Man" provide a more slog and sprint going over.
But that doesn't mean the album is lacking in flair. Like Johannessen, CADAVER alumnus Eilert Solstad - who performed on 1992's ... In Pains - makes a return appearance here after 30-some years, lending his unique double-bass skronk to the bulldozing "Scum Of The Earth". And TNT guitarist Ronni Le Tekro, who originally was just going to do a guest solo on the thrashy "Deadly Metal" cover, ended up adding squealing, dissonant leads to a number of tracks. And with past experience guesting with 1349 and ENSLAVED having given him a feel for more extreme metal, his contributions feel right at home amid CADAVER's gritty din.
There is somecomparatively groovier fare here, like the title track or "Freezing Isolation", that eases up on the velocity to a degree but doubles down on the heft. In the case of "The Shrink", nifty slide guitar forays - be they from Odden or Le Tekro-lend an unexpected bluesy swagger.And, as with Edder & Bile, even the most furious tracks here have a hook and/or chorus that provide a degree of catchiness and have a way of sucking you in.
All this speaks to Odden's craftiness and guile, which have managed to survive in spite of - or perhaps because of - all the obstacles and intermissions CADAVER has faced overthe years. With the back-to-back winners in Bile and Offended, the future would seem bright for the group. Let's just hope its tortured history doesn't come back to bite it in the ass again.
4.0 Out Of 5.0
