“Gallery of Suicide”

Cannibal Corpse

If any group deserves praise for staying true to itself and not selling out, that group should be Cannibal Corpse.

Throughout the group’s existence, it has consistently delivered album after album of death metal noise and border-line psychopathic tendencies.

This is a group that is proud to play noise and display bloody corpses on its CD covers.

“Gallery of Suicide,” the group’s latest release, is no exception. The CD demonstrates death metal at its finest — lots of completely unintelligible lyrics, hoarse screaming, screeching guitars and explosive drum riffs.

This is music that is designed to make your eardrums rupture and bleed, music that grabs its listeners by the spine and rips it out.

It is music that is generally unaccepted by the mass public, and for good reason … the Christian majority are likely to be frightened by the song titles alone.

On this CD, there’s “I Will Kill You,” “Disposal of the Body,” “Blood Drenched Execution,” “Dismembered and Molested,” “From Skin To Liquid,” “Stabbed In The Throat,” and a few others.

Unfortunately, most of the songs sound the same — like a train wreck complete with the piercing screams of the dying and the damned.

As usual, the lyrics are impossible to understand. But that is probably a good thing for most people.

How many of you would actually listen to a song that has lyrics that go “Sever the limbs/ decapitate/ yank out the teeth/ then masturbate/ pounding the face/ ejaculate/ my darkest needs/ I satiate”?

And these are some of the mellower lyrics on the CD. In fact, many of the lyrics are so sick and twisted that they are damn near humorous. Of course, this is part of the fun.

So is the ringing that lingers in your ears long after listening to this CD. But as far as death metal goes, “Gallery of Suicide” is pretty good (if death metal is your thing, that is).

It’s a CD that is designed to make a certain type of person very happy — albeit that type of person is probably the black-clad guy in your class who scares you half to death.

But if you aren’t that type of person, then don’t even bother. You will not like this CD, and its cover will probably make you vomit.

3 Stars out of five

— Ben Jones

“Pure Sugar”

Pure Sugar

About the only thing that Pure Sugar has going for itself is a platinum blonde named Jennifer Starr who sings from the heart.

Unfortunately, her vocals aren’t nearly as nice as her body (which is prominently displayed — in clothes — all over the CD booklet) and her backing band is even worse.

This CD screams “Girl Power” in neon pink, green and yellow. It shouts out to big boobed blondes that it is okay to parade your bodies around to promote mediocre music.

And it makes a good point that too much happiness and joy isn’t likely to cause sugar shock — it’s more likely to make you want to gag on a spoon and slit your throat with a rusty piece of barbed wire.

Songs like “Love You Senseless,” “Hands To Heaven,” “Sunshine” and “Very Cherry” are exactly what their titles imply — absolute garbage.

Sure, there is an occasional halfway catchy hook thrown in once in awhile, but it’s designed to make you feel good all over, and it miserably fails at its goal.

This music didn’t make me feel good. It made me feel nauseated and irritable.

1 Star out of five

— Ben Jones

“Countdown”

Pulp

With Pulp’s current skyrocketing success, it’s no surprise that the group has issued a greatest hits package of its nearly out-of-print older material.

Unfortunately, that’s all “Countdown” is. There are no live tracks or rarities. Just by-the-numbers previously released material.

With this in mind, “Countdown” serves as more of an introduction to newer fans than a thank-you to the older fans.

The music is really good, and there is a nice selection of material spanning from 1983 to 1992. But some new material would have been nice.

3 1/2 Stars out of five

— Ben Jones