Bring Back the Plague - Cattle Decapitation

 

 

 

Now that the pandemic is not such a hot topic anymore, it is a good time to finally address this badass song Bring Back the Plague by Cattle Decapitation. I’ve never really been into death metal or other such genres that rely on growly vocals, distorted guitar riffs and super-fast tempo, but this song just hit me differently.

What caught my ear from the very first listen was the vocals. They’re absolutely brilliant! The vocalist, Travis Ryan, makes it sound as if the song was a dialogue between a growly giant and a very angry midget :D. The song starts with the giant making their statement to which the angry midget gets their say (at 0:50 in the video above). Another little detail I love about the vocals is how Ryan rolls his R’s in the chorus (at 2:11). The reason why I noticed this is because he pronounces them in a very Finnish way rather than how an American normally would. I find it hilarious, especially because he sings the chorus in his angry midget voice and this peculiar pronunciation is like a cherry on top of the comic character that I imagine him to portrait in this song.

Even though the vocals fascinated me the most, I can’t deny the musical talent of the band. Even though death metal (or is this more like deathgrind??) is not my piece of cake, I’ve grown to really enjoy this song in terms of the music. It has nice contrast between the upbeat verses and slower chorus, and despite the growly lyrics, it has a clearly distinguishable melody which I find important. 

It is interesting that the album, Death Atlas, in which this song can be found was released only a few months prior to the pandemic starting. Good timing, since Bring Back the Plague is like a theme song to the past three years of our modern-day plague. The band utilized this connection in the song’s low-budget music video which was filmed in quarantine at the band members’ living rooms. The video addresses the chaos in the early stages of the pandemic when some people were hoarding toilet paper in panic while others carelessly celebrated spring break in big crowds. Despite the dark topic, I thought the video was funny and very relatable. It is also interesting to look back at that chaotic time three years ago now that the effects of the pandemic are diminishing. 

I also listened to the entire Death Atlas through, but no other song struck to me as much as Bring Back the Plague did. Thus, it could be that Cattle Decap will remain a one hit wonder to me, or maybe I’ll give their other songs another chance at some point.