There’s no arguing that George ‘Corpsegrinder’ Fisher is in possession of one of the most remarkable voices of the age. Time and again, as the ‘new’ singer in iconic death metallers Cannibal Corpse the man has proved his worth, turning in a succession of solid, no-frills but undeniably devastating vocal performances. Now, in 2022, the man is taking a, um, stab at a solo venture. Will his schtick work away from the mother ship?

It’s actually hard to give a definitive answer to that question, as the material on his self-titled vehicle never really opens up enough to give the listener an idea as to whether Fisher can do anything else with his blast furnace roar. Opening track Acid Vat, which features guest six stringer Erik Rutan, does exactly what it threatens on the tin, and as an opener hits all the right notes. But after that things get soupy and more nondescript pretty quickly save for the odd beacon of filth like the neck-sapping grind of Master of the Longest Night.

Unsurprisingly the brief trips into bro-metal and crossover territory work well because they stand out from the mire; the album was co-produced by Hatebreed‘s Jamey Jasta (who also owns the label), and his paws are all over tracks like Bottom Dweller and closer Vaguely Human. But even here the change in style of music feels merely ‘bolted on’ to the existing Fisher superstructure, with little or no attempt to try and fuse the two styles together in order to create something new or challenging.

Of course, there are legions of Corpsegrinder fans for whom the sound of the great man’s voice is enough to set the pulse racing, and it’s hard to find anything to complain about when viewing the album from that standpoint. Fisher delivers on his intitial premise over and over again here, and there are plenty of death metal thrills and spills to be had if that’s all you require. If so, good luck to you, but I’d just liked to have heard a little more exploration from this venture…

Corpsegrinder releases on February 25th.