Though many bands have tried, no one articulates the real apocalypse humanity is facing as vividly and succinctly as Cattle Decapitation. With 2019’s Death Atlas they reached the apex of this, perhaps leading some to believe they had no place left to go beyond such an achievement, but now they return with Terrasite, which is as bold a statement as they have ever made.
Roaring to life with the savage yet hauntingly melodic “Terrasitic Adaptation” and advancing through the likes of the relentless “We Eat Our Young” and culminating with the ten-plus minutes of “Just Another Body”, it is an album that constantly shifts dynamics, and demands a variety of emotional responses. “The whole record sounds like a somber panic attack; like mourning the loss of a loved one at Mach 3,” says Elmore. The title is a word invented by Ryan that brings together ‘Terra-’ meaning earth and ‘-site’ derived from the Greek word ‘-sitos’ which means ‘food’. “The combination of the two meaning ‘earth-eater’, as a metaphor for humanity’s role in the destruction of the planet, and is a play-on-words of the very fitting word ‘parasite’.” This is vividly brought to life in the artwork by longtime collaborator Wes Benscoter. “We see the nymph stage of this human/cockroach hybrid that is more of a fully grown being that has just molted from its ootheca stage, startled, confused, frightened but also pissed off and ready to join the rest of its brood in finishing humanity’s job of destroying the Earth.”