CANCER's second album and, arguably their greatest, is up for re-release by Cyclone Empire Records, following their recent reunion. The last few of years saw a slew of fortunate reappearances; PAGAN'S MIND, FATES WARNING and CARCASS among them, and one of Great Britain's finest old school Death Metal acts may well have new material on the horizon.

"Hung, Drawn and Quartered" is the first taste of what was one of the best Death Metal pieces of the early 90's, a fact made quite clear to me recently. It breaks out of its carcass with a pummeling wall of chunky riffs, beveled to a razors edge by the characteristic production quality of its time, with a rich over-emphasis of hi-gain low ends. The vocals are surprisingly crisp, and deliver the grim lyrics with perfect diction, the chorus explicitly powerful. The title track features memorable, to say the least, introductory delivery, the initial lyrics etched in the back of my mind. The stunted arrangement of the hellish riffs twist and jerk at the aural senses, perpetuated by rapid and unexpected tempo changes.

"Gruesome Tasks" melds in a little old school Thrash into the mix, creating a tirade of darkly brutal aesthetics; think a mix between late DEATH and early INVOCATOR. Even some CARCASS-like leads are blended in. What made this track stand out, however, were the ingenious slivers of groove slid in between the otherwise fracturing riffage. "Internal Decay" is the lengthiest piece on the record, and perhaps the most wild in its arrangement, with no 30 second slice being the same. It is pure, precision-executed chaos, the way anything remotely Thrashy should be.

To have 3 rereleases at once is a treat, especially for hardcopy collectors; there really is no other way to properly experience classic death metal, but with the band's reunion, it is a smart strategy. The second of the 3 is by far the band's greatest achievement so far.