Vegan Grind fiends rejoice, CATTLE DECAPITATION has returned. After impressing critics and fans alike with the maturity of 2004's "Humanure" and the variety of 2006's "Karma. Bloody. Karma", CATTLE DECAPITATION became the barons of PETA-pleasing Goregrind. The much anticipated "The Harvest Floor" continues the band's musical progression but pushes the envelope perhaps a bit too far.

Everything that lifted the previous two albums above Goregrind's restrictive boundaries are here in one form or another. But they are buried beneath hefty doses of chaos and under-medicated ADD song structures. Album opener, "The Garden Of Eden" features a unique mix of melody, Grind and Technical Death Metal. Vocalist Travis Ryan belches, growls, gurgles, squeals and snarls throughout while new drummer David McGraw has a seizure on the skins. On "A Bloody Farm", guitarist Josh Elmore unleashes a flurry of shredding, Prog-laden and technical riffs. "We Are Horrible People" shows a great maturity with classy and moody melodies. But then things quickly move from impressive to almost pointless. Most of "The Ripe Beneath The Rind" is white noise while the slow-paced, moody mid-section seems out of place. There's a great melodic hook on "The Product Alive" that gets overshadowed by the vocals and "Into The Public Bath" sounds unnecessary. Then the title track comes out of left field with its ambient elements and the harmonizing female voices. Surprisingly, "Regret And The Grave" is the most mature and best track on the album, as it shows much needed restraint and features classy complexity while not skimping on the brutality the band is known for.

The problem with "The Harvest Floor" is that the songs are too congested. Each song tries to jam as many elements of Grind, Tech, Death and even Progressive Metal in as it can. When the song seems to find a bearing, it immediately lunges in another direction. Unfortunately some of the best moments are rarely revisited or expanded upon, leaving great riffs, melodies and hooks undeveloped. The hyper-blasting gets stale and Ryan's vocals never seem to pause enough to allow for the music to expand. The production also doesn't help, as Ryan and McGraw's performances are in the forefront leaving everything else too muddy to really appreciate.

With too few great moments and too many excessive moments it boils down to an unbalanced mess. Much needed restraint would have worked in favor of "The Harvest Floor". The hints of progression and the gratuitous brutality may initially sound nifty and boundary breaking, but repeated listens aren't very rewarding or even required.