CANNIBAL CORPSE

Reviewed:
- Eaten Back to Life (1990)
- Butchered at Birth (1991)
- Tomb of the Mutilated (1992)
- The Bleeding (1994)
- Vile (1996)
- Gallery of Suicide (1998)
- Bloodthirst (1999)
- Live Cannibalism (2000, live album)
- Gore Obsessed (2002)
- Worm Infested (2003, EP)
- The Wretched Spawn (2004)
- Kill (2006)
- Evisceration Plague (2009)
- Torture (2012)
- A Skeletal Domain (2014)
- Red Before Black (2017)
- Violence Unimagined (2021)


EATEN BACK TO LIFE          1990          (Metal Blade)
- Standouts: 'Shredded Humans', 'Put Them to Death', 'Mangled', 'Scattered Remains, Scattered Brains', 'Born in a Casket', 'Rotting Head', 'A Skull full of Maggots'
I've been holding back on reviewing Cannibal Corpse's catalogue for such a long time now. I've wanted to do it for years because I've owned pretty much all of their major releases for at least 15+ years now (i.e. when you have everything apart from their latest album at the time), and they're also the band that got me into death metal in the first place. But considering they have something like 16 studio albums under their belt at this point in time, and also the fact they're a band that have been generally stuck in their ways for such a long time (by the way, I don't think that's a bad thing), I just fear I'll end up repeating myself with most of these reviews for each album. Hell, pre-COVID, I did have a page dedicated to Cannibal Corpse - but it was such a poor quality read that I deleted it many years ago. So fuck it, I'm starting over. And anyway, I successfully managed to review a bunch of other mostly formulaic bands like Motorhead, Grave Digger, AC/DC, Saxon etc. (well, successful to me anyway), so how hard can it be?

A bit more personal backstory with me and Cannibal Corpse. I got into them in my later school years. I want to say I was 15 and in year 10 at school when I picked up their 2006 album Kill (at the time their latest release). I was massively into thrash at that point, but was obviously curious about death metal. I remember downloading their most famous track, 'Hammer Smashed Face', on LimeWire prior to actually buying Kill (naughty me) and initially not actually liking Chris Barnes' gutteral vocals. I loved the riffs, but I still wasn't digging death metal vocals at that point. So I just kept listening to that track over and over again until I did like it. And that's when I picked up Kill. From that point on I started getting into death metal (pretty sure I picked up Morbid Angel's Altars of Madness not long after) as well as adding more Cannibal Corpse albums to my collection and actually seeing them live for the first time in 2009 in Leamington Spa.

Eaten Back to Life is their 1990 debut, and despite me banging on about this band having a largely particular sound they've always stuck to, I will still say that some of their albums - particularly during the earlier Chris Barnes era - do have subtle differences that make them easier to differentiate from one another. For starters, although Eaten Back to Life is unquestionably old-school death metal at it's core, it's also their thrashiest record. That's not entirely surprising, given this was 1990 and death metal was still kind of a new thing at that point. Death metal was hugely influenced by thrash anyway, seeing as that was one of the most extreme forms of music prior. But there's a lot of riffs and structures on Eaten Back to Life that undoubtedly sound like thrash to my ears. 'Scattered Remains, Splattered Brains' would sound exactly like a classic Slayer tune if it weren't for the growling vocals of Chris Barnes. Same goes for tracks like 'The Undead Will Feast', 'Edible Autopsy' and the short, snappy 'Put Them to Death'. I think another part of the reason for the thrashier tones of the music (other than the fact it was released in 1990) is the tuning of the guitars. I'm not saying you can't play death metal in a higher tuning, but it definitely gives the music more of a thrashy edge. 

That said, there's a lot of riffs on here that I can only be described as death metal - no more, no less. Combined with some pretty intense drumming from Paul Mazurkiewicz, there's plenty of brutality to be digested on songs like 'Shredded Humans', 'Rotting Head', 'Born in a Casket' and my personal favourite, 'Mangled'. I dunno why I've always liked 'Mangled' best, but I have done ever since I first heard it as a teenager. I think it might be that cool breakdown part towards the end of the song. In general, most of the songs are fast and furious in tempo with the odd mid-tempo, slower riffs here and there. I wouldn't describe any of the songs as particularly slow or doomy however - and they would come out with some crushingly heavy slow stuff here and there with later albums. Still, there aren't any bad songs on here, even if some are more memorable than others. 'A Skull Full of Maggots' has become kind of a classic, and is played pretty regularly by the band live to this day if I'm not mistaken. Oh yeah, and then there's the whole gore thing.

Aye, one thing that was already in place from the get-go with Cannibal Corpse was the gory artwork and hilariously over the top lyrics. Barnes would write even edgier lyrics than this on subsequent albums, sure, but to any person that's never heard a death metal album in their life, the lyrics and song titles on Eaten Back to Life along with the zombie eating it's own intestines on the album cover will no doubt appear to be quite extreme. But it's the band's whole schtick. Even though it's gotten some of their albums censored or even banned in countries like Australia and Germany, I'd argue it's only helped sales for them. I'm pretty sure they've sold more albums than any other band in death metal! And they were also a gateway band into the genre for a lot of metalheads, including myself. The gore/horror themes are of course, not to be taken seriously. The band themselves don't take it seriously, and neither should you. To be honest, it's something that baffles me at times. Everyone loves watching violent films and TV shows, video games and whatever else - but translate that to music and the average person just doesn't get it. Their loss! Mind you, I wouldn't want everyone to suddenly start listening to death metal overnight either. 

The fact there's some obvious thrash tropes going on here automatically makes Eaten Back to Life one of the least heavy albums in this catalogue. But that's not a bad thing - for me personally, this one easily a top 10 in their discography. Not one of their best, but not one of their worst either (not that they have any legimately bad albums). The production isn't as crushing as a lot of their later stuff, but there's a charm to this album that I've always really enjoyed. It's as old-school as Cannibal Corpse gets. Like, the album is as technically-competent as you'd want from the band, the songs are packed full of riffs and gory imagery, Chris Barnes is gruff and growly throughout and the music kicks arse. But it still feels like they hadn't quite found their mojo yet due to the higher tuning and obvious influences from thrash bands like Slayer, Kreator and Sodom. It's all the more reason for me to spin this thing!

I own 2 copies of this thing. The first is my 2010 Metal Blade reissue CD, which I've had since about 2010 of course! The other is my 2025 vinyl reissue (again from Metal Blade). I spent a day in Birmingham in December last year between Christmas and New Years Eve to find a suit for my wedding in October this year (I found one thankfully!). Since I actually found the right one within about an hour of getting there, we had the rest of the day free - so me and my fiancée did a bit of shopping on the side. We went to a really cool shop in Digbeth called The Goth's Playground. It's kind of a general alternative/goth/witchy-type shop, but it does sell some metal shirts/patches and vinyl too. I bought this really nice LP reissue of Eaten Back to Life - I don't buy vinyl all that often, but I've always wanted something from Cannibal Corpse in that format, so I snatched it up.
Adam's rating: 8.2/10


BUTCHERED AT BIRTH          1991          (Metal Blade)
- Standouts: 'Meat Hook Sodomy', 'Gutted', 'Under the Rotted Flesh', 'Covered with Sores', 'Vomit the Soul', 'Butchered at Birth', 'Rancid Amputation', 'Innards Decay'
Let's just say this album isn't what you'd call "clean"! Pure rotten filth, that's what Butchered at Birth is. Of all their bloody album covers too, this sports the first one that always comes to my head when someone utters "Cannibal Corpse" for some reason. I think it might have been the first CC album cover I ever saw when browsing CDs back in school, so that could be why.

When it comes to the songs, well, things have changed a fair bit compared to Eaten Back to Life. There's no real thrash elements left in the music anymore, which isn't really surprising. If anything, Butchered at Birth sounds almost exactly how you'd expect it to, especially as a 1991 death metal album. Chris Barnes was already growling on the debut, but now he's in full gutteral mode; deeper, more gargly and certainly less legible unless you're reading the lyrics at the same time! I'm a fan of how he sounded on the first album, but considering the intensity of the music has been taken further now, Barnes had to match that style too. So that's what he did. In my humble opinion, he's not necessarily one of the best to ever do it, but I will give him a ton of credit for being one of the first.

Like I said, the intensity's been cranked up another notch, so the guitars are tuned lower and sound much heavier for it. And the riffs are death metal, and death metal only. More technically-impressive, but also much dirtier! They're much more twisted too - the opening riff to 'Gutted' for example, is just FUBAR! Yet it's also really catchy!! And the whole album is full of 'em. The thing about Cannibal Corpse is, their riffs are most definitely technical, even if they're not the most technical in their genre. Their vocals are most definitely extreme, even if other bands have gone further. The same goes for the drumming etc., but you always get that untouchable B-movie horror death metal experience because the way they write their songs is unqiue and instantly recognisable. And often catchy too. Songs like 'Covered with Sores', 'Under the Rotted Flesh' and 'Rancid Amputation' are a natural progression from Eaten Back to Life, and I love 'em. It's hard to remember all of them because let's be honest, this album has one running theme and style, and the band never detour from it. Yet whenever I listen to this album, I can always remember how a lot of these riffs go. That's what I mean when I say the band can be surprisingly catchy in their ways.

But really, what I like so much about Butchered at Birth is just the griminess of it all (in case you hadn't already guessed). I think this album made a huge impact on how they would approach songwriting with later albums, sure, but nothing else in this catalogue has quite the same sonic feel that this one does. I guess it's a combination of the production and the fact Chris Barnes was still in the band at this point. When you hit play on this album and 'Meat Hook Sodomy' blares from 'yer speakers, you're immediately met with this wall of filthy distortion for about 40 seconds before the song kicks in properly. Combined with a really distinctive but hard-hitting drum tone that sounds under-produced to my ears along with Barnes' vocals, and you have the sickest album in this catalogue. It's not their heaviest, it's not their most technical, and it's certainly not their best-produced either - but that's why the album sounds this way.

Weirdly, in all my years of listening to this band, I reckon I've listened to the debut probably twice as much as I have Butchered at Birth. Not sure why. BaB is clearly the superior album. That's not to say there aren't flaws here; as much as I enjoy the distinctive sound of this album, I'm glad they didn't produce all their albums this way. It's still not my absolute favourite CC album sonically, I just admire it's uniqueness. And songs-wise it's not their best either, even if there ain't any duffers to be found. Still, this is no doubt a great record that sounds exactly how you'd expect it to after one glance at the album cover!
Adam's rating: 8.5/10 


TOMB OF THE MUTILATED          1992         (Metal Blade)
- Standouts: 'Hammer Smashed Face', 'I Cum Blood', 'Split Wide Open', 'Necropedophile', 'The Cryptic Stench', 'Entrails Ripped from a Virgin's Cunt', 'Beyond the Cemetary'
This album features such catchy ditties like 'Hammer Smashed Face', 'I Cum Blood', 'Entrails Ripped from a Virgin's Cunt' and 'Necropedophile', and for that reason I suppose you could say Tomb of the Mutilated is Cannibal Corpse's best-known album? I mean, they pretty much play 'I Cum Blood' at every concert, and 'Hammer Smashed Face' is their signature concert closing piece. It's also the Chris Barnes era CC album I default to most, even though I'm not the biggest fan of Scott Burns' production this time. That's not to say I think this is a poor-sounding record by any stretch of the imagination; in fact, like Butchered at Birth, I think Tomb has a unique sound of it's own as well. Paul Mazurkiewicz's drums sound great in fact, I think they cut through the mix without overbearing the songs (and have only gotten more technical and precise too). I just find the guitar tones on this album aren't as crushing as they could've been, because the riffs have only gotten better this time around. And Barnes' vocals seem to blend in with the instruments a little more this time too, and sound less prominent for it? I dunno. At least the bass sounds great, 'cos Alex Webster is one of the best players in the business.

As I said though, I default to Tomb of the Mutilated the most out of the Barnes era. The reason for that is simply because I like most of the songs better than on either of the previous 2 as well as (spoilers) it's follow-up, The Bleeding. Being more technical and playing to a higher standard doesn't automatically equal better songs, but I do think the fact the playing has gotten more complex still at this point does make the music better in this instance. They already started getting more technical instrumentally on Butchered at Birth, and they continued to do so on Tomb. Simply put, Jack Owen and Bob Rusay (this being Rusay's last effort with the band) crank out even better riffs this time around. This is evident the second 'Hammer Smashed Face' comes on for the first time. Same goes for songs like 'I Cum Blood' and the underrated 'The Cryptic Stench'. They're technical and heavy as fuck as this sort of death metal deserves, but there's also hints of groove in both the faster and slower riffs throughout the album that makes them catchy. BaB had catchy riffs too, yet somehow the guitars on Tomb are more technical and more catchy at the same time! That's a win if you ask me. And Alex Webster's bass playing is starting to play a bigger and more noticeable role within the songs too.

The production combined with the further-developed songwriting gives Tomb of the Mutilated it's own identity once again. This band would become very formulaic a little further down the line, but during the first 4 albums (the Chris Barnes era), the band certainly evolved. The debut was an old-school affair, Butchered at Birth was far dirtier and grimier, while Tomb of the Mutilated was actually the heaviest yet at the time, but also a bit cleaner and more professional in the production department. The key B-movie horror atmosphere remains intact however, thankfully. And while the song structures still pretty much consist of about a thousand riffs one after the other, they've just gotten better. Lyrically this album has gotten even more edgy and ridiculous too, but that was always the point. Really, had Tomb been mixed a little differently (beefier guitar tones and louder vocals), it'd be an easy 9/10 album for me. I'd still say this is my favourite of the Barnes years though, even if I don't think it's perfect. A death metal classic for sure.
Adam's rating: 8.9/10


THE BLEEDING         1994          (Metal Blade)
- Standouts: 'Staring Through the Eyes of the Dead', 'Fucked with a Knife', 'Stripped, Raped and Strangled', 'Pulverized', 'The Bleeding', 'Force Fed Broken Glass', 'An Experiment in Homicide'
The Bleeding ended up being Chris Barnes' last outing with Cannibal Corpse. Barnes was either fired or left to focus on his other band, Six Feet Under. Now there's a band I never cared much for. I mean, SFU's early stuff was okay, but they've become a meme in more recent years due to Barnes' declining vocal ability, his own outspoken attitude online and all those god-awful Graveyard Classics cover albums he kept insisting on putting out! Whatever your thoughts are on Chris Barnes, I think it's safe to say he was at least great in Cannibal Corpse. Integral too, as far as their early years went. 

Funnily enough, The Bleeding was my least favourite of the Barnes period for many years. It's not uncommon to see this ranked as the best of that era (or at least second behind Tomb), so maybe I just found it to be a little overrated? Don't get me wrong - I don't think there's any such thing as a "poor" Cannibal Corpse album. I just never liked this one as much as the previous bunch for 1 reason or another. As I've gotten older though, it seems a little crazy to stick this below Eaten Back to Life (although I'm struggling to put it above Butchered at Birth). The Bleeding almost feels like the final blueprint for how the band would write albums from hereon in their career. And it's good! I still don't like it as much as Tomb of the Mutilated because I feel that one packs a little more punch, but whatever!

The songs feel a little more structured and well-rounded now. The riffs are still crushing and vary in tempo, but there's a noticeably even higher level of catchy grooves to be had in these songs, and instrumentally everything just flows that extra bit smoother too. That's not to say the songs have been stripped-back instrumentally either; this album is easily as technically-impressive as Tomb of the Mutilated, and certainly more proficient than the first 2 albums as well. I'm wondering if the addition of guitarist Rob Barrett had something to do with that? There's some really interesting and occasionally diverse riffage going on, especially on the title track and 'An Experiment in Homicide' which particular always impress me. Meanwhile, songs like 'Staring Through the Eyes of the Dead' and 'Stripped, Raped and Strangled' are memorable even after first listen. A lot of past songs took mutiple listens to really digest, but the one's found here not so much. I also think the production was maybe the best yet. The album has much more bass and low end than any of the previous 3, and also the guitar tones are murky and heavy (but still clear enough to easily make out every note). The drums could've sounded better, but they're audible enough. And the vocals are also balanced just right.

Speaking of the vocals, despite being gutteral, Barnes' lyrics are actually easier to decipher here than on Butchered at Birth or Tomb of the Mutilated. Whether or not that's a good thing is up to you. I'm indifferent. The lyrics being that little bit more audible kind of makes them feel less extreme in some ways, yet at the same time it takes a lot of skill to be as gutteral as this and still be able to make your words heard. Chris Barnes was great once upon a time, people! And according to Wikipedia, some fans find this album to be somewhat mild lyrically after the first 3. I mean sure, there's nothing on here as edgy as 'Entrails Ripped from a Virgin's Cunt' or 'Necopedophile' - but this is still a pretty daft complaint if you ask me. The Bleeding has song titles like 'Fucked with a Knife', 'Stripped, Raped and Strangled' and 'Force Fed Broken Glass' for crying out loud! Stupid complaint.

This isn't Cannibal Corpse selling out. This is effectively the band they were always inevitably going to evolve into. I'm not saying every single following album sounds identical to The Bleeding; for starters, they'd change vocalists after this one. And there's definitely albums to come that are far heavier still - but this was definitely an important record for the band in terms of songwriting and style. I'll admit this still isn't one of my all-time favourite CC albums, but the riffs and grooves they laid down on these tracks are really hard not to love! 
Adam's rating: 8.3/10


VILE          1996          (Metal Blade)
- Standouts: 'Devoured by Vermin', 'Mummified in Barbed Wire', 'Disfigured', 'Bloodlands', 'Puncture Wound Massacre', 'Relentless Beating', 'Eaten from Inside', 'Monolith'
Out goes Chris Barnes and in comes George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher - the man with quite possibly the largest neck in the world! I'm certain there's Barnes fans out there who think this band should not exist without him, but I think the average Cannibal Corpse fan these days only has good things to say about Corpsegrinder. For starters, he's still with the band to this day, has recorded 12 albums with them, and his vocal ability hasn't declined in any considerable way unlike a certain Barnes. I think the Chris albums are all great, and (spoilers) I can't say the same for every album with George - although there isn't any such thing as a bad CC album, just sayin'. But on the whole I'm a bigger fan of Corpsegrinder. I have less attachment to Barnes. 2006's Kill was my first Cannibal Corpse album which I bought around '07, and every time I've seen this band live (I want to say about 6 times since 2009), Corpsegrinder has been present of course.

The thing about George is that he isn't trying to sound like Chris. I'd agree that Barnes is maybe better at that low gutteral sound (at least in the '90s), but I don't think he has the same diversity that George does. Corpsegrinder goes for a low, growling roar - which suits the music perfectly - but he also likes to throw in these higher, raspy screams that just adds another level of derangement that the music deserves. If you ask me, the band found a perfect replacement in Corpsegrinder.

So Vile was his first effort with the 'Corpse then, and I'm always surprised to see this one so low down in peoples' ranking lists. It's not rare at all too see it garner criticism, and I've never really understood why. Maybe I'm a bit biased towards Vile; I know for a fact this one was one of the first CC albums I got my hands on after Kill, and it's one I actually return to fairly often in terms of this catalogue. To me, this album is just as good as, if not better than a fair whack of the rest of their discography. It feels like a natural follow-up to The Bleeding. The vocals are different of course, and Corpsegrinder lets you know that with his throat-shredding scream at the very beginning of album opener 'Devoured by Vermin', which just happens to be one of my favourite CC tracks of all time. It's fast, brutal, and oddly catchy like a lot of CC tracks should be. And there's tons of other killer numbers to sink your teeth into here; 'Mummified in Barbed Wire' is a 'banger, and 'Bloodlands' has some really cool transitions (including a brief moment of pure doom towards the end of the song, thanks to Alex Webster and his bass). 'Puncture Wound Massacre' is a short but pummelling cut, 'Monolith' is a chugging beast and 'Relentless Beating' is a show-offy instrumental in terms of technicality, but also an instrumental that totally TEARS ARSE! Oh, and I appreciate the soloing near the start of 'Eaten from Inside', it's a breath of fresh before the song once again starts hammering rusty nails into the middle of your face!! To be fair, there's maybe a bit more soloing going on in general on Vile, just listen to 'Absolute Hatred' to see what I mean. I'm not talking about tasteful solos, I'm talkin' shreddy yet messy solos that only add to the music!

I'm a fan of the production here too, again courtesy of Scott Burns. The album has a lot of bass grunt to it, the guitar tones are thick and heavy in distortion - but the riffs can easily be made out. Also, the drums sound excellent and never overpower the rest of the instruments. In general I might even say this was their best-sounding record at the time of release. If you disagree with that, fine. Whatever. The production may also play a large part in the reason why I enjoy Vile so much, actually. 

It's honestly quite hard to pick any serious holes with Vile. This is also true for quite a few of their albums. It mostly boils down to things like production, or just number of memorable songs/riffs. Well, I suppose I can criticise the fact not all the riffs on Vile are necessarily memorable, but all the songs are still good. And again, I think there are better Cannibal Corpse than this one, but there's also worse. Vile didn't reinvent the wheel for them (although it did introduce their new vocalist), but it certainly didn't hinder them in any way after the success The Bleeding. In my opinion anyway. In fact, I still find myself listening to Vile more often than I do The Bleeding. The songs aren't that much better than what the predecessor cooked up, but since I still turn to Vile more than I do said predecessor, a slightly higher score is in order here! Just a totally rock-solid effort in their catalogue, and I will reiterate the fact I don't really understand why Vile often gets criticised online.

I have the Metal Blade 25th Anniversary Edition. It's not an anniversary in celebration of Vile though, because it came out in 2007! No, it's an anniversary for the Metal Blade record label. Not sure why they decided to celebrate it via this specific album, but whatever! Anyhow, it comes packaged in a nice slipcase and a bonus DVD of a concert filmed at The Berkeley Square in 1997 (which I think is in San Francisco, according to Google AI). I haven't watched this in years, because I don't really touch DVDs anymore, but when I bought this album in college about 17/18 years ago, I remember enjoying it. Sound quality wasn't great, but it was interesting to see Corpseginder doing his thing way back in the '90s.
Adam's rating: 8.4/10


GALLERY OF SUICIDE         1998        (Metal Blade)
- Standouts: 'I Will Kill You', 'Disposal of the Body', 'Sentenced to Burn', 'Gallery of Suicide', 'From Skin to Liquid', 'Centuries of Torment'
Considering how well this band are known for their grotesque album covers, it's surprising how good any of their censored one's are. I actually prefer Gallery of Suicide's censored cover more than I do the naughty one. And as for the album itself, it's one of the one's I don't often reach for. Most criticisms I have with any of Cannibal Corpse's albums normally isn't down to the quality of the music. I think all their records are good, it's just that I may have some niggles regarding production, or the fact there just aren't as many absolute peak tracks on them. But the music is never poor. Like, ever.

In the case of Gallery of Suicide, I guess I just can't pick as many obvious standouts here as any of the previous albums. I'm wondering if the fact this one has 14 songs on it has something to do with this? As of 2026, it's still the CC album with the highest number of tracks. A handful of them are on the shorter 1-2 minute length, but it makes the album a bit harder to remember for me. But hey, I hadn't listened to this album in years, and as soon as I span it again for this review, I could immediately pick out a few choice cuts that have practically always been in rotation for me whenever I feel like hearing some Cannibal Corpse. I mean, you can't go wrong with opener 'I Will Kill You'. Firstly, it's title is about as straight to the point as can be. Secondly, the breakdown near the end of this track is savage! 'Sentenced to Burn' totally bulldozes. And the title track was a little bit different for them too; it's still gonna tear you a new one of course, but it has all these dark, brooding riffs on it too. Very cool! I also really like the sludgy, doomy and atmospheric instrumental 'From Skin to Liquid'. Yeah it's slow as fuck, but it still has that signature Cannibal Corpse horror atmosphere written all over it. I think 'Centuries of Torment' is very cool too. Again, it's devastating, but the guitars have this strangely melodic, yet twisted nature about them.

I'll remind you again, the reader, that none of these tracks are weak. 'Unite the Dead' and 'Every Bone Broken' maybe qualify as filler, but they're still Cannibal Corpse just being Cannibal Corpse. I don't like the way 'Crushing the Despised' ends so abruptly either. And again, the fact there's more songs on here this time around makes them a little more difficult to take in. Another gripe I have with Gallery of Suicide is the sound of the drums. I'll never complain about Paul Mazurkiewicz as a drummer, but the way these drums settle in the mix is a little too weak and clean-sounding. Not the worst the drums have ever sounded on a CC record (there's an album from much later on that's far worse for this), but not quite as hard-hitting as I'd like either. The bass is a tad lacking as well, but I will at least say that the guitar tones are great - as good as they were on Vile. To be honest, it probably sounds like I'm dissing the production as a whole, but in actuality I think this album sounds pretty good overall. It's just not one of my favourites of theirs in that regard, is all. 

Like so many other formulaic bands with large discographies, there's always gonna be a handful of albums that I never give as much attention to as others. I guess Gallery of Suicide is one of them. But there's nothing majorly wrong here either. The playing on it is great as always - the riffs are as crushing and heavy as you'd want them to be, as is the technicality of the instrumentation in general. There's plenty of catchy grooves to be had on practically every song too, which is what this band do so well. Corpsegrinder's vocals are as nasty as always. He's given better performances, but he's also (probably) done worse too. Yeah. I can hardly call Gallery of Suicide "essential" Cannibal Corpse, but you know, it is still Cannibal Corpse at the end of the day. And it's very good! Totally recommended, just not one of their best in my humble opinion.
Adam's rating: 7.7/10 


BLOODTHIRST          1999          (Metal Blade)
- Standouts: All of it!
Ahh, now this is the dog's bollocks! After the longer-than-usual Gallery of Suicide, we're back to 11 tracks in total here, and a shorter play time of 34 minutes. That means all killer, no filler. Yeah the songs are pretty short; the longest is just 4 minutes and 11 seconds ('Hacksaw Decapitation'), but it's crazy just how many kick-arse riffs Jack Owen and Pat O'Brien crammed into such a short album! 'Pounded Into Dust' is one of their best ever openers, it'll rip 'yer throat out with it's brutality! Same goes for 'Dead Human Collection', and the utterly pulverising yet massively groovy 'Unleashing the Bloodthirsty'! That fancy, tappy guitar part in the middle of 'The Spine Splitter' is oh-so cool as well! To be fair, the playing in general feels that extra bit more special on Bloodthirst. There's lots of little guitar and bass playing techniques scattered throughout the songs that make all the difference, yet don't detract from the sheer heaviness of the music. You can the technicality of the riffage/composition in all the songs I've just mentioned, as well others like 'Ecstasy in Decay', 'Raped by the Beast', 'Blowtorch Slaughter' and 'Sickening Metamorphosis'. Technicality does not always make death metal better; for example, it's not wrong to prefer the raw ugliness of a band like Autopsy over the technical brutality of a band like Suffocation. I just feel that Cannibal Corpse upped their game a little in terms of playing ability on Bloodthirst, and in this instance the album is only better for it.

Bloodthirst rarely slows down. It has some mid-tempo chuggy moments (usually filled with groove), sure, but in my opinion this was the heaviest album they ever made at the time. I did like some of the slower, doomier moments of Gallery of Suicide, but I'm never gonna be opposed to Cannibal Corpse going all-out with the rage like they did here. It also helps that I consider this to be the best-produced CC album they had going by 1999 too. Not the best in their entire discography as of 2026, but at the time I think it was for sure. The instruments are all mixed just right; I can't moan about the drums being too quiet/loud, or the guitar tones being weaker than they should be etc.. Nope, the guitar tones are spot-on, Alex Webster's bass playing is audibly awesome and Paul Mazurkiewicz's pounding drums sound the best yet. I can't really say Corpsegrinder sounds any better here than he did on Vile or Gallery of Suicide, but then again I think ol' George has always been pretty consistent with his vocals on every CC album. 

It may seem surprising to slap a higher score on this than an album like Tomb of the Mutilated, which almost everyone considers to be a classic. I don't think the songs on Bloodthirst are necessarily better than the songs on Tomb (although they're certainly not worse), but the tip-top production elevates this album for me. And I just feel that the songwriting here was the most focused of all their albums for the time. Even if Bloodthirst still follows the same generic formula as all their other releases, when they're really on it like they are here, then that formula really proves why this band have won over so many death metal fans.
Adam's rating: 9.1/10


LIVE CANNIBALISM          2000          (Metal Blade)
Live Cannibal Corpse are a force to be reckoned with. I've seen them a bunch of times over the years (although it's been a while as of 2026), and I have to say that when I first saw them in 2009 as a 17 year old kid on the European Plague tour with Dying Fetus in support, I was blown away. Still one of the best gigs I've ever been to. Yeah okay, it was my first death metal show - so some bias no doubt plays a part in why I enjoyed it so much. But every time I've seen this band since, they've always killed it. And that's exactly what they're doing on this live album - killin' it on stage in Milwaukee back in 2000. The songs sound even more brutal in the live setting. You get an even greater sense of fury from Paul's drumming and blastbeats, Corpsegrinder roars his way through the setlist, Alex's basslines add a ton of "oomph" to the songs, and the guitars are full of meaty distortion and even the use of feedback between songs is expertly timed. It all adds up to make one killer slab of live death metal.

The setlist is great too. 18 tracks in total; a nice mixture of Barnes and Corpsegrinder-era tunes, and George himself handles the old Barnes material just fine. He adds his own touches to them of course, but it takes nothing away from the originals. All the usual classics are on here - 'Hammer Smashed Face', 'Stripped, Raped and Strangled', 'I Cum Blood', 'Devoured by Vermin', 'A Skull Full of Maggots' etc., and seeing as they had less albums out in 2000, there's some deeper cuts from those early Corpsegrinder albums to be found here too. Songs such as 'Blowtorch Slaughter', 'Gallery of Suicide', 'Perverse Suffering' and the like. Really can't complain at all for a setlist of this calibre given the year it was recorded. The only thing I can really moan about is I'm not often in the mood to listen to death metal live albums - as much as I love live albums, I tend to gravitate more towards straight-up heavy metal or hard rock bands more than I do extreme metal. It's just a preference when it comes to live albums for whatever reason. Still, of all the extreme metal albums I do revisit, this one is up there.
Adam's rating: 9/10


GORE OBSESSED          2002          (Metal Blade)
- Standouts: 'Savage Butchery', 'Hatchet to the Head', 'Pit of Zombies', 'Dormant Bodies Bursting', 'Compelled to Lacerate', 'Hung and Bled', 'When Death Replaces Life'
The forgotten Cannibal Corpse album? I haven't listened to it much at all over the years. I was even just looking at band statistics on Setlist.fm, and Gore Obsessed is the album they've touched the least in the live setting. In that crappy deleted post I made many years ago where I first reviewed Cannibal Corpse's discography ("reviewed" is being generous), I'm pretty sure I ranked this one at the bottom. If not stone-dead last, then somewhere dangerously close. It's not that I thought it was straight-up bad, 'cos yet again I'll remind you that there is no such thing as a weak Cannibal Corpse album. It's just that I treated this particular album as one of those records that's kinda just, ya know, there. But hearing Gore Obsessed again for the first time in many a year, I can honestly say this one deserves more attention. It starts off with a hattrick of terrifically deranged songs - 'Savage Butchery', 'Hatchet to the Head' and 'Pit of Zombies'. Speaking of Setlist.fm, I see that 'Pit of Zombies' actually made it's way back into the live set last year (for good reason), so it seems that this album has been getting some attention from the band recently.

There's plenty more strong material to be found here too. How about the frantic assault that is 'Dormant Bodies Bursting', or the utterly bruising 'Compelled to Lacerate'? 'Hung and Bled' is as maniacal as ever! And 'Mutation of the Cadaver' slams!! Meanwhile, 'When Death Replaces Life' brings back some of the dark, doomy atmosphere of Gallery of Suicide. You can't really go wrong with any of these tracks, unless you really waste too much time dissecting them to a tee. I will admit that it's hard to really call any of them "peak Cannibal Corpse"; there's definitely albums far better than this one in the discography, but all in all the bulk of Gore Obsessed still provides me with my CC fix. To be honest, I realised it's not really the songs themselves that hold back this album in any way, it's a particular aspect of the production that annoys me. *Cough* The drums! *Cough*. Yeah, the drums have this weirdly glossy, almost plastic-y sound to them that takes away from the fury of the songs a tad, in my opinion. I've heard far-worse sounding drums for sure (this is no St. Anger), and I'm not saying they sound horrible or anything like that. They just don't pack the same punch as any other aspect of this album's production - especially after the monstrous production that Bloodthirst boasted. Everything else sounds pretty great to me. The guitar tones are as chunky as ever, and as usual I cannot fault George's vocals and the way they've been integrated into the mix.

If it weren't for that niggling issue, I think Gore Obsessed would probably sit comfortably alongside Vile for me. The songs are great, even if they're not amongst their best. They kick arse and the band show no signs of slowing down. The music has not been stripped down or simplified in anyway - they're still playing technically-complex music, yet they're not being show off-y about it either. I was initially going to score this a 7.9/10, meaning I think it's very nearly great. But even with that mediocre drum sound, I still think Gore Obsessed is a great album. Much better than I remembered, and I definitely like it more than Gallery of Suicide these days.
Adam's rating: 8/10


WORM INFESTED (EP)          2003          (Metal Blade)
- Standouts: 'Systematic Elimination', 'Worm Infested', 'The Undead Will Feast'
There's 2 Cannibal Corpse EPs out there - the Hammer Smashed Face EP from 1993 (which I don't own a copy of), and this, 2003's Worm Infested. Until just a few days ago, I had never listened to this disc, which is weird because I have heard the Hammer Smashed Face EP before. I was well aware of Worm Infested's existence since I first started getting into Cannibal Corpse way back when, I just never bothered to seek a copy until starting this new blog post. I don't think I've ever seen a copy of this for less than £10, and considering it is just an EP, I suppose it was never high up on the priority list. But hey, the last time I bought anything CC-related that I didn't already have (my vinyl LP of Eaten Back to Life which I bought last year doesn't count) was when Chaos Horrific dropped in 2023, so I went on Discogs and bought a brand new copy of Worm Infested for £12. Still kind of pricey for what it is I guess, but it's nice to have something new from this band in the collection. 

So anyway, there's 6 tracks in total here. 2 are originals ('Systematic Elimination', 'Worm Infested'), 3 are covers ('Demon's Night' - Accept, 'Confessions' - Possessed, 'No Remorse' - Metallica), and 1 is a re-recording of an oldie ('The Undead Will Feast'). The new tracks are just plain ol' Cannibal Corpse, so what more do you want? They could have easily fit on Gore Obsessed or Vile. Just the band up to their usual tricks, bringing the blood-soaked brutality to a stereo near you!! But in all seriousness, they're really good. 'Systematic Elimination' is fast, tight, technical... brutal. You know the drill. 'Worm Infested' is a nice mix of mid-tempo crushing riffs and fast-paced savagery. And the re-recording of 'The Undead Will Feast' - originally from Eaten Back to Life - is cool too. It still sounds like an old-school CC number, because it is. But the higher production values combined with Corpsegrinder's vocals give it a fresh coat of paint. Speaking of production, the EP sounds pretty similar to Gallery of Suicide or Bloodthirst, and is pretty hard to fault in that regard.  

It's the covers that I'm on the fence with. I don't mind cover songs depending on which band is actually performing them (and the choice of song of course), but I'm not really a big fan of when death metal bands have a go at covering classic heavy metal bands. I was never even that keen on Death's cover of Judas Priest's 'Painkiller'; everyone else seems to rave about it. Nor do I particularly enjoy Cannibal Corpse's own cover of Black Sabbath's 'Zero the Hero' from the Hammer Smashed Face EP years before. So Cannibal Corpse covering Accept's 'Demon's Night' doesn't do a lot for me. It's not a terrible rendition by any means, it just doesn't get my juices flowing. A lot of people seem to really dig their cover of 'No Remorse', originally found on Metallica's debut, Kill 'Em All. Again, me not so much. I love Metallica, I don't need to hear Cannibal Corpse cover them. But I won't say it's terrible either. It's a fun novelty if nothing else. I do at least think the cover of Possessed's 'Confessions' is rather cool however. Possessed are obviously a death metal band anyway, but Corpsegrinder actually sings this in a higher-pitched throaty way that is a bit closer to Jeff Becerra than his own signature tone.

Half this disc is great, the other half is decent, but more of a novelty to my ears. Still a good EP at the end of the day however, if inessential. Hardcore fans and collectors should absolutely track it down. Casual fans might just wanna stream this one.
Adam's rating: 7/10


THE WRETCHED SPAWN          2004         (Metal Blade)
- Standouts: 'Severed Head Stoning', 'Psychotic Precision', 'Frantic Disembowelment', 'The Wretched Spawn', 'Festering in the Crypt', 'Slain'
Another fun-filled, jolly little record full of songs about rainbows, unicorns and fluffy critters! I'm kidding of course. The Wretched Spawn is pretty much exactly what you were expecting from Cannibal Corpse. It was also the last album with founding guitarist Jack Owen, who went on to join Deicide for a number of years, and more recently reunite with Chris Barnes in Six Feet Under... although why anyone would want to play in Six Feet Under in 2026 is baffling. Not to take anything away from Mr. Owen (he played on and contributed to many a great CC album), but in my opinion Cannibal Corpse haven't declined in any way since his departure. Still, there's no denying that his last outing with this band is another great one.

It's funny I should say that, because like Gore Obsessed and Gallery of Suicide, The Wretched Spawn is another one of those albums in this catalogue that hasn't actually received a lot of attention from me in all my years of owning it. And I've owned this album for a long time now. It's not the production, because unlike Gore Obsessed, The Wretched Spawn's sounds pretty damn great in almost every respect. We're talking Bloodthirst levels of greatness here, pretty much. The guitar tones have tons of crunchy/nasty distortion, but are still clean enough to make out the complexity of the riffs. There's plenty of bass and the drums sound organic. Maybe, just maybe George's vocals are mixed a tad too high, but I could just be looking for something to complain about there. The production is really hard to fault, and there's still better-sounding Cannibal Corpse albums out there than this one!

Nah, the production has nothing to do with why this album has never really been a go-to CC record for me. I think this time it's probably just a lack of more memorable songs? They're all good of course, because Cannibal Corpse are largely a 1-trick pony - and this is a heavy album alright. I just find it harder to pick out standout riffs/catchy passages on this one, and I think it's more to do with the pacing of the album than anything else. There's a lot of really fast songs around the start of the record this time - 'Severed Head Stoning', 'Psychotic Precision', 'Frantic Disembowelment'... these are all really fast, slaying numbers that will absolutely wreck you. Great stuff, I just don't like how they've all been plonked one after the other at the very beginning of the album. It's not until song number 5 - the title track itself - that we get any sort of mid-tempo groove/chugging. To be fair, the band do mix it up a little later on in the album to, like on the doomy 'Festering in the Crypt'. I'd also probably say that this was the most technically-complex CC album at the time, in terms of instrumentation, and I sometimes wonder if that positively or negatively affects how memorable the riffs are. 

Hmm. Unlike Gore Obsessed, which was better than I remembered, my opinion of The Wretched Spawn hasn't changed all that much. I struggle to remember a lot of the tracks on the second half of this album, except maybe the bulldozing 'Slain'. It's one of those albums that is 100% Cannibal Corpse in every sense of word, but a lot of the songs just go in one ear and out the other. Yet I don't feel the urge to skip them either! Ughh, I'm struggling to settle on a rating for this one too! The production is excellent which definitely counts for something. And the songs are good, but not great. I suppose I'm just gonna have to be honest and say that I like this one less than everything else that came before it (apart from the Worm Infested EP of course). I can't see myself returning to this album anytime soon, and the fact I still feel the same way about it now as I did whenever the hell I first got it probably means it'll never become a favourite. That's not to say I don't like it. I do. I think my views are not really common opinion of this album, judging by other peoples' rankings - but that's just the way I feel about it!

When all is said and done though, when I am ever not going to recommend a Cannibal Corpse album?
Adam's rating: 7.6/10


KILL          2006          (Metal Blade)
- Standouts: Everything!
How is it that Kill is now 20 years old? How did that happen?! When I bought this CD around 2007 it was still the newest Cannibal Corpse album at the time, and in my head it's still one of their "more recent" efforts. That couldn't be further from the truth! I'm getting older. Even if I'm not actually old yet, it's bloody scary how fast time flies. Then again, I feel like I've been listening to extreme metal forever at this point, and Kill was the first death metal album I ever bought. It's an important album to me personally, important enough to the point where I included it in my 'The albums that changed my life' article from a couple of years ago. 

Story time. I can only assume most metalheads naturally drift into death/extreme metal genres the more they listen to the metal as a whole. This is somewhat true for me as well. I naturally got into thrash after buying albums from bands like AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Saxon, Motorhead etc., but with death metal it was a bit different. I feel like I forced myself  to get into this subgenre, because I was still discovering loads of thrash bands I hadn't already heard aged 15, and in the grand scheme of things I hadn't actually been listening to thrash very long at all. Like I said in my Eaten Back to Life review, I downloaded 'Hammer Smashed Face' off LimeWire before I actually bought anything by Cannibal Corpse. I think after seeing some of their ridiculously violent and edgy album covers in HMV or Zavvi (whichever shop was stocking them), I guess I just had to hear them for myself, but initially was not willing to actually buy any of their CDs. So I just listened to that song constantly for weeks until it clicked. I remember not actually liking Chris Barnes' vocals at first - in fact, I thought he sounded pretty stupid - but I did think the music was great. When I did finally decide to give the band a shot and buy one of their albums, I went for the one with the least violent album cover - Kill.

It just happened to be their newest album at the time, and I was unaware that they'd already switched vocalists so many years ago. Also, despite the more simplistic album cover (literally just "Kill" in massive lettering; no zombies, no death, no gore), I genuinely believe this is and still is the heaviest Cannibal Corpse album to date. It was certainly the heaviest thing I'd ever heard aged 15. I loved this album from day 1 - it was so devastatingly heavy to my ears that I couldn't not like it, even if I was still on the fence with extremely harsh vocals at that point! Obviously this being the first death metal album I bought (and subsequently loved) no doubt means this is my favourite Cannibal Corpse album. And of course that means some bias plays into that thinking too. But even so, Kill appears to be one of the most highly-regarded CC records with a lot of people in general. 

No, they're not doing anything notably different on this album. Of course they're not, they're Cannibal Corpse! It's just that Kill really clobbers me, more-so than albums like Bloodthirst and Tomb of the Mutilated. You wouldn't think that was possible, but here we are! The songs are full of outright brutality from start to finish, and the way they deliver that brutality varies. There's some absolute rippers on here, like 'The Time to Kill Is Now', 'Make Them Suffer', 'Purification by Fire' and 'Maniacal'. These are tracks that'll get medieval on your ass! But some of the more mid-tempo cuts on this album are among the heaviest the band have ever pinned too. I mean, the motherfucking RIFFS on 'Five Nails Through the Neck' are bone-shatteringly great!! The same goes for the insanely heavy grooves of the chugging 'Death Walking Terror'. I also want to give a shoutout to 'Murder Worship'. There's a lot of variety in tempos on this one, but all the riffs piece together nicely and the song in general is one of the best on offer here. Oh, and the opening main riff to 'Brain Removal Device' is off the fucking hook!! Never really heard another riff like it. Ahh, and then there's 'Submerged in Boiling Flesh' - again, more apocalyptically heavy, chugging riffs. Also, why is Alex Webster such a great bass player? That creepy tapping bass intro to 'The Discipline of Revenge' is untouchable! And why are this band so damn good at writing instrumentals?! 'Infinite Misery' is another outstanding instrumental that ends the album on an absolutely foreboding, doomy atonal note.

I keep talking about the utter brilliance of the riffs, but it must be said that Corpsegrinder is taking no prisoners on this album too. I mean, he never does - but with Kill in particular he just owns. Again, probably some bias behind that opinion, because George does his thing on every Cannibal Corpse record, but there is no way in HELL he sounds weaker here than he did on any previous or following CC albums. Same goes for every other musician on this album. Erm, about the guitars again! I said on the last review that The Wretched Spawn was Jack Owen's final album with the band. Well, it was. Rob Barrett returned to Cannibal Corpse by the time Kill came about, and I don't know if him being back in the band boosted their morale, and is part of the reason why the songs are so good here or what? Alex writes more songs than any other member, but having Barrett back on board must've counted for something. I wouldn't say the songs are necessarily any more technical than what we got on The Wretched Spawn, the music is just better.

Okay, production is a big deal when your band has a particular style they like to stick to. So the fact Erik Rutan's production on Kill also likely plays a part as to why this album is so good, not just the actual songwriting. Again, maybe I'm biased, but I think this is also the best-sounding Cannibal Corpse album to date. The guitar tones are so sludgy and caveman-esque, yet never muddy or difficult to pick apart. There's also a ton of bass in the mix, and while I've heard better-sounding drums in general, Paul's drum sound on this album hits the spot. And the album never sounds too clean or glossy, like so many other modern bands do these days.

Just about the only thing I can complain about here is the fact I don't always feel like listening to death metal. I don't listen to death metal as much as I do traditional heavy metal, or even black metal these days. But there's no denying the fact Kill is probably my favourite death metal album of all time (Suffocation's Effigy of the Forgotten a close second), and always has been. The fact I still get the same adrenaline rush from this thing nearly 20 years later as I did when I was a teenager must account for something. As far as this discography goes, Kill will always be the cream of the crop in my opinion. Still one of the most important metal albums in my collection for me personally too.
Adam's rating: 9.4/10


EVISCERATION PLAGUE          2009          (Metal Blade)
- Standouts: 'Priests of Sodom', 'Scalding Hail', 'To Decompose', 'A Cauldron of Hate', 'Beaheading and Burning', 'Evisceration Plague', 'Shatter Their Bones'
Last December I effectively reviewed Cannibal Corpse's 2009 effort, Evisceration Plague, as part of my 'Blast from the past' series of posts (I need to do another one of these soon...). It qualified for that post because it's one of the albums in this catalogue I hadn't reached for in years, and also the first CC album I bought on it's launch date as a new release. Since I made that post just 8 months ago, most of my opinions of the contents of this record remain the same. What has potentially changed however, is where I feel Evisceration Plague stands amongst the rest of this discography. In that article, I literally wrote "I'm actually finding it really difficult to call this one of their worst albums!". Well, I still agree that I don't think this is one of Cannibal Corpse's worst albums. But I have to say, having sat down and really taken in albums like Gallery of Suicide, Gore Obsessed and The Wretched Spawn again - all albums I hadn't heard in a long time, and all albums I don't typically turn to when I'm in the mood for some Cannibal Corpse - I think Evisceration Plague is actually worthy a higher score than what I gave it in December for that 'Blast from the past' post. Listening to this discography in full again really puts it into perspective.

Although I'm still not as biased towards this album as you'd think (I saw them live for the first time promoting it, and as I said, it was the first CC album I waited for in anticipation as a new release), I do think the bulk of these songs are great. The elephant in the room is the production - especially after the absolute monster that was Kill. To put it bluntly, I personally believe Evisceration Plague is Cannibal Corpse's worst-sounding album. Sure, the guitars sound pretty good. Maybe not as good as I said they were in that blog post I spoke of - I agree that they're "crunchy, grinding and of course, heavy", but when I wrote that piece I hadn't very recently listened to and come off the back of every CC album that came out prior to Evisceration Plague. In fact, I hadn't really listened to any CC for a while when I wrote that post. So even if the guitar tones are good, they still sound a little weaker to my ears than the tones we heard on The Wretched Spawn and Gore Obsessed, let alone Kill. There's just something really dry about them. In all fairness, maybe it's not the guitars themselves? Maybe it's the lack of bass to back those guitar tones? The bass is there of course, but considering Alex Webster is one of the best metal bass players out there, he deserves better than this!

But it's the sound of the drums that really takes the cake. I've nothing bad to say about Paul's playing of course, it's as stellar as always. But the way the drums sound is, again, real dry and lacking any sort of human touch. It sounds like Paul's hitting empty cardboard boxes or something, so this obviously affects the intensity of the album. Had Evisceration Plague been mixed like Kill, it possibly could've been another modern classic from the 'Corpse, very much like it's predecessor.

Despite all my whinging about the production, I still refuse to rank this one at the bottom of the pile! Why? Because as disappointing as the production is, it certainly isn't poor enough to the point where I think this album sounds like shit. The mix is NOWHERE NEAR as bad as examples such as Metallica's St. Anger, the original 1995 mix of Black Sabbath's Forbidden or - dare I say it - most of Iron Maiden's 21st century albums. It's just nowhere near as good as it should be, especially at this point in their career. And anyway, I'll echo once again that the songs themselves are great. Not "Kill great", but still great in general. The playing from all the guys in the band is as technically-inspired and heavy as ever, as are Corpsegrinder's vocals. I'm pretty sure the title track has remained a concert staple ever since it was first unleashed when this album came out in 2009, and it's easy to see why. The heavy, chugging grooves are absolutely dominating. The whole song is a slow, lumbering monstrosity - and in this instance, "monstrosity" is a compliment! 'Priests of Sodom' has all these layered, demonic vocals behind Corpsegrinder, and it's very cool. 'To Decompose' is another one of those technically-complex, yet surprisingly catchy/groovy cuts that the band do so well. 'Scalding Hail' and 'Beheading and Burning' tear me a new one with their high-octane ferocity. 'A Cauldron of Hate' is another one of those stupidly heavy chuggers in similar fashion to 'Death Walking Terror' from Kill. I also love 'Shatter Their Bones' for the simple fact it's Cannibal Corpse just being Cannibal Corpse. 'Nuff said. The whole album is solid.

I gave Evisceration Plague a 7.6/10 in that post last year. It's really more like a 7.9/10 when stacked up against everything that came before. When you don't listen to certain albums for a very long time, you get ideas in your head that some things are better/worse than they really are. I hadn't heard Gallery of Suicide or The Wretched Spawn in ages. Both were a tad weaker than I remembered. Meanwhile, I hadn't listened to Gore Obsessed for possibly even longer, and that one was better than I remembered. I was honestly expecting to stick Evisceration Plague in last place when I started this page due to all the production issues, but when the songs are this good (good enough for me to somewhat look past the production), I can honestly say that this is very nearly a great album in this catalogue. Said production issues obviously hold it back from being an 8/10, but as always, it's impossible not to recommend Evisceration Plague.
Adam's rating: 7.9/10


TORTURE          2012         (Metal Blade)
- Standouts: Every last one.
I can safely say that all the production issues surrounding Evisceration Plague have been resolved on 2012's Torture. If you read my review above (or my 'Blast from the past' post from last year), you'll know that practically all my criticisms with that album revolved around it's mixing and not the songs. As disappointing as the production was however, Evisceration Plague was still a strong album - so calling Torture a "return to form" is a bit of a stretch. It is in my opinion however, possibly one of the best albums in this catalogue. Not my absolute favourite, but a 'banger non-the-less. I played the shit out of this record for a fairly long time, partly because I was lucky enough to see the band live in 2012 at the HMV Institute in Birmingham (now 02 Institute) around the time Torture dropped, with Triptykon, Enslaved and Job for a Cowboy. As always, it was an awesome show.

The album kicks off with 2 barbaric assaults, 'Demented Aggression' and 'Sarcophagic Frenzy'. These tracks will pummel you into submission! Same goes for other reckless compositions such as 'Encased in Concrete', 'As Deep as the Knife Will Go', 'Intestinal Crank' and 'Rabid'. They're nothing new for Cannibal Corpse of course, but since the band's energy and passion for sheer aggression has never faded at any point in their career, who cares? These songs slay, and blood-soaked carnage is all I ever ask for from this band! And that's exactly what they deliver here. The riffs and performances are as inspired as ever here - it's really quite impressive how much aggression the band cranks out here, whilst still maintaining the same high levels of technically-impressive instrumentation and playing. The grinding guitars and bass will chew you up and spit you out, while the drums are an almost non-stop attack of blastbeats. And as always, you've got Corpsegrinder roaring his way through these tracks, still showing no signs of weakness at this point in his career. Yep, this is pure death metal alright.

A lot of this album is fast and frantic, but Torture is also home to one of the bands slowest tracks of all time - 'Scourge of Iron'. Ever since this song made it's debut on Torture, it's remained in the band's live setlist for obvious reasons. It has possibly their slowest and heaviest riffs ever. Oh sure, this song is fast and manic for the first few seconds, but the main chugging riff it's built around is SO fucking slow and crushingly heavy that it's almost hilarious. 'Scourge of Iron' rules. There's a few other mid-tempo/atmospheric moments to be found elsewhere as well, like those haunting segments in 'Followed Home then Killed' (not their most creative song title, but it definitely suits the music!) and some twisted mid-tempo riffs in 'The Strangulation Chair' and 'Caged... Contorted'.

I won't betray Kill and say that Torture is the better-produced album of the 2, but can we all just take a moment to admire Erik Rutan's talents as a death metal producer? Sure, he missed the mark with Evisceration Plague, but Torture is another fantastic-sounding Cannibal Corpse record that's for sure. Better still, it sounds amazing without trying to replicate Kill. Both sound different, but both sound amazing. Torture has a more organic, almost old-school guitar tone going for it, yet still has enough modern polish to match the intensity of Kill or Bloodthirst. There's plenty of bassy low-end, the drums sound superb and the guitar tones are stellar - and all this while still sounding subtly different to anything else they put out. Can't ask for much more.

All in all, there are no bad songs to speak of here. Then again, Cannibal Corpse don't write bad songs. Really, I just have to stack up Torture against everything else in this catalogue to settle on a rating. Honestly, behind Kill, Torture and Bloodthirst take second place for me. I can't decide which one I like better. It doesn't matter! All you need to know is that the band truly let rip once again on Torture, and I personally think it's one of their best.
Adam's rating: 9.1/10


A SKELETAL DOMAIN          2014          (Metal Blade)
- Standouts: 'High Velocity Impact Spatter', 'Sadistic Embodiment', 'Kill or Become', 'A Skeleton Domain', 'Headlong into Carnage', 'The Murderer's Pact', 'Funeral Cremation', 'Icepick Lobotomy', 'Bloodstained Cement'
It's been a while since I last listened to A Skeletal Domain in full, but in general this is not one of their albums I often forget about. I've always thought this was a great one ever since it first appeared back in 2014. The album is a little different to Torture sonically, but certainly not in a negative way. There's a bit more... how should I put this... crunch to this album? The guitars don't have that old-school texture tone to them like they did on Torture. Everything's a bit tighter and more polished, but certainly no less brutally heavy. I feel it has more in common production-wise with Kill, yet still manages to sound different! The point is, A Skeletal Domain sounds awesome once again, and certainly light years better than Evisceration Plague. Especially the drums - this might just have some of the coolest-sounding drums of any CC album. And in terms of songwriting, this album always seems to give me brooding horror vibes more than it does a pure psychotic gore-fest like Kill or Torture. Pretty ironic really, considering the song 'Kill or Become' literally has the line "Fire up the chainsaw, hack their fucking heads off"!! But yeah, even though every Cannibal Corpse album has it's fair share of gory lyrics to sit through, some albums to me have always given off strong horror vibes over outright blood-soaked violence. A Skeletal Domain's album cover is not gory or violent, and that's probably part of the reason why I get those vibes. It is however, dark and horror-themed of course. And that's cool!

It's not like the band have toned down the intensity or heaviness of the songs anyway. I mean, 'Headlong into Carnage' makes me want to slam my fist through this desk! It doesn't really of course, but damn is this heavy! And 'High Velocity Impact Spatter' - what a title - is a killer opening cut. The same can be said for 'The Murderer's Pact' - the riffage is so tight and calculated on this track, and totally displays just how awesome these guys are as musicians. Tight and calculated without being self-indulgent. There's plenty more kick-arse tunes to be had here too, such as the aforementioned 'Kill or Become' - another unhinged classic, and a live favourite too. 'Funeral Cremation' starts off all dark and atmospheric before morphing into another full-on assault of the senses, 'Icepick Lobotomy' is packed full of all these chunky mid-tempo guitar riffs and great bass tones while 'Bloodstained Cement' is a barrage of brutality . Oh sure, maybe some tracks aren't as memorable, like 'Vector of Cruelty' and 'Asphyxiate to Resuscitate', but as usual with Cannibal Corpse, nothing on here blatantly sucks. Their music is too tried and trusted to suck at this point! Even so, I don't agree with the blanket statement "Cannibal Corpse release the same album over and over again". Things like production, tone and themes all give their albums their own personalities, even if they always stay within a certain ballpark! But most importantly, this album tears me a new one. Yeah it's not their greatest ever set of songs, but the guitars are like a buzzsaw of non-stop riffs, the drums are ferocious but never sloppy, and Corpsegrinder is still showing no remorse.

Look, if none of the previous 12 albums did anything for you, then the band aren't magically gonna win you over this time either. There's probably people out there who only enjoy the Chris Barnes era, likewise there's probably people that only enjoy the Corpsegrinder albums. And then there's fans like me who enjoy all of it. It doesn't require listening to many albums to figure out if you're a Cannibal Corpse fan or not. I personally rank A Skeletal Domain pretty damn high in this catalogue.
Adam's rating: 8.6/10


RED BEFORE BLACK          2017          (Metal Blade)
- Standouts: 'Only One Will Die', 'Red Before Black', 'Shedding My Human Skin', 'Remained', 'Heads Shoveled Off', 'Scavenger Consuming Death'
2017's Red Before Black is one of the Cannibal Corpse albums I don't often reach for, despite the carnage very much continuing as normal! I'm pretty sure it's their longest album to date at over 46 minutes long, but there's only 12 tracks in total which is nothing unusual. There aren't any short n' swift, rapid-fire cuts on here though, which is rare. Every song is at least 3 minutes in length. Not a bad thing per se, but I've gotta admit that I couldn't remember how any of these songs went when I listened to this album once again for this post. The first 3 tracks - 'Only One Will Die', 'Red Before Black' and 'Code of the Slashers' - all blast along at a similar pace, absolutely delivering all the savagery you could ask for. They're all predictably good, they just don't standout to me quite like a lot of other opening tracks on past albums did. 'Shedding My Human Skin' however, does standout. This track has plenty of that unmistakeably doomy, horror-like atmosphere the band often like to blend into their brutality. Very cool. 'Remained' has some sludgy riffs too, but even when it picks up in speed, there's a lot of groove in this song to digest. A definite highlight. And so is the unrelenting chaos of 'Heads Shoveled Off' and the monstrous devastation of 'Scavenger Consuming Death' (which features some brilliant Alex Webster bass parts). And 'In the Midst of Ruin' sounds kinda thrashy to me places. Topping off the music is another strong production job from Erik Rutan. All the instruments sound great, with more particularly killer-sounding drums, and also a more organic guitar tone that is more akin to Torture than A Skeletal Domain.

I was afraid this would happen at some point on this page - running out of shit to say! Although to be fair, the reason this review has been kind of a slog for me is probably because Red Before Black is far from one of my favourite CC records, nor do I think it's one of their worst. The songs are good, with some bordering on being great, if a tad less memorable than the last bunch of albums. I'll admit I start flagging by the time the last couple of tracks come on ('Destroyed Without a Trace' and 'Hideous Ichor'), but that's not because the songwriting dips in quality. The instrumentation is as technically-impressive and tight as always, while Corpsegrinder delivers another Corpsegrinder vocal performance! If you like anything else Cannibal Corpse have put out since Vile, then you're probably gonna have a good time with Red Before Black. Recommended. I literally have fuck-all else to say about this one. Red Before Black is one of the Cannibal Corpse albums of all time! No, I didn't miss a word out of that last sentence. You heard me!
Adam's rating: 7.7/10


VIOLENCE UNIMAGINED          2021          (Metal Blade)
- Standouts: The whole thing is pretty damn cool!
Aaaaand they're killin' it once again on Violence Unimagined! This album was released around the end of all the UK lockdowns if my memory serves me well, and this album kinda properly got me back into Cannibal Corpse again. I listened to it a lot in 2021. It's not that I ever stopped buying any of their CDs - I always buy any new studio album they put out either on or close to release date. It's just that Red Before Black - even though I enjoyed that album - did not excite me in the same way A Skeletal Domain or Torture had done prior. And I love this band. But I also loved a shit load more bands in 2017 than I did even just a few years beforehand, let alone 2021 when Violence Unimagined arrived. Basically, to me this album felt like a... well... not return to form, but a step back to where they were in 2014 with A Skeletal Domain. They put out a decent album with Red Before Black. Then they returned with a great one 4 years later with Violence Unimagined. 

One of thing of note is the fact guitarist Pat O'Brien has been replaced by the band's producer, Erik Rutan at this point. Pat kind of went crazy in 2018, got arrested for burglary and had a huge stash of firearms/explosives in house seized. From what I can tell the man is in a much better place today, but Rutan has permanently replaced him in Cannibal Corpse, and is still in the band to this day. Well, if you're gonna replace Pat, Erik seems like a natural choice. He's still producing the band alongside performing, and holy fuck does this album sound good!! It reminds me so much of Kill, and if they were deliberately trying to mimic that album, then they succeeded! I totally admit that it's nice how most CC albums kind of have their own personality when it comes to production, but if any of them remind me of Kill, that can only a good thing in my books!! The guitars are so crunchy and sludgy, yet so polished and clean (and I mean that in a good sense)! I'll give props to Red Before Black and say that the drums maybe sounded a little better to my ears on that album, but overall I think Violence Unimagined is the best-sounding album to me behind Kill and maybe Torture. 

And the songs are great too of course. 'Murderous Rampage' is as appropriately murder-y and rampage-y as the title suggests! Just pure gore-infested carnage, that's what this is. And some of the slow, crushing riffage on 'Necrogenic Resurrection' totally reminds me of 'Scourge of Iron' from Torture, without ripping it off! I do like me a slow CC track. 'Inhumane Harvest' is kinda slow in places too, but slow usually just means it's heavy as fuck, which this track is. Duh. Ahh, christ, 'Condemnation Contagion' is slow too! This one is more atmospheric and more twisted in nature however, and I love it. 'Surround, Kill, Devour'... this one chugs along at a largely steady tempo and pummels my skull in. The riffs are still as technical as ever though. 'Ritual Annihilation' and 'Follow the Blood' are both mid-tempo cuts, but they groove hard and the guitar solo on the former is shreddingly cool! Is "shreddingly" a real word? Probably not, but whatever! The bass work on the latter is stellar. Can never have too much Webster bass. 'Overtorture' is the shortest song on the album, and is absolutely one of the most furious on here. In general I just feel a lot more energy and motivation in this album compared to Red Before Black. I feel like the band always plays to the best of their abilities; every album is full of uber-tight and technical playing, and George is always as harsh and brazen as ever with his vocals - but the songwriting obviously varies in quality throughout every album. Some just stick out more than others, case in point with Violence Unimagined.

Any downsides? Nothing major. For the most part, this rules. The only thing that doesn't rule is the fact they didn't print any of the lyrics in the CD booklet this time for whatever reason. Not sure why. There's no censored version of this album or anything like that to my knowledge. In place of lyrics in the booklet is some artwork representing each song. A nice idea I guess, but it's still odd to not get the lyrics. And maybe 'Slowly Sawn' isn't quite as good as the rest of these songs, but it's still Cannibal Corpse, so it's still solid. As it stands though, Violence Unimagined ranks somewhere alongside Bloodthirst and Torture for me, meaning it's close to the top even if it's isn't quite peak CC. I understand that Chris Barnes purists are probably raging at some of my ratings right now. Truth is, I just prefer the Corpsegrinder era as a whole. If Erik Rutan produced Tomb of the Mutilated then it'd probably be a top 3 CC record for me. But he didn't. And production has a lot to do with why I like the Corpsegrinder era so much.

You'd think this band's formula would have gotten old at this point, but that couldn't be further from the truth!
Adam's rating: 9/10