CANNIBAL CORPSE

Reviewed:
- Eaten Back to Life (1990)
- Butchered at Birth (1991)
- Tomb of the Mutilated (1992)


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