Cannibal Corpse — Butchered at Birth

intothewellsabyss
Jun 30, 2023
3 min read

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…

32 years ago today, one of the most controversial albums of the era was released!

On this day (June 30) in 1991, Cannibal Corpse released their second full-length studio album “Butchered at Birth” in Europe via Metal Blade Records (July 1, 1991 in North America).

Background:

Inspired by and seeking the new commercial and recording opportunities of the emerging Florida Death Metal scene, the band relocated to Tampa, where they recorded “Butchered at Birth”, the bands follow-up to 1990’s “Eaten Back to Life”. Once again, the band returned to Morrisound Recording, working with renowned producer Scott Burns.

Albeit, “Butchered at Birth” is Cannibal Corpse's second album, it is the album where the band established their trademarked Death Metal style, as many Cannibal Corpse fans say that their first album, “Eaten Back to Life”, had more Thrash elements to it.

The record also solidified their status as a controversial band, with overtly grotesque cover art as well as obscene song titles and lyrics that resulted in the release being banned in Germany. Musically, “Butchered at Birth” is a classic Death Metal record, slightly unrefined yet filled with hefty compositions and serpentine song structures.

It's with this album that vocalist Chris Barnes' vocals became noticeably lower, as this is the first time fans experienced his associated "inhuman", guttural grunts. Barnes is often credited with the sound change, as the album's producer, label and where it was produced are the same as “Eaten Back to Life”. It is this signature style that would influence countless Death Metal vocalists to come.

Critical Reception:

Alex Henderson at AllMusic writes;

“In the early '90s, Cannibal Corpse acquired a small cult in the Death Metal underground by embracing some of the most gruesome lyrics the subgenre had to offer. Thriving on shock value, the band inspires comparisons to GWAR and comes across as a parody of Death Metal and Grindcore more than anything. Like its previous album, the equally twisted “Eaten Back to Life”, “Butchered at Birth” addresses such lurid topics as dismemberment, torture, and masochism.

One will need the lyric sheet to know just how gross songs like "Under the Rotted Flesh," "Meat Hook Sodomy," "Covered with Sores," and "Rancid Amputation" are -- the grunting vocals are impossible to understand. Some retailers refused to carry this CD because of its depiction of a woman being mutilated by zombies, and Cannibal Corpse wasted no time getting as much publicity as possible from the controversy. The rockers are one-dimensional, but then, they never claimed to be anything else. This band's obvious goal was to deliver the musical equivalent of B-movie horror flick, and on that level, the album is outrageously successful.”

Links to Artists, Albums, and Music Videos:

Click this link to listen to “Butchered at Birth” via Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/butchered-at-birth-bonus-track-version/56584850

Click this link to listen to “Butchered at Birth” via Spotify: Butchered At Birth https://open.spotify.com/album/0JuQm6O4YBzXb1M3Ln8eWz

Click this link to follow Cannibal Corpse on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cannibalcorpse

Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells

Cannibal Corpse — Butchered at Birth

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