| Butchered at Birth | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 1, 1991 | |||
| Recorded | 1991 | |||
| Studio | Morrisound Recording, Tampa, Florida | |||
| Genre | Death metal | |||
| Length | 36:34 | |||
| Label | Metal Blade | |||
| Producer | Scott Burns | |||
| Cannibal Corpse chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 6/10 [2] |
| Kerrang! | [3] |
| MusicHound Rock | [4] |
Butchered at Birth is the second studio album by American death metal band Cannibal Corpse. It was released on July 1, 1991 through Metal Blade Records.
Cannibal Corpse began writing new material immediately following the release of their debut album, Eaten Back to Life . [5] With their sophomore effort, Cannibal Corpse sought to create a heavier sound and even more gruesome imagery than their debut. The band wrote and rehearsed the album in a hospital for the incurably ill that they had converted into a practice space. [6]
During this time, the band was having 4-hour practice sessions five days per week. [7] The writing process for the album's instrumentation was a collaborative effort. [8] Guitarist Jack Owen recalled that "everybody was writing tons of shit" and vocalist Chris Barnes said the band was "writing a song every two weeks". [9] Drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz recalled, "it was months of us trying to be the most brutal band on earth. We just practiced our asses off and composed songs which I felt were full of aggression and completely unrelenting. A raw collection of pure death metal!" [10]
Vocalist Chris Barnes penned all of the album's lyrics, striving to create the first death metal concept album (with the stated concept being "butchery"). [6] He said,
Loosely conceptual, it's like things are tied in between songs. The beginning introduction finishes it off. Backwards it says feed off the carcasses of babies. I put myself in different points of view in different songs. In the introduction it's me telling how it really is. The [album] is pretty visual, it's all there. You don't have to ask any questions. That's how I write. I get a title in my head and write a little story" [11]
Following their experience recording Eaten Back to Life at Morrisound Recording in Tampa, the band became entrenched in the growing death metal scene there, and subsequently made frequent trips to the city. The spirit of competition within the scene encouraged the band to keep a quick pace with releases, and Butchered at Birth was recorded over a two-week period. [12] Producer Scott Burns, revered within the Florida death metal scene, assisted the band in refining the sound of their debut to achieve even more dissonant and guttural sonic textures. [6]
Butchered's infamous album artwork was created by longtime collaborator Vince Locke and is frequently identified as one of the most gruesome album covers of all time. [13] [14] [15] [16] Former vocalist Chris Barnes claims his jaw dropped upon first sight of the album's artwork. [17]
Alex Henderson of Allmusic wrote that the band's use of shock value inspires comparisons to GWAR and that the album "comes off as a parody of death metal and grindcore more than anything", while saying the band was successful in achieving its goal of delivering the "musical equivalent of B-movie horror flick". [18]
Founding guitarist Jack Owen believes Butchered at Birth showcases the band's greatest evolution between albums, being the band's "step to pure death metal". [19] Drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz believes the album to be the band's "most notorious to date". [20]
All lyrics written by Chris Barnes. All music written by Cannibal Corpse.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Meat Hook Sodomy" | 5:46 |
| 2. | "Gutted" | 3:15 |
| 3. | "Living Dissection" | 4:00 |
| 4. | "Under the Rotted Flesh" | 5:04 |
| 5. | "Covered with Sores" | 3:17 |
| 6. | "Vomit the Soul" (featuring Glen Benton) | 4:30 |
| 7. | "Butchered at Birth" | 2:45 |
| 8. | "Rancid Amputation" | 3:16 |
| 9. | "Innards Decay" | 4:38 |
| Total length: | 40:30 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 10. | "Covered with Sores (live)" | 3:59 |
Cannibal Corpse
Additional musicians
Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York, in 1988, now based out of Tampa, Florida.
Six Feet Under is a Florida death metal band from Tampa, Florida, formed in 1993.
Paul Mazurkiewicz Jr. is an American musician best known as the drummer of the death metal band Cannibal Corpse.
Alex Webster is an American musician who is the bassist and a co-founder of the death metal band Cannibal Corpse. He is one of two original remaining members, alongside drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz. He is also the bassist of Blotted Science and the supergroup Conquering Dystopia. Before Cannibal Corpse was formed, he was a member of Beyond Death.
Jack Owen is an American guitarist and a member of the death metal band Six Feet Under. He was one of the founding members of Cannibal Corpse. He also had a stint with Deicide—another influential and long-running Florida death metal band—with whom he recorded four albums.. In 2007, Owen played shows with Adrift before joining Order of Ennead at times when their guitarist, John Li, was unavailable.
Chris Barnes is an American death metal vocalist who is the frontman of Six Feet Under. He is noted for his low guttural vocals and explicitly violent lyrics.
George Fisher, better known by his stage name Corpsegrinder, is an American death metal vocalist who is the lead singer of Cannibal Corpse, Paths of Possession and the supergroup Serpentine Dominion.
The Wretched Spawn is the ninth studio album by American death metal band Cannibal Corpse. It was released on February 24, 2004 by Metal Blade Records. The cover art is by Vincent Locke. This is the last studio album to feature guitarist Jack Owen, one of the band's founding members, and up to the 2012 album Torture, the last with an album cover depicting violence and gore. The album was distributed with a making-of DVD produced by Nick Sahakian. The Wretched Spawn is Cannibal Corpse's fourth album to be named after one of the tracks on the album, after Butchered at Birth, The Bleeding and Gallery of Suicide.
Eaten Back to Life is the debut studio album by American death metal band Cannibal Corpse. It was released on August 17, 1990, through Metal Blade Records.
Tomb of the Mutilated is the third studio album by American death metal band Cannibal Corpse, released on September 22, 1992, by Metal Blade Records.
The Bleeding is the fourth studio album by American death metal band Cannibal Corpse, released on April 12, 1994 through Metal Blade Records.
Vile is the fifth studio album by American death metal band Cannibal Corpse, released on May 21, 1996 through Metal Blade Records.
Gallery of Suicide is the sixth studio album by American death metal band Cannibal Corpse, released on April 21, 1998, through Metal Blade Records.
Bloodthirst is the seventh studio album by American death metal band Cannibal Corpse. It was released on October 19, 1999 through Metal Blade Records.
Gore Obsessed is the eighth studio album by American death metal band Cannibal Corpse, released on February 26, 2002 by Metal Blade Records.
Hammer Smashed Face is the debut EP and single by American death metal band Cannibal Corpse, released on March 23, 1993 by Metal Blade Records.
Morrisound Recording is an audio recording facility in Tampa, Florida, United States, owned and operated by brothers Jim and Tom Morris. Since its opening in 1981, Morrisound has been responsible for the popularization of death metal, but caters to other genres.
Cannibal Corpse is a five-piece American death metal band formed in 1988 in Buffalo, New York. In 1989, their self-titled demo drew the attention of Metal Blade Records, with whom they signed a contract to record their debut album Eaten Back to Life, which was released in 1990, followed by two studio albums, 1991's Butchered at Birth, and 1992's Tomb of the Mutilated. In 1993, lead guitarist Bob Rusay was fired, and was replaced by Rob Barrett, who joined the group in time to appear with the band in Jim Carrey's film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.
Centuries of Torment: The First 20 Years is the third video album by American death metal band Cannibal Corpse, released in 2008. It contains a three-hour documentary on the history of the band and several concert performances as extra features. It was released on July 8 in USA and July 14 in Europe. This DVD has also been certified platinum in Canada.
Red Before Black is the fourteenth studio album by American death metal band Cannibal Corpse, released on November 3, 2017. This is the band's final album to feature guitarist Pat O'Brien before producer Erik Rutan officially replaced him in 2021.
