Background and recording
With their debut, the band sought to further develop the extreme lyrics and imagery of other early death metal bands like Carcass and Death, and the violent nature of the subject matter has caused controversy and bans in multiple countries. [6] [7] [8] According to bassist Alex Webster, "We saw that a lot of bands in Florida seemed to have more of a darker, anti-religion thing going on [such as with Morbid Angel and Deicide], so we decided to do the gore thing with the art and lyrics." [9] Founding guitarist Jack Owen half-joked that the album's gruesome song titles were conceived before the band had written any music. [10] The band would record instrumental demo tapes that vocalist Chris Barnes would then take home and write lyrics to. [11] Founding guitarist Bob Rusay composed the guitar riffs to "A Skull Full of Maggots." [12] Drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz recalled, "It was just friends getting together playing music that we loved. [...] That's as simple as it was and that's how it starts: you're not thinking of anything in the future, you're just thinking, 'Let's get together, make some cool music that we enjoy.' When Cannibal formed we were definitely looking to take it to the next level, but we were still just playing music we liked." [13]
The album was recorded at Morrisound Recording in Tampa, Florida, where many other influential early death metal releases were produced. Bassist Alex Webster specifically cited the band's appreciation of albums like Altars of Madness by Morbid Angel and Leprosy by Death as having inspired the choice of studio. They were able to make friends and connections within the burgeoning Tampa death metal scene and would ultimately relocate there. [14] Webster and Mazurkeiwicz recorded bass and drum tracks simultaneously. Many songs were done in one take, as the band did not yet have the budget to spend long hours in the studio. [15]
Music and lyrics
Dubbed "death metal for dummies" and a "Neanderthal version of death metal" the sound on Eaten Back to Life has been described as "the soundtrack to a serial killer's abhorrent lair," and employs many – if not all – of the genre's trademark characteristics. [16] [17] [18]
According to Greg Pratt of Exclaim, "Eaten showcases an early stage of the band, not quite as extreme as they would become, incorporating more heavy thrash elements into their sound as opposed to the straight-up no-nonsense death metal the band would adopt on their next album and continue to run with for the rest of their career." [19] The album employs growling vocals, "grinding" guitar riffs, chromatic melodies, tempo changes and blast beats. [10] [6] According to music journalist T Coles, "with the sonic standard now set, the band leant much further into the heavy double bass and palm muting that would define the genre." [16]
The drumming has been described as "the relentless pound of meat hammers in the abattoir." Guitarist Jack Owen cited the works of Exodus, early Sepultura, Celtic Frost, Napalm Death and Dark Angel as influences present on the album. He said, "we were into thrash and triplet playing on the guitar". Chris Barnes' vocal performance on the album has been described as sounding like "Satan on a diet of razor blades and paint thinner." The album's lyrics have been described as "ludicrously over the top." [20] [16] [17] [21] Glen Benton of Deicide performs guest vocals on the tracks "Mangled" and "A Skull Full of Maggots." [13]
Artwork
The album cover, which depicts a zombie mutilating and cannibalizing itself, was created by horror comic book artist Vince Locke, who the band would continue to collaborate with in the future. [14] [13] In the Centuries of Torment documentary, Locke joked that "Chris Barnes hunted [him] down" to collaborate. [22] A statement can be found in the album's liner notes, dedicating it to the memory of Alferd Packer. [14]
Monsieur De Suede Pompeux of Metal Hammer wrote: "Eaten back to life. It’s a statement that resonates, reverberates and renovates. Is it possible to eat yourself back to life? That’s the question that the artist poses here – coming from the brink of death (or possibly even death itself), the subject has enabled himself to continue living by eating his own intestines, and as I’m sure you can agree, that makes complete sense in every possible way." [23]
Reception and legacy
Leslie Mathew of AllMusic gave the Eaten Back to Life an underwhelming retrospective review, lamenting the album's lack of variety and "interesting guitar work". [10] John Weiderhorn of Loudwire called the album "a raw and powerful collection of tunes that [has stood] the test of time." [24] Adem Tepedelen of Revolver wrote in 2006: "Cannibal Corpse became a gore-metal franchise with the release of their now-mandatory, splatter-flick-inspired debut." [25]
In 2020, Chris Krovatin of Kerrang! wrote: "As far as death metal debuts go, Eaten is an incredible record, full of wily guitars and Chris Barnes' patented hoarse growl, and for fans of that classic Scott Burns sound, this record can’t be beat. But in the long line-up of Cannibal Corpse’s discography, Eaten is more about how much promise you can hear on it than it is about death metal mastery." [26]
In 2023, Jon Weiderhorn of Loudwire wrote: "At the time of its release, Eaten Back to Life was one of the sickest, most demented death metal albums ever released. Of course, over the next five years Cannibal Corpse would release even faster, more disturbing songs and accompanying art work that would land them in the crosshairs of conservative, God-fearing Americans, politicians looking to gain points with scared parents and anyone unsettled by genuinely sick s--t. While it wasn’t the goal, the controversy helped Cannibal Corse sell more records and increase their following. Still, despite their influence Cannibal Corpse were too brutal to cross over into the mainstream." Weiderhorn also stated the belief that the album was "the perfect gateway to the underground" due to its thrash metal sound. [27]
In 2024, Joe DiVita of Loudwire wrote: "One of the most enthralling things about the death metal’s pioneers and their debut records is hearing the genre itself being molded, wrought from thrash as each band put their stamp on what this new thing was becoming. Eaten Back to Life helped change extreme music forever. Chris Barnes vividly graphic, brutal lyrics were and still are deranged, establishing a lyrical blueprint other acts have spent decades imitating." [28]
Kourtney Kardashian controversy
In 2021, Barnes called Kourtney Kardashian a "poser" after a photograph of her wearing a Cannibal Corpse shirt while out with then-fiancee and blink-182 drummer Travis Barker made headlines. [29] [30] The shirt was a long-sleeved Eaten Back to Life Shirt, which had the band's original logo. The shirt was later revealed to have belonged to Barker himself. Barker responded to Barnes' comments, saying: "To speak on that, that's the lamest shit ever. Obviously my fiancée doesn't listen to Cannibal Corpse, but I do. I grew up loving them. For [someone] to mention that in a negative light — fucking lame, you know? She's wearing it because she's cold. She's not claiming she knows every song. But I do! I bought every album, and I learned how to play every album." [31]
Alex Webster said: "I remember I’d see these classic shirts. You’ll see a Motorhead shirt or Ramones shirt or Slayer logo shirt, Iron Maiden shirt, AC/DC shirt… Those kinds of things you’ll see in pop culture, not just in the music scene. [...] For us to start dipping into that a little bit... That was something I always kind of hoped would happen. I think anyone in a band [would want to] have that kind of growth in your career. To be able to really just be no one universally, in a way. It’s something you can kind of hope for, but you can’t really plan on it happening. So I think just by us having been around for a long time, it’s sort of gotten there over the years. Every now and then, there’ll be this weird pop culture kind of reference to us that you wouldn’t expect. And it can be it can be with merch or something like that. And to be fair, we’ve just been lucky in that way." [32]
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