Cannibal Corpse
Cannibal Corpse | |
|---|---|
| File:Cannibal corpse.jpg | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | United States |
| Years active | 1988 - present |
| Members | George Fisher Pat O'Brien Rob Barret Alex Webster Paul Mazurkiewicz |
Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band from Buffalo, NY, noted for its controversial and ultra-violent lyrics and imagery, founded in 1988 by Chris Barnes, Bob Rusay, Jack Owen, Alex Webster and Paul Mazurkiewicz. The band is on the Metal Blade Records label. The band had a brief appearance in the movie Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Cannibal Corpse is noted as the most successful death metal band of the Sound Scan era, having combined worldwide record sales of over one million copies with virtually no radio or television exposure. It's regarded as one of the longest lasting, persistent and most well-known bands in the death metal scene and therefore respected as such.
Biography
Cannibal Corpse formed from the ashes of three area death metal bands, Beyond Death (Webster, Owen), Leviathan (Barnes), and Tirant Sin (Barnes, Rusay, Mazurkiewicz). The band played their first show at Buffalo's River Rock Cafe in April, 1989, shortly after recording a five-song demo tape. Within a year of that first gig, the band were signed to Metal Blade Records and their full-length, debut album, Eaten Back To Life, was released in August, 1990.
Cannibal Corpse's music is very fast, complex and is known for its violent lyrics and ferocious tempo, singing style known as death growl and by very explicit imagery on its album covers. Their albums are censored and banned in several countries, including Germany, where they are not allowed to play any song from one of their first three albums in concert, not allowed to play at all in the state of Bavaria, not allowed to display the original cover images (drawn by Vincent Locke), or print the lyrics in the CD booklets, etc.
Vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher stated his frustration in an interview, saying "We can play “Dismembered And Molested” in Germany but we cannot play “Born In A Casket”. Which one sounds worse?" Song titles include "Entrails Ripped From a Virgin's Cunt", "Fucked With a Knife", "Meat hook sodomy", and "Necropedophile". In May 1995, then-Senator Bob Dole mentioned the band by name and accused them of violating "human decency". Cannibal Corpse also enjoyed a brief cameo in the 1994 Jim Carrey film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. (Carrey actually insisted to have the band perform in the movie because they were his favorite band.)
In 1994, Chris Barnes was kicked out of the band for musical differences (he is now the vocalist of Six Feet Under) and was replaced with Monstrosity's vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, who is known for his record-long screams in songs such as "Devoured by Vermin" and "They Deserve to Die." Jack Owen departed Cannibal Corpse in 2004 because he wanted to spend more time on his second band, Adrift. Jeremy Turner of Origin briefly replaced him as second guitarist on 2004's "Tour Of The Wretched". Recently Rob Barrett, a former member of Cannibal Corpse who appeared on the band's albums "Vile" and "The Bleeding" rejoined the band to play festivals in the Northwest United States and Europe. Rob officially left Malevolent Creation and joined Cannibal Corpse.
Discography
Studio releases
- Eaten Back to Life - (1990, reissued 2002)
- Butchered at Birth - (1991, reissued 2002)
- Tomb of The Mutilated - (1992, reissued 2002)
- Hammer Smashed Face (single/EP, 1993)
- The Bleeding - (1994)
- Vile - (1996)
- Gallery of Suicide - (1998)
- Bloodthirst - (1999)
- Gore Obsessed - (2002)
- Worm Infested - (EP, 2002)
- 15 Year Killing Spree - (2003)
- The Wretched Spawn - (2004)
- Kill - 2006
Live and other releases
- Cannibal Corpse (5-song demo cassette, 1989)
- Monolith Of Death Tour 1996-1997 (VHS, 1997)
- Live Cannibalism (Live, 2000)
- Live Cannibalism (VHS/DVD, 2000)
- 15 Year Killing Spree (Collector's box, 2003)
Line-up
- George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher - Vocals (1996-)
- Pat O'Brien - Guitar (1997-)
- Rob Barret - Guitar (1993-1997, 2005)
- Alex Webster - Bass (1988-)
- Paul Mazurkiewicz - Drums (1988-)
Former members
- Chris Barnes - Vocals (1988-1995)
- Bob Rusay - Guitar (1988-1993)
- Jack Owen - original lead guitarist (1988-2004)
- Jeremy Turner - Guitar Tour "The Wretched Spawn" (2005)