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Butchered at Birth

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Butchered at Birth
a zombie butcher pull a stillborn corpse from a half-skeletonized dead woman while another stabs her torso. Dead babies in various states of decay are behind them.
Studio album by
Cannibal Corpse
ReleasedJuly 1, 1991
Recorded1991
StudioMorrisound Recording, Tampa, Florida
GenreDeath metal
Length36:34
LabelMetal Blade
ProducerScott Burns
Cannibal Corpse chronology
Eaten Back to Life
(1990) 		Butchered at Birth
(1991) 		Tomb of the Mutilated
(1992)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal6/10[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.

Background and recording

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Writing

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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]

Recording and production

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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]

Reception and legacy

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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]

Track listing

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All lyrics written by Chris Barnes. All music written by Cannibal Corpse.

No.TitleLength
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
2002 remastered edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
10."Covered with Sores (live)"3:59

Personnel

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Cannibal Corpse

Additional musicians

References

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  1. ^ AllMusic review
  2. ^ Popoff, Martin (2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. pp. 70–71. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
  3. ^ Russell, Xavier (September 14, 1991). "Rekordz". Kerrang!. No. 358. EMAP. p. 19.
  4. ^ Knopper, Steve (1999). "Death Metal". MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. pp. 319–320. ISBN 978-1-57859-061-2 – via Internet Archive.
  5. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20210729152435/https://tombofthemutilated.net/Paul-Mazurkiewicz-Butchered-At-Birth.html [bare URL]
  6. ^ a b c "Cannibal Corpse interview with Chris Barnes: From the Vault". Disposable Underground. October 2020. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  7. ^ "Go back in time with Chris Barnes to the "Eaten Back to Life" album". October 28, 2020.
  8. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGPot3rP53o&t=4654s
  9. ^ "RichardMetalFan Interviews! Ep. 240: Jack Owen of Six Feet Under". YouTube. March 27, 2024.
  10. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20210729152435/https://tombofthemutilated.net/Paul-Mazurkiewicz-Butchered-At-Birth.html [bare URL]
  11. ^ "30 Years Ago: CANNIBAL CORPSE release Butchered at Birth". July 1991.
  12. ^ "30 Years Ago: CANNIBAL CORPSE release Butchered at Birth". July 1991.
  13. ^ Krovatin, Chris (July 2021). "30 Years On, 'Butchered At Birth' Proves That There's Still No One As Disgusting As Cannibal Corpse". The Pit. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  14. ^ https://loudwire.com/scariest-metal-album-covers/
  15. ^ "25 Controversial and Disturbing Album Covers". Ranker. Retrieved October 27, 2024.
  16. ^ Millspublished, Matt (October 31, 2023). "The 10 scariest heavy metal album covers of all time". louder. Retrieved October 27, 2024.
  17. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGPot3rP53o&t=4654s
  18. ^ "Butchered at Birth - Cannibal Corpse | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  19. ^ "RichardMetalFan Interviews! Ep. 240: Jack Owen of Six Feet Under". YouTube. March 27, 2024.
  20. ^ "Paul Mazurkiewicz On Butchered At Birth". tombofthemutilated.net. July 29, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2024.
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