Review Summary: Competent record for a debut. Brutal, gory, but not all that interesting.
The year is 1990. Cannibal Corpse releases their debut album, setting a stereotype for death metal for many years to come. They were set on being the grossest, most brutal, and most heavy thing that there ever was. ‘Corpse succeeded in doing this, and generally still holds that to this day. Chris, Jack, Bob, Alex, and Paul created something that no one had knew before, and were still learning how to perfect it. What came out of their first real attempt was debut LP,
Eaten Back to Life.
This album, and a lot of Cannibal Corpse’s earlier work (as well as death metal itself), was heavily influenced by the thrash metal of the eighties. Bands like
Slayer especially set the groundwork for death metal; being super fast, having vocals with no melody, and being about death. Some of the riffs on this album, I found, would fit perfectly into Slayer’s discography, and at times when a song would begin, I wouldn’t remember I was listening to ‘Corpse until Chris’s vocals came in. That being said, this album still stands on its own as a death metal record. The thing that really sets
Eaten Back to Life apart from thrash metal of the day is the vocals. Anyone can write fast riffs, fast drums, and lyrics about killing, but not a lot of people could do what Chris Barnes was doing with his voice, and completely mutilate their vocal chords.
For the day, these vocals were some of the heaviest out there. Chuck Shuldiner of
Death didn’t even match the lower growls that Chris was spewing out. Now that being said, Chris wasn’t the best vocalist there ever would be, but he fit the style they had at the time: gross. He is extremely monotone, and offers nothing more than a midrange growl, but it still works. The lyrics weren’t exactly the most thoughtful, but I have to give them props. After reading through them, I managed to only feel slightly sick, and was actually interested in some of these short stories they had to tell. Similar to how some pornos begin with some simple exposition, a lot of the songs on
Eaten Back to Life give the listener some short background before the death begins.
The intruments on this album do their job. They aren’t very complex for a thrash/death metal style album. They are typical and do what they need to do to keep the album moving forward. There is nothing outstanding in any of the instrumental categories. They work for a death metal record, and that’s all that matters for simplicity’s sake. During the course of their career, Cannibal Corpse will learn to craft more interesting and ear catching parts for every instrument. That being said, this album isn’t simply a brick wall of death metal to the face for 40 minutes. There are gems that will keep you interested (Mangled, Born in a Casket, A Skull Full of Maggots).
This album is what it is. It isn’t a masterpiece, but it isn’t awful. It is a good album for a debut record from a band who are trying out this relatively new style of metal. They didn’t know exactly what they were doing yet or how exactly to execute it, but they do it moderately well. The first two songs on this album drone on way longer than they should. I often found myself looking up and realizing we were JUST finishing track 2, “Edible Autopsy”. Nonetheless, good record, something to jam in the background, though I wouldn’t go back to every song specifically.
Recommended Tracks: Mangles, Born in a Casket, A Skull Full of Maggots
