Cannibal Corpse is also best summed up by a catch-phrase that appears on merchandise for Morbid Angel, one of Corpse’s fellow death metal bands: “Extreme music for extreme people”. Death metal bands vary. You have the technical proficiency of, say, Deicide, the seamless balance of brutality and melody that only comes from the likes of Vital Remains, and the progressive, introspective melodies from the band Death. However, all artists within death metal most often share these characteristics: inaudibly growled vocals, brutal, hard-hitting, and sometimes even catchy guitar riffs, blast-beat drumming, high-pitched, dual-layer guitar solos and complex basslines. Cannibal, being the most popular death metal band, is no exception. Whether it is the greatest band in the genre is strictly a matter of opinion. Most detractors of the death metal genre as a whole will cite their inability to comprehend what the “singer” is talking about due to their distinctive vocal style. Any music enthusiast with an ounce of maturity will put aside the death growl technique, and, for lack of better words, rock out. Death metal is music that is (commonly) the spawn of a tortured, neglected soul. Listeners of D.M. often want to find something they can relate to. While no person in their right mind could relate to, say, a song about going on a killing spree with a hammer, the aggression in the music reflects the pent-up anger of the bands that play it, and in turn means record sales from the music’s target demographics. I, myself, have a lot of reasons to be angry at the world and its inhabitants, and frankly, a song about killing someone sure beats the alternative of actually doing it. And Cannibal Corpse is the most accessible, recognized band death metal band out there. So who better than them to be death metal’s ambassadors to the rest of the world?
I’m not writing this to net in any converts to the death metal “dark side”. In fact, I’m confident that if you hated Cannibal Corpse prior to reading this that you’ll still hate their music now. But all I am trying to get across is a fervent encouragement for the reader to pause and be more open-minded. Cannibal Corpse themselves have gone on the record a plethora of times to discuss how their music is not to be taken seriously, and should be likened to a horror movie. Granted, (most) death metal isn’t the most substantial music out there. Songs about mutilating virgins and sacrificing babies isn’t going to make any significant political statement or state mankind’s ultimate destiny. But for the time being, Cannibal Corpse are happy to do what they do best, and their record sales reflect their dedication.
One must understand that Cannibal Corpse actually does not represent death metal as a whole. They are the stereotypical death metal band, with fast-paced music and gross-out lyrics. If I were to recommend one album from them as my favorite, it would be their debut, Eaten Back to Life. The album has a more thrash metal-based style, but still is definitely death metal. Old-school death metal at that, with which you can’t go wrong. However, if one wishes to dive deeper into the genre, than the godfathers of death metal itself, Death, are certainly a band to seek out. In terms of strong instrumentation, Deicide’s 2006 output The Stench of Redemption is, in my opinion at least, the magnum opus of all death metal music. (Be forewarned that Deicide is a band in which practically every song is a concentrated, venomous assault on organized religion, Christianity in particular.) This reverts to my point about open-mindedness. In a way, Cannibal Corpse are a reflection of open-mindedness, despite their refusal to venture outside of their comfort zone of gore and filth. Cannibal also show the depths of the sickness of the human mind, and in turn, when applied into music, are the extreme outer limit of brutality. Almost never will something be entirely what you expect it will be. And music is no exception.
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