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Tomb of the Mutilated

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Tomb of the Mutilated
Two corpses, one male and one female, engage in cunnilingus.
Studio album by
Cannibal Corpse
ReleasedSeptember 22, 1992
RecordedJune 1–15, 1992 at Morrisound Recording, Tampa, Florida
GenreDeath metal
Length35:11
LabelMetal Blade
ProducerScott Burns
Cannibal Corpse chronology
Butchered at Birth
(1991) 		Tomb of the Mutilated
(1992) 		Hammer Smashed Face
(1993)
Alternate cover
Censored version

Tomb of the Mutilated is the third studio album by American death metal band Cannibal Corpse, released on September 22, 1992, by Metal Blade Records.

It is the band's final album to feature their original lineup, as founding guitarist Bob Rusay was fired and replaced with Malevolent Creation guitarist Rob Barrett after the album's release.

Background and recording

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The album was recorded at Morrisound Recording studios in Tampa, Florida in Feburary 1992. Guitarist Jack Owen tracked all of the album's rhythm guitar sections at the request of producer Scott Burns; he had observed that the duo had radically different playing styles, and argued that a tighter sound would result from having the band's strongest rhythm guitar player track all rhythms. Lead guitarist Bob Rusay was a self-taught guitarist, whose playing style was described as "unorthodox" by vocalist Chris Barnes. He performed the album's guitar guitar solos with Owen polishing them afterward.[1]

Tomb was the band's first album in which they had the budget to work longer hours in the studio with producer Burns. Webster commented further,

"Many fans have told me that "Tomb..." is their favorite album because the production is so heavy. There is no doubt that Scott helped Cannibal Corpse a great deal with the excellent production work he did on this album."[2]

Because the liner notes on Butchered at Birth feature quotations from American serial killer Albert Fish, he is often incorrectly credited with being the voice at the beginning of "Addicted to Vaginal Skin". However, the taped confession heard at the beginning of the song most likely belongs to the "Genesee River Killer" Arthur Shawcross.[3]

Composition

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Music

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The material on Tomb of the Mutilated is considered to be faster and more complex than its predecessors.[4] Bassist Alex Webster recalled that the band's increasingly technical approach to songwriting made the album's sessions the most challenging they had endured at that point, saying:

I think when you listen to the album, and compare it with the first two, you can hear the progression. The songs on "Tomb..." were the fastest and most technical we had done at that time [...] but it was this technical push and the challenging music it created that made "Tomb" a fan favorite.[5]

Lyrics

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Vocalist Chris Barnes single-handedly penned all of the album's lyrics, with Webster recalling that the band "placed no limits" on him throughout the process.

"He’d come to us with the most vile, repugnant stuff and we’d be like, ‘Sure! Why not?’ We were trying to make the most extreme and aggressive music we could, so why not have the most antagonistic lyrics too?"[6]

The album's seventh track, "Entrails Ripped From a Virgin's Cunt" as been referred to as "arguably the most offensive song in the Cannibal Corpse canon".[7]

Reception and legacy

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic link
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal8/10[8]
Rock Hard8.5/10[9]

Tomb of the Mutilated has received positive reviews from critics, both contemporarily and retrospectively. Heavy metal webzine Kicked in the Face praised the album's musicianship but criticized the tone of Barnes' vocals and Scott Burns' production.[10] Metal Storm praised the album's songwriting, production and progression over its predecessor, but criticized the one-dimensional nature of the album's lyrics.[11]

In a retrospective review of the album, Vincent Jefferies of Allmusic wrote:

"Listeners unfamiliar with the belching vocal style and pummeling drum and guitar attack typical of death metal probably won't understand what separates this or any other record that adheres so stringently to the genre's formula, but learned fans have come to appreciate Tomb of the Mutilated as a solid, if not important, offering [...] Cannibal Corpse somehow managed to outlast many of their more critically accepted contemporaries due in no small part to early career efforts like Tomb of the Mutilated, with its powerful musical focus."[12]

Dom Lawson of Metal Hammer wrote that the album is "bulging with moments of stomach-churning horror, ranging from the cross-your-legs revulsion of I Cum Blood through to the provocatively over-the-top Entrails Ripped From A Virgin’s Cunt.[13]

The album's opening track "Hammer Smashed Face" is considered the band's signature song. Jon Weiderhorn of Loudwire included the song in his list of "The Most Disgusting Metal Lyrics of All Time".[14]

In 2005, Tomb of the Mutilated was ranked number 278 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.[15]

Current Cannibal Corpse guitarist Rob Barrett has called Tomb of the Mutilated his favorite album by the band, saying "the energy level is amazing on it".[16] Trivium guitarist Corey Beaulieu claims his mother confiscated his copy of Tomb of the Mutilated when he was a teenager after reading the album's song titles.[17] Late The Black Dahlia Murder vocalist Trevor Strnad claimed he had to shelve the album after purchasing it, recalling "me and my bowl cut and my Harry Potter glasses are not ready for this shit".[18] Rapper Ice-T referred to the album's lyrical content as "crazy shit".[19]

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"Hammer Smashed Face" was featured during the band's cameo appearance in the 1994 comedy film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective starring Jim Carrey.[20][21][22][23][24][25][26] Carrey was a fan of the band and requested they appear in the film. Guitarist Rob Barrett recalled the actor was more excited to meet the band than they were to meet him.[27] Drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz recalls:

They took us over to the [actors’] trailers, and Jim comes over to us wearing his Ace Ventura garb, going, “Oh my god! Cannibal Corpse! It’s so great to have you guys here!” Then he starts rattling off lyrics and tells us he wants us to play “Hammer Smashed Face.” It was insane.[28]

Paul Mazurkiewicz has stated that the band is frequently told by fans that they were introduced to the band and (death metal in general) through the film, adding "if you worked out an average, it would probably be one person a day".[26]

After the band had shot scenes for Ace Ventura, they were offered another cameo in the film Airheads, though this offer was revoked when the producer learned the band had already done a cameo for Ace Ventura.[24]

The song was also added as downloadable content for the Rock Band video game series.[29][30] The song "I Cum Blood" is also featured in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned.[31]

Track listing

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

No.TitleLength
1."Hammer Smashed Face"4:02
2."I Cum Blood"3:40
3."Addicted to Vaginal Skin"3:29
4."Split Wide Open"3:01
5."Necropedophile"4:05
6."The Cryptic Stench"3:57
7."Entrails Ripped from a Virgin's Cunt"4:14
8."Post Mortal Ejaculation"3:35
9."Beyond the Cemetery"4:52
Total length:35:11
Bonus track
No.TitleLength
10."I Cum Blood (live)"4:13
Total length:39:24

Personnel

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Cannibal Corpse

Additional musicians

Production

References

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  1. ^ "Cannibal Corpse - Centuries of Torment - DVD 1 - History (OFFICIAL)". YouTube. November 20, 2013.
  2. ^ "Alex Webster on "Tomb Of The Mutilated"". July 29, 2021. Archived from the original on July 29, 2021. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  3. ^ Cannibal Corpse FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions
  4. ^ "Cannibal Corpse - Tomb of the Mutilated review".
  5. ^ "Alex Webster on "Tomb of the Mutilated"". Archived from the original on July 29, 2021.
  6. ^ "Blood, guts and Jim Carrey: How Cannibal Corpse became death metal's first million selling band". March 13, 2024.
  7. ^ "The 5 most gruesome Cannibal Corpse songs". November 10, 2017.
  8. ^ Popoff, Martin (2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 71. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
  9. ^ Albrecht, Frank. "Rock Hard review". Rock Hard. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  10. ^ Cannibal Corpse – Tomb Of The Mutilated review Archived November 1, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ "Cannibal Corpse - Tomb of the Mutilated review".
  12. ^ "Tomb of the Mutilated - Cannibal Corpse | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  13. ^ "Blood, guts and Jim Carrey: How Cannibal Corpse became death metal's first million selling band". March 13, 2024.
  14. ^ "The Most Disgusting Metal Lyrics of All Time". Loudwire. October 6, 2023.
  15. ^ Best of Rock & Metal - Die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten (in German). Rock Hard. 2005. p. 103. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.
  16. ^ "Cannibal Corpse - Centuries of Torment - DVD 1 - History (OFFICIAL)". YouTube. November 20, 2013.
  17. ^ "Cannibal Corpse - Centuries of Torment - DVD 1 - History (OFFICIAL)". YouTube. November 20, 2013.
  18. ^ "Cannibal Corpse - Centuries of Torment - DVD 1 - History (OFFICIAL)". YouTube. November 20, 2013.
  19. ^ "Cannibal Corpse - Centuries of Torment - DVD 1 - History (OFFICIAL)". YouTube. November 20, 2013.
  20. ^ "Blood, guts and Jim Carrey: How Cannibal Corpse became death metal's first million selling band". March 13, 2024.
  21. ^ Cannibal Corpse Fanbase (March 6, 2023). How Cannibal Corpse Filmed in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Retrieved September 6, 2024 – via YouTube.
  22. ^ Ramptonpublished, Mike (July 26, 2021). "A deep dive into Cannibal Corpse's appearance in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective". louder. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  23. ^ West, Thomas (January 21, 2023). "Ace Ventura's Death Metal Cameo Is Actually A Sweet Story". ScreenRant. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  24. ^ a b Pasbani, Robert (February 11, 2015). "CANNIBAL CORPSE Almost Turned Down Working with Jim Carrey on Ace Ventura". Metal Injection. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  25. ^ Pasbani, Robert (October 12, 2017). "Never Before Seen Photos of CANNIBAL CORPSE On Set on Ace Ventura: Pet Detective Surface". Metal Injection. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  26. ^ a b Bennett, J. (February 10, 2015). "We Interviewed Cannibal Corpse About That One Time They Were in 'Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'". VICE. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  27. ^ "Cannibal Corpse - Centuries of Torment - DVD 1 - History (OFFICIAL)". YouTube. November 20, 2013.
  28. ^ "CANNIBAL CORPSE Almost Turned Down Working with Jim Carrey on Ace Ventura". February 11, 2015.
  29. ^ "Buy "Hammer Smashed Face" - Cannibal Corpse | Xbox". www.xbox.com. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  30. ^ "'Hammer Smashed Face' - Cannibal Corpse". store.playstation.com. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  31. ^ "GRAND THEFT AUTO IV - The Lost and Damned - Music: Soundtrack, Radio, Songs". www.gta4.net. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
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