Eaten Back to Life

With their debut, the band sought to further develop the extreme lyrics and imagery of other early death metal bands like Carcass and Death, and the violent nature of the subject matter has caused controversy and bans in multiple countries.{{cite web |date=August 17, 2023 |title=33 Years Ago: Cannibal Corpse Release 'Eaten Back to Life' |url=https://loudwire.com/cannibal-corpse-eaten-back-to-life-album-anniversary/ |website=Loudwire}}{{cite web |last=Falina |first=Melanie |date=February 2004 |title=Cannibal Corpse Just Wants to Sing About Ripping Apart Human Flesh in Peace |url=http://www.chicagoinnerview.com/archives/feb04_cannibal_corpse.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090311003400/http://www.chicagoinnerview.com/archives/feb04_cannibal_corpse.htm |archive-date=March 11, 2009 |access-date=June 7, 2013 |work=Chicago Innerview |publisher=Innerview Media, Inc}}{{cite web |date=November 2014 |title=Cannibal Corpse songs banned in Russia |url=https://rapsinews.com/judicial_news/20141128/272676781.html |access-date=March 14, 2023 |publisher=RAPSI}} According to bassist Alex Webster, "We saw that a lot of bands in Florida seemed to have more of a darker, anti-religion thing going on [such as with Morbid Angel and Deicide], so we decided to do the gore thing with the art and lyrics."{{Cite web |last=Wiederhorn |first=Jon |title=Florida Death Metal's Gory Rise, Groundbreaking Reign: The Definitive Oral History |url=https://www.revolvermag.com/music/florida-death-metals-gory-rise-groundbreaking-reign-definitive-oral-history/ |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=Revolver |language=en-US}} Founding guitarist Jack Owen half-joked that the album's gruesome song titles were conceived before the band had written any music.{{cite web | url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/eaten-back-to-life-mw0000309728 | title=Eaten Back to Life - Cannibal Corpse | Album | AllMusic | website=AllMusic }} The band would record instrumental demo tapes that vocalist Chris Barnes would then take home and write lyrics to.{{cite web | url=https://disposableunderground.com/cannibal-corpse-interview-with-chris-barnes-from-the-vault/ | title=Go back in time with Chris Barnes to the "Eaten Back to Life" album | date=October 28, 2020 }} Founding guitarist Bob Rusay composed the guitar riffs to "A Skull Full of Maggots."Centuries of Torment: The First 20 Years Drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz recalled, "It was just friends getting together playing music that we loved. [...] That's as simple as it was and that's how it starts: you're not thinking of anything in the future, you're just thinking, 'Let's get together, make some cool music that we enjoy.' When Cannibal formed we were definitely looking to take it to the next level, but we were still just playing music we liked."{{Cite web |title=Cannibal Corpse │ Exclaim! |url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/cannibal_corpse-staring_through_eyes_of_banned |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=Cannibal Corpse │ Exclaim! |language=en}}

The album was recorded at Morrisound Recording in Tampa, Florida, where many other influential early death metal releases were produced. Bassist Alex Webster specifically cited the band's appreciation of albums like Altars of Madness by Morbid Angel and Leprosy by Death as having inspired the choice of studio. They were able to make friends and connections within the burgeoning Tampa death metal scene and would ultimately relocate there.{{cite web |last=Wiederhorn |first=Jon |date=August 2022 |title=32 Years Ago: Cannibal Corpse Pile on the Gore With 'Eaten Back to Life' |url=https://loudwire.com/cannibal-corpse-eaten-back-to-life-album-anniversary/ |access-date=March 14, 2023 |publisher=Loudwire}} Webster and Mazurkeiwicz recorded bass and drum tracks simultaneously. Many songs were done in one take, as the band did not yet have the budget to spend long hours in the studio.{{cite book |last1=Dick |first1=Chris |title=Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces |publisher=Da Capo Press |page=152}}

The album cover, which depicts a zombie mutilating and cannibalizing itself, was created by horror comic book artist Vince Locke, who the band would continue to collaborate with in the future. In the Centuries of Torment documentary, Locke joked, "Chris Barnes hunted me down" to collaborate.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGPot3rP53o&t=3153s |title=Cannibal Corpse - Centuries of Torment - DVD 1 - History (OFFICIAL) |date=2013-11-20 |last=Metal Blade Records |access-date=2025-01-23 |via=YouTube}} A statement can be found in the album's liner notes, dedicating it to the memory of Alferd Packer.

Dubbed "death metal for dummies" and a "Neanderthal version of death metal" the sound on Eaten Back to Life has been described as "the soundtrack to a serial killer's abhorrent lair," and employs many – if not all – of the genre's trademark characteristics.{{Citation |title=Eaten Back to Life - Cannibal Corpse {{!}} Album {{!}} AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/eaten-back-to-life-mw0000309728 |access-date=2025-01-02 |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Tepedelen |first=Adem |title=10 Essential Gore-Metal Albums |url=https://www.revolvermag.com/music/10-essential-gore-metal-albums/ |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=Revolver |language=en-US}}

According to Greg Pratt of Exclaim, "Eaten showcases an early stage of the band, not quite as extreme as they would become, incorporating more heavy thrash elements into their sound as opposed to the straight-up no-nonsense death metal the band would adopt on their next album and continue to run with for the rest of their career."{{Cite web |title=Cannibal Corpse │ Exclaim! |url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/cannibal_corpse-staring_through_eyes_of_banned |access-date=2025-01-22 |website=Cannibal Corpse │ Exclaim! |language=en}} The album employs growling vocals, "grinding" guitar riffs, chromatic melodies, tempo changes and blast beats. According to music journalist T Coles, "with the sonic standard now set, the band leant much further into the heavy double bass and palm muting that would define the genre."

The drumming has been described as "the relentless pound of meat hammers in the abattoir." Guitarist Jack Owen cited the works of Exodus, early Sepultura, Celtic Frost, Napalm Death and Dark Angel as influences present on the album. He said, "we were into thrash and triplet playing on the guitar". Chris Barnes' vocal performance on the album has been described as sounding like "Satan on a diet of razor blades and paint thinner." The album's lyrics have been described as "ludicrously over the top."{{cite web |date=March 27, 2024 |title=RichardMetalFan Interviews! Ep. 240: Jack Owen of Six Feet Under |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuky7k6Ajmg |website=YouTube}}{{cite book |last1=Coles |first1=T |title=Death Metal |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |pages=56}}{{cite web |date=March 13, 2024 |title=Blood, guts and Jim Carrey: How Cannibal Corpse became death metal's first million selling band |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/cannibal-corpse-death-metal-history-interview-2012}} Glen Benton of Deicide performs guest vocals on the tracks "Mangled" and "A Skull Full of Maggots."

Leslie Mathew of AllMusic gave the Eaten Back to Life an underwhelming retrospective review, lamenting the album's lack of variety and "interesting guitar work". John Weiderhorn of Loudwire called the album "a raw and powerful collection of tunes that [has stood] the test of time."{{Cite web |last=Wiederhorn |first=Jon|date=2023-08-17 |title=33 Years Ago: Cannibal Corpse Release 'Eaten Back to Life' |url=https://loudwire.com/cannibal-corpse-eaten-back-to-life-album-anniversary/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral |access-date=2025-01-10 |website=Loudwire |language=en}} Adem Tepedelen of Revolver wrote in 2006: "Cannibal Corpse became a gore-metal franchise with the release of their now-mandatory, splatter-flick-inspired debut."{{Cite web |last=Tepedelen |first=Adem |title=10 Essential Gore-Metal Albums |url=https://www.revolvermag.com/music/10-essential-gore-metal-albums/ |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=Revolver |language=en-US}}

All music written by Cannibal Corpse.

{{Track listing

| total_length = 36:21

| title1 = Shredded Humans

| lyrics1 = {{flatlist|

• Chris Barnes
• Jack Owen

}}

| length1 = 5:11

| title2 = Edible Autopsy

| lyrics2 = Barnes

| length2 = 4:32

| title3 = Put Them to Death

| lyrics3 = Barnes

| length3 = 1:50

| title4 = Mangled

| lyrics4 = {{flatlist|

• Barnes
• Paul Mazurkiewicz

}}

| length4 = 4:29

| title5 = Scattered Remains, Splattered Brains

| lyrics5 = {{flatlist|

• Barnes
• Owen

}}

| length5 = 2:34

| title6 = Born in a Casket

| lyrics6 = Barnes

| length6 = 3:20

| title7 = Rotting Head

| lyrics7 = {{flatlist|

• Barnes
• Owen

}}

| length7 = 2:26

| title8 = The Undead Will Feast

| lyrics8 = {{flatlist|

• Barnes
• Owen
• Alex Webster

}}

| length8 = 2:49

| title9 = Bloody Chunks

| length9 = 1:53

| lyrics9 = Barnes

| title10 = A Skull Full of Maggots

| length10 = 2:06

| lyrics10 = Barnes

| title11 = Buried in the Backyard

| length11 = 5:11

| lyrics11 = Barnes

}}

{{track listing

| all_writing =

| headline = Bonus track

| title12 = Born in a Casket (Live)

| lyrics12 = Barnes

| length12 = 3:34

}}

• Chris Barnes – vocals
• Bob Rusay – guitar
• Jack Owen – guitar
• Alex Webster – bass
• Paul Mazurkiewicz – drums

; Additional personnel

• Glen Benton – backing vocals on "Mangled" and "A Skull Full of Maggots"
• Francis M. Howard – backing vocals on "Mangled" and "A Skull Full of Maggots"
• Pat O'Brien – lead guitar on live bonus track
• George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher – vocals on live bonus track

{{Reflist}}

{{Cannibal Corpse}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eaten Back To Life}}

Category:1990 debut albums

Category:Cannibal Corpse albums

Category:Metal Blade Records albums

Category:Albums produced by Scott Burns (record producer)

Category:Albums recorded at Morrisound Recording

Category:Obscenity controversies in music

Category:Works about Alferd Packer

Category:Death metal albums

hu:Tomb of the Mutilated