Band:	Cannibal Corpse
Album:	Eaten Back To Life
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	August 17, 1990
Guest review by:	-tom-

01. Shredded Humans
02. Edible Autopsy
03. Put Them To Death
04. Mangled
05. Scattered Remains, Splattered Brains
06. Born In A Casket
07. Rotting Head
08. The Undead Will Feast
09. Bloody Chunks
10. A Skull Full Of Maggots
11. Buried In The Backyard
12. Born In A Casket [live] [re-release bonus]
+ Born In A Casket [live video] [re-release bonus]

'eaten back to life' is often regarded as one of the best death metal albums of all time. At its time of release it was one of the most brutal albums of all time and even 14 years on, it's still pretty extreme. Also, this is one of the first albums to play death metal as something completely separate to thrash so it's an important album in the history of extreme metal. Personally though, I think that it is completely over-rated.

Since this album, Cannibal Corpse has progressed significantly. Many people would consider their changes to be a bad thing as they are less extreme on more-recent releases. 'eaten back to life' is pretty much the same speed and style throughout the album and with few changes in tone in the vocals of Chris Barnes. However I think that the change in vocalist to George Fisher in 1996 was the best thing that ever happened to the band. To compare that to their latest release, their debut looks very average. In the 14 years since this, Cannibal Corpse has gradually changed becoming slightly less extreme and brutal but with a clearer sound and more variation in speed and vocals. The first time I listened to this album it seemed very monotonous and uninteresting and although it has grown on me, I still think it is average at best and its popularity has more to do with controversial lyrics and artwork and the fact that it was a milestone in the progression of death metal.

The vocals are incomprehensible which is probably a good thing judging by the song titles. Maybe I'm missing the point by criticizing an extreme metal album for being completely growled but the changes in tone and the slightly audible lyrics of the later albums seems like a good thing. This can hardly be described as a technical album and if it was it would just ruin the brutality of it but the solo's at the end of 'shredded humans' and 'mangled' were quite impressive considering the difficulty of putting instrumental sections into music as extreme as this. Overall I think it is a good album and perhaps I've been a bit harsh with this review. It is a great piece of brutal death metal which sometimes borderlines grind core (e.g. the undead will feast), it is definitive of the sub-genre and it has influenced hordes of bands that followed but because of this it is extremely over-hyped. If Cannibal Corpse released this album today as an unknown band instead of in 1990, I think it would be completely over-looked.