Band:	Cannibal Corpse
Album:	Tomb Of The Mutilated
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	October 22, 1992
Guest review by:	Darth Revan

01. Hammer Smashed Face
02. I Cum Blood
03. Addicted To Vaginal Skin
04. Split Wide Open
05. Necropedophile
06. The Cryptic Stench
07. Entrails Ripped From A Virgin's Cunt
08. Post Mortal Ejaculation
09. Beyond The Cemetary

"This next song, is about shooting blood out of your cock!" - Ah, George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher makes sure you're well prepared for a truly deep analysis of the human psyche in the live version of "I Cum Blood". But if I drop the sarcasm for one moment, you'd think that reviewing ANY Cannibal Corpse album at this point would be completely and utterly redundant. Well, I actually decided to review Tomb of the Mutilated because I felt that I actually had a somewhat original take on it, namely because this is the first Cannibal Corpse album I've ever listened to.

It seems everyone except me already knows exactly what a Cannibal Corpse album sounds like, but for the purposes of review, if nothing else, let me describe it. There's a reason Cannibal Corpse inspired a genre called "Slam Death Metal", namely because they SLAM those drums. Blast beats are the most common form of drumming on Tomb of the Mutilated, and those are likely to be accompanied by fast shredding on guitars tuned so low they might as well be the bass. I have to compliment the guitar work on here. When you get past the loudness of the drums, you find some compelling, catchy melodies. Take "I Cum Blood", for example. Chris Barnes has exceptionally deep growls all throughout, to the point where I would even hazard saying I've not heard any deeper.

That said, the truly great thing about all of the above is that the band are well aware of when to slow things down a bit, so as to build up the heavier moments and provide them with true bombast. Rather than simply leave their throbbing member in your ear, they take it out every once in a while to make it more painful next time they penetrate, so to speak. There's a reason "Hammer Smashed Face" is the most popular Cannibal Corpse song, mainly because it's a perfect amalgamation of killer riffing, slow, heavy buildup moments, and enough blast beats to break three drum kits.

But of course, there's a reason Tomb of the Mutilated is my first Cannibal Corpse album. Namely, the lyrics. I had read someone couldn't bring themselves to even listen to Tomb of the Mutilated because of them, which of course made me morbidly intrigued as to what could possibly be so horrifying. I wasn't disappointed. Tomb of the Mutilated has some truly nightmarish stuff on it, to the point I was actually too scared to give it a listen at first. But then, as it all went through my head, I realized that you can only mention raping dead little girls so many times before it loses its shock value. The lyrics are in fact so over the top that sometimes I can't help but laugh. There's a point where your lyrics are so goddamn horrifying that they not only jump the shark, they jump over it, cut it's belly open, take out its gastrointestinal tract and use it as a condom while they fornicate with it's corpse, and proceed to cum blood all over it. Suffice it to say, I saw it was meant to be ridiculously over the top and not taken seriously... words of a convicted serial killer during "Addicted to Vaginal Skin" notwithstanding.

Funny thing about those lyrics... Chris Barnes may have deep growls, but evidently annunciation isn't his strong point. Until I had the lyrics right in front of me during my listening session, I couldn't understand a single word being said. I say this as someone who's listened to plenty of growling before. If you really want to, you can pretend this is all actually about Chris Barnes having a horrible throat problem, and the band playing around him. Though that may be a by-product of the production... let's talk about that. It took me a while (and some really good headphones) to get past the production on this one. The drums are raw. Way, way too raw. So raw in fact that they initially sounded to me like they were recorded in a garage. I'm a big drum guy, and I like my drums crisp and clear.

So after a rather lengthy analysis, let me put this review to rest. The musicianship on Tomb of the Mutilated is spectacular, as is the songwriting. It's an album that does exactly what it sets out to do. It shocks you (initially at the very least) and it's mercilessly brutal. If you can get past the initial shock of the lyrical content and the somewhat lacking production, you're going to find some truly brilliant death metal.