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Cannibal Corpse - Butchered At Birth review




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Reviewer:
6.0

434 users:
7.74
Band: Cannibal Corpse
Album: Butchered At Birth
Release date: July 1991


01. Meat Hook Sodomy
02. Gutted
03. Living Dissection
04. Under The Rotted Flesh
05. Covered With Sores
06. Vomit The Soul
07. Butchered At Birth
08. Rancid Amputation
09. Innards Decay

I understand that "Butchered at Birth" was a very early release of the band and that at the time it was somewhat new and inventive (EBTL was already released, hence the "somewhat"), so I'll try to be as lenient as possible towards this album. But I may as well put it out in open now, I do not like it.

First, the production is crap. It sounds as if the band recorded it in their lounge room or something, I mean besides the vocals it's really not that brutal. Not only that but the bass is nonexistent. And yes I know it was released in 1991 but "Altars of Madness" was ten times better production-wise (musically too), and it was released earlier.

Now that I've gotten that off my chest I can move on to the musical side of things. I have to admit this album does have it's moments like on "Meat Hook Sodomy" and the title track; both brilliant songs that are a true definition of brutal death metal. I found, however, that the album as a whole is quite boring as it follows the same trend as the previously mentioned tracks, which gets more than a little repetitive, but thankfully there are only eight tracks, which makes it a little easier to listen to. Ultimately, though, I think it just comes down to personal preference: I myself am a fan of brutal death, but only in moderation; someone else who enjoys it day in and day out would probably have written something completely different.

Anyway, so there you have it "Butchered at Birth" a mediocre release by a band that will later establish themselves better (thanks to the addition of "Corpsegrinder"), and impose their status as one of the longest standing death metal bands to date.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 8
Songwriting: 7
Originality: 9
Production: 8

Written by Desecrator | 09.01.2009




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.


Comments

Comments: 18   Visited by: 143 users
29.03.2009 - 18:00
Rating: 7
Deadmeat
Necrobutcher
What? the production is raw and creates the feeling of violence! surely this is not CC's best album but it does not worth only a 6.

COVERED WITH SORES is a masterpiece!!!
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Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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18.04.2009 - 15:24
Uirapuru
Liver Failure
I agree partially with the review, this album is not as brutal as it could be, and it is kinda boring and repetitive at some level.

But I don't think the production is responsable for the mediocrity of this album. The rawness actually makes it more interesting, the ''boring'' songs turns out not so bad with a raw production giving a horrid atmosphere (''Under the rotted flesh'' is a good exemple).

This work has more positive points than negative.
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member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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18.10.2009 - 21:57
Slayer666

Heh, I like this one more than most other Cannibal Corpse's work. But, that's probably because I'm not so much into Brutal Death Metal, and find the small lack of brutallity as a good thing.
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20.10.2009 - 15:17
Rating: 8
Plaguebearer

A 7 for songwriting? This was the initial album where Barnes took the gore riddled lyrics to a whole level, it must at LEAST recieve that recognition.

I am also curious as to why all of the individual ratings are better than the overall rating itself? If the production was so bad why did this guest reviewer give it an 8?
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21.10.2009 - 17:43
Desecrator

Written by Plaguebearer on 20.10.2009 at 15:17

A 7 for songwriting? This was the initial album where Barnes took the gore riddled lyrics to a whole level, it must at LEAST recieve that recognition.

I am also curious as to why all of the individual ratings are better than the overall rating itself? If the production was so bad why did this guest reviewer give it an 8?

Yeah you got me. I have no idea why that is, I guess i just got mixed up or something. About the overall rating, it doesn't matter that it's lower than the individual ratings, that's why it's called an 'overall' rating, because it's my 'overall' impression of the album regardless of what the rating was for performance, songwriting, etc.
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06.02.2011 - 22:35
Rating: 10
thewall30

So you rate an 8 for performance, 7 for songwriting, 9 for originality, and 8 for production but yet you somehow rate it a 6.0? To me that doesn't really make any sense at all, the review could have been better and longer too
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07.02.2011 - 14:35
theflyingmachine

This used to be my least favorite CC album, but it has really grown on me the last year or so. It is an album that I can really enjoy listening to in my car, but it sounds like shit on my computer speakers because of the drums. It is probably their darkest album and is also one of their most brutal. I'd give it an 8.
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07.02.2011 - 14:42
Rating: 6
Angelic Storm
Melodious
I pretty much agree with the review. The material is very samey, or at least it seems that way, as the production makes the guitar sound quite muffled, and its difficult to make out many of the individual riffs. In saying this though, "Gutted" and "Covered With Sores" manage to stand out as particularly great tracks and not as samey as the rest of the album. But overall, it doesn't have the throughly evil atmosphere of it's follow up, nor the fun and catchy b-horror movie cannibalistic sound of it's predecessor. So for me, it's the weakest of the Chris Barnes era albums.

6.5 is probably the score I would give it, a 7 if feeling generous. lol
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16.01.2012 - 21:03
Rating: 10
Big-Al

Performance: 8
Songwriting: 7
Originality: 9
Production: 8
...yet as an album it gets only a 6?

well I love this album.

The guitars sound like chainsaws.
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I drink moosepiss
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16.01.2012 - 23:09
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Written by Big-Al on 16.01.2012 at 21:03
...yet as an album it gets only a 6?

6 is the overall rating according to the reviewer, not the mean of those four sub-ratings.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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12.06.2014 - 19:57
Dr. Strawberry

Written by Big-Al on 16.01.2012 at 21:03

well I love this album.

The guitars sound like chainsaws.

Why don't you buy a real big chainsaws (instead of listening guitars sound like chainsaws) ?
you can "play" it whenever you feel like listening to metal music.
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13.06.2014 - 10:17
Rating: 10
Big-Al

Written by Dr. Strawberry on 12.06.2014 at 19:57

Written by Big-Al on 16.01.2012 at 21:03

well I love this album.

The guitars sound like chainsaws.

Why don't you buy a real big chainsaws (instead of listening guitars sound like chainsaws) ?
you can "play" it whenever you feel like listening to metal music.


I used to use one... but it's not practical in the car
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I drink moosepiss
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02.09.2016 - 15:44
Rating: 8
Moosh666

I have never read a more wrong review in my life, your opinion is wrong, I'm sorry.
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02.09.2016 - 19:57
Mikolaj
Account deleted
Written by Moosh666 on 02.09.2016 at 15:44

I have never read a more wrong review in my life, your opinion is wrong, I'm sorry.

How can an opinion be wrong?
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05.09.2016 - 18:58
Rating: 8
Moosh666

Written by Guest on 02.09.2016 at 19:57

Written by Moosh666 on 02.09.2016 at 15:44

I have never read a more wrong review in my life, your opinion is wrong, I'm sorry.

How can an opinion be wrong?

There can be exceptions...
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05.09.2016 - 19:51
Rating: 6
Cynic Metalhead
Paisa Vich Nasha
Written by Moosh666 on 05.09.2016 at 18:58

Written by Guest on 02.09.2016 at 19:57

Written by Moosh666 on 02.09.2016 at 15:44

I have never read a more wrong review in my life, your opinion is wrong, I'm sorry.

How can an opinion be wrong?

There can be exceptions...


Exceptions in giving opinion? That's new to me.
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08.09.2016 - 19:30
Rating: 8
Moosh666

It's just is ok?
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31.03.2017 - 15:34
Rating: 9
Mr.Moustache69

This is a masterpiece. At least a 9. Come on.
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