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Background information
Origin	Buffalo, NY, USA [1][2]
Genre(s)	Death metal
Years active	1988 - present
Label(s)	Metal Blade
Associated acts	Six Feet Under Monstrosity Ceremony Deicide Malevolent Creation Nevermore Paths of Possession
Website	Official Site
Members
George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher Pat O'Brien Rob Barrett Alex Webster Paul Mazurkiewicz
Former members
Jeremy Turner Jack Owen Bob Rusay Chris Barnes

Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band founded in 1988. The band has since released ten studio albums, one boxed set, and one live album. Although Cannibal Corpse has had virtually no radio or television exposure, a cult following began to build behind the group with albums like 1991's Butchered at Birth and 1992's Tomb of the Mutilated. Cannibal Corpse have sold over 1 million records worldwide^[1], including over 500,000 in the United States^[2], making them one of the bestselling death metal bands of all time.

Cannibal Corpse mostly draws influence from thrash metal bands, such as Slayer;^[3] other death metal bands, such as Death, have also played a major role in establishing their sound^[3], along with Kreator^[4]. Cannibal Corpse have gained some infamy for their horror fiction-themed lyrics, including gore, mutilation, murder, torture, and death.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Members 2.1 Current 2.2 Previous 3 Trivia 4 Discography 5 References

Cannibal Corpse formed from the ashes of three Buffalo-area death metal bands, Beyond Death (Webster, Owen), Leviathan (Barnes), and Tirant Sin (Barnes, Rusay, Mazurkiewicz). The band played their first show at Buffalo's River Rock Cafe in April 1989, shortly after recording a five-song demo tape Cannibal Corpse. Within a year of that first gig, the band were signed to Metal Blade Records and their full-length, debut album, Eaten Back to Life, was released in August 1990.

Cannibal Corpse's music is known for its death grunt singing style. It is also known for its song and album titles. Like other death metal groups who have songs about rape, murder, and necrophilia, the band's lyrics and the imagery on their album covers (drawn by Vincent Locke) are often explicitly sexual and violent, to an extremity that is far beyond many. Their albums were censored and banned in several countries; in Germany, they were not allowed to play any song from one of their first three albums in concert, not allowed to play at all in the state of Bavaria, not allowed to display the original cover images, nor to print the lyrics in their CD booklets.^{[citation needed]} They were banned in Australia but were allowed to perform there for a 2006 tour.^{[citation needed]}

Much like directors who helm zombie horror films, Cannibal Corpse prides itself on its graphic imagery as nothing more than an extreme form of over-the-top entertainment. As vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher comments in the music documentary Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, "it's art, just look at it as art. Yeah, it's disgusting...but go to the Vatican and look at some of the art there. That's real, that's representing something that's real, that could happen. This [artwork], you know, that's never going to happen...monsters aren't going to rip out of people's bodies anytime soon."

Fisher also stated his frustration in an interview regarding the censorship of live performances of certain songs, saying "we can play 'Dismembered and Molested' in Germany but we cannot play 'Born in a Casket'. Which one sounds worse?" Song titles include "Entrails Ripped from a Virgin's Cunt", "Fucked with a Knife", "Meat-Hook Sodomy", and "Necropedophile". In May 1995, then-Senator Bob Dole mentioned the band by name and accused them of violating human decency. Cannibal Corpse also enjoyed a brief cameo in the 1994 Jim Carrey film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, performing their song "Hammer Smashed Face." (Carrey actually insisted that the band perform in the movie because he was a fan of the band.)^[5]

Cannibal Corpse has had many line-up changes over the years. In 1993, founding member and guitarist Bob Rusay left the group (he is now a golf instructor) and was ultimately replaced by Malevolent Creation guitarist Rob Barrett. In 1995, vocalist Chris Barnes was dismissed from the band for musical differences (he is now the vocalist of Six Feet Under and Torture Killer) and was replaced with Monstrosity's vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, who is known for his record-long screams in songs such as "Devoured by Vermin" and "They Deserve to Die." In 1997, Barrett, who originally replaced Rusay on guitar, left Cannibal Corpse to rejoin his previous band Malevolent Creation. After Barrett left, he was replaced by Nevermore guitarist Pat O’Brien who first appeared on their 1998 release Gallery of Suicide. Founding member and guitarist Jack Owen left Cannibal Corpse in 2004 to spend more time on his second band, Adrift. He joined the band Deicide in late 2005 and is featured on their latest album, The Stench of Redemption. Jeremy Turner of Origin briefly replaced him as second guitarist on 2004's Tour of the Wretched. Barrett rejoined the band in 2005 and is featured on their latest album, Kill, which was released March 21, 2006 on Metal Blade Records. In 2005 the guest book of Cannibal Corpse's web site was shut down due to vandalism by non-fans, mocking death metal as a whole.

Bassist Alex Webster mentioned in his recent interview that Cannibal Corpse will begin writing a new album sometime in November 2007.^[6]

• George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher - Vocals (1995-)
• Pat O'Brien - Guitar (1997-)
• Rob Barrett - Guitar (1993-1997, 2005-)
• Alex Webster - Bass (1988-)
• Paul Mazurkiewicz - Drums (1988-)

• Chris Barnes - Vocals (1988-1995)
• Bob Rusay - Guitar (1988-1993)
• Jack Owen - Guitar (1988-2004)
• Jeremy Turner - Guitar (2004-2005)
• Benjamin Stephen Velliquette - Melodic Steel Drums (1995-1996)

• Ex-vocalist Chris Barnes has an ongoing feud with Anal Cunt vocalist Seth Putnam. Putnam was heckling Barnes and the rest of Six Feet Under during a set in 1996 and allegedly Barnes and his roadies attempted to attack Putnam. Putnam has repeatedly challenged Barnes to a one-on-one fight, but Barnes has yet to accept. Putnam and Anal Cunt wrote a song about this, called "Chris Barnes is a Pussy".

Main article: Cannibal Corpse discography