J-Man Less than a year after their controversial and classic debut album put them on the map for death metal listeners worldwide, Cannibal Corpse had already returned with a follow-up album in the form of Butchered at Birth. Every bit as shocking as Eaten Back to Life indeed, Butchered at Birth sports an even more grotesque album cover than its predecessor, along with plenty of gruesome lyrics and crushingly brutal death metal music to satisfy their already rabid fanbase. On the cover of Butchered at Birth you'll see zombies mutilating a once-pregnant woman, removing the fetus from her womb to be placed on a meat hook along with a long line of other (presumably unborn) babies - pleasant, right? Well judging by the controversy this cover stirred up, it's clear that quite a large amount of people didn't think so. The album was originally sold in a generic white slip-on cover that just had the band's logo and the album title, but countries like Germany (once again) went as far as to ban the album outright. Ontario, Canada also mandated that record stores not sell the album to anybody under the age of 18. Although I personally find this idea of censorship and album banning to be absolutely appalling, make no mistake when purchasing Butchered at Birth - this is not a listen for the faint of heart!

The style of brutal death metal on Butchered at Birth is more or less the same thing we heard on Eaten Back to Life. This is very one-dimensional, brutal, and fast-paced death metal with a heavy emphasis on Chris Barnes's deep guttural growls. His growls are even more indecipherable this time around, and I tend to think they sound just a tad more generic - it's not a major issue, but it's worth stating nonetheless. In many regards, Butchered at Birth is more consistent than the debut; all around, this is the more professional and mature of Cannibal Corpse's first two efforts. The production is still thin and 'old-school' as hell, but the musicianship strikes me as much more tight and polished this time around.

Like Eaten Back to Life, Butchered at Birth unfortunately suffers from rather one-dimensional and unremarkable compositions. This is a very fun listen from time to time, but I do usually find myself remembering remarkably little when the CD ends. Cannibal Corpse just weren't masters at writing memorable riffs at this point in their career, and even though tracks like “Covered With Sores” (the highlight of the album) can get stuck in your head, the vast majority of this album isn't all that remarkable. Butchered at Birth is a fun listen for thirty-six minutes, but it doesn't leave any sort of lasting impression on me.

Technically speaking, Butchered at Birth is a notch above Cannibal Corpse's previous effort, but I feel like this album is a bit less charming and memorable Eaten Back to Life. That lack of charm is ultimately made up for by the quality of the musicianship and the energy of the performances, though, and I'd say both albums end up being pretty equal in terms of quality. Butchered at Birth is another 3 star album from Cannibal Corpse in my opinion. The 'classic' status and quality is definitely there, but it's simply too one-dimensional and monotonous to really excite me. Despite my somewhat mixed reaction, Butchered at Birth is still an essential album for most death metal fans and should be regarded as such if you're thinking about giving it a spin.

UMUR "Butchered at Birth" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US death metal act Cannibal Corpse. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in July 1991. "Butchered at Birth" was recorded at Morrisound Studios and produced by Scott Burns. The gory cover artwork for the album, which depicts zombies opening a pregnant woman´s womb with a knife and removing the baby inside to place the child on a meat hook, was censored in several countries and Germany even took it a step further and banned the album completely. It was therefore not until June 2006 that "Butchered at Birth" saw a German release. My own vinyl copy features a completely red front cover with the bands logo and the title of the album written on it plus two stickers. There´s a parental advisory sticker for the cover artwork (which comes as an insert in my version of the album) and a sticker for the language content, which of course in trademark Cannibal Corpse style is vile and gory. I guess song titles like "Meat Hook Sodomy", "Covered With Sores" and "Under The Rotted Flesh" speak louder than words.

The music on "Butchered at Birth" is brutal and technically well played death metal. Usually fast-paced but the tempo varies and there are mid-paced heavy parts on the album too. Chris Barnes had already proven to be one of the most brutal death metal vocalists on the scene with his performance on "Eaten Back to Life (1990)" but he raised the bar again for how brutal growling vocals could sound on "Butchered at Birth". To my ears that´s for better or worse though since his brutal delivery is now completely unintelligible. The vocals are brutal as hell but the fact that it´s hard to catch more than a few words throughout the album is probably an aquired taste.

The album is loaded with brutal downtuned riffs, the above mentioned brutal vocals, and packed in a pretty filthy, dark, and raw sound production that suits the material well. The tracks are generally a bit one-dimensional in nature and they are not always easy to tell apart, even though some tracks feature more recognisable hooks than others. Considering the fact that "Butchered at Birth" is only a 9 track, 36:35 minutes long album, it´s simply not varied enough to maintain the listener´s attention throughout. When that is said, all tracks, if listened to one by one, are high quality brutal death metal, so it´s more a matter of the overall flow of the album, than a matter of how the individual tracks sound.

Compared to "Eaten Back to Life (1990)", Cannibal Corpse did to my ears lose a bit of their charm on "Butchered at Birth", especially because of the unintelligible one-dimensional vocal delivery, but in other ways "Butchered at Birth" is a more professional and consistent album than the debut and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is ultimately deserved.