CANNIBAL CORPSE — Tomb of the Mutilated (review)

CANNIBAL CORPSE — Tomb of the Mutilated album cover

Album · 1992 · Death Metal

3/5 · 2012-01-21
J-Man

Cannibal Corpse is a band that, in spite of their huge following and universal acclaim, has yet to really grab me as more than a fairly monotonous brutal death metal act. Although the talent of the musicians is unquestionable and their influence on future death metal bands is enormous, none of Cannibal Corpse's albums have yet to impress me beyond a mildly enjoyable casual listen. Tomb of the Mutilated, the band's third full-length album, sees the American death metal pioneers continuing down the heavy, technical, and brutal style of Butchered at Birth - this, along with possibly the most disturbing Cannibal Corpse lyrics to date, virtually guarantees that the band has churned up yet another brutal death metal classic. A classic it is indeed, but a rather flawed one in my opinion. The one-dimensional songwriting and indecipherable growling style means that monotony sets in fairly quickly, and even though it is an undisputed classic for fans of the genre, Tomb of the Mutilated misses the mark in my book.

One quick glance at the repulsive cover art (so repulsive that the album was banned outright in Germany and an alternate cover was also offered worldwide) makes it rather clear that Cannibal Corpse had no intent of slowing down after their first two incredibly brutal full-lengths. Lovely song titles like “I Cum Blood”, “Addicted to Vaginal Skin”, and “Entrails Ripped From a Virgin's Cunt” may even suggest that this album shows Cannibal Corpse in a more brutal mindset than ever before. No matter what, one thing remains painstakingly clear throughout all of Tomb of the Mutilated - this is brutal death metal with absolutely no frills whatsoever. For better or worse, the band blasts away at their instruments for the CD's entire duration, leaving very little breathing room for the listener. This one-dimensional approach can be quite entertaining for the length of the album, but unfortunately it doesn't leave much of an impression once it ends. I do like a lot of the riffs here (“Post Mortal Ejaculation” sports some particularly great riffage), but the reality is that I have a tough time picking more than a few of them out in the end - this is ultimately Tomb of the Mutilated's downfall, and even though the musicianship and production are both stellar, the end result comes across as fairly uneventful.

Just like its predecessors, Tomb of the Mutilated is not an album that I'll be revisiting too often, but it's still difficult to deny quality like this. Cannibal Corpse is a group of impeccable musicians, and Tomb of the Mutilated is actually quite original when you consider that it was released in 1992. This is one of the most brutal albums from its time period, and although it has lost a bit of its originality over twenty years of countless clone acts, Tomb of the Mutilated should be regarded as a seminal brutal death metal album. The fairly monotonous songwriting does little for me, but the sheer precision of the riffs and rapid-fire compositions secure at least a 3 star rating for this classic release. While I can think of plenty of brutal death metal albums worth hearing first, Tomb of the Mutilated is still mandatory listening for those who wish to understand the genre.

more than 2 years ago
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J-Man wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I completely agree. That's why I'm such a big fan of Cryptopsy... it's absolutely brutal as hell (maybe even more brutal than Cannibal Corpse), but those vocals are still delivered with diversity and passion. I just don't get that from albums like this.

UMUR wrote:

more than 2 years ago

It´s exactly this type of vocals that ruin most of the really brutal death metal releases for me. Monotone, unintelligible and quite frankly boring like hell. I really think vocalists like this sound like they couldn´t care less.

J-Man wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Yeah those indecipherable vocals are pretty terrible. The music is generally fairly impressive, but it just doesn't leave much of an impression on me. I guess better vocals probably would have made it a more memorable experience.