Death is June : Looking Back in Anger at Cannibal Corpse's "Eaten Back to Life"

How well has the band's debut album held over the years? Well, that is what I will listen to and find out. I am listening to the remastered version which does have a more compressed feeling that sheds some of the rough edges that might have haunted the band from the late 80s production value that Scott Burns was still ironing out over at Morrisound Studios which is the classic standard for the Tampa death metal sound. Chris Barnes still had youthful power to his growl. This is the sound of a band as hungry as the cannibals referenced on this album. The second song is just as hammering though it does not feel as rushed, but there is still the machine-like crunch that Scoot dialed in for Deicide. You can also hear a more thrashing gallop. 

"Put Them to Death" has that punk influence that gave grindcore its attitude, here it's being run through the filter of death metal. They go for a more straightforward blasting regarding their attack on "Mangled". The powerful chug that runs through this song anchors it and keeps things from feeling too rushed. The gang vocal in the chorus is also a nice touch. I still do not like the stiff snare pattern that keeps time for the verses. "Scattered Remains, Splattered Brains" starts off with a kick-ass riff, then goes into what they do, though, at this point in time, it was less predictable. The first song I can say I have noticed a Slayer influence on. 

The more deliberate moments of "Born in a Casket' are what makes it stand out to me. "Rotting Head" finds the more rushed hyper-aggression of the genre, balanced out by thrash sensibilities that are absent from "The Undead Will Feast". I do like the effects that get put on Chris's vocal at the end. With a song like "Bloody Chunks," it's clear the influence "Hell Awaits" had on death metal. "A Skull Full of Maggots" is more of a feral speed fest. The vocal phrasing makes the song feel rushed, but it works on the chorus. "Buried in the Backyard" picks up where the previous song left off. They do lock into the machine-like chug of the era. I will give this album a 9, a case of where the band's first album is not their best, but it is a solid taste of what is to come. 

pst256