It is the band's final album to feature their original lineup, as founding guitarist Bob Rusay was fired and replaced with Malevolent Creation guitarist Rob Barrett after the album's release.
Background
The album was written in Buffalo, New York. During this time, some or all of the band's members were unemployed and were rehearsing material every day. Guitarist Jack Owen and bassist Alex Webster had a 45-minute commute from the band's practice space, and would carpool to rehearsals. The band members mostly composed the music individually, in stark contrast to the writing process for Butchered at Birth, which was a substantially collaborative effort. Bassist Alex Webster began practicing bass fervently after returning home from touring on Butchered at Birth, and claims that "Hammer Smashed Face" was written as the result of his attempts to improve as a bassist. Chris Barnes said, "He was driven as a musician. I've never met anyone as driven as Alex when it comes to trying to learn an instrument. [...] He was always trying to outdo guys he thought were amazing."[1][2]
Original guitarist Bob Rusay claims he "hit a wall" and "couldn't get inspired" during the writing process, and therefore did not contribute as many compositions to the album as he had on the band's two prior efforts, and recalled the album cycle as "stressful," and that by that point he and the band were not getting along.[3]
Owen stated that some of the album's tracks took a week to write, and others took up to five.[4] Although songwriting was not credited to individual members as with later Cannibal Corpse releases, according to Owen, Rusay composed much of "Post Mortal Ejaculation" and "Beyond the Cemetary." Owen claims to have written much of "I Cum Blood," "Addicted to Vaginal Skin," "Split Wide Open," and "Necropedophile." He said the music for "Hammer Smashed Face" was composed by Webster and Mazurkeuicz. Webster said Owen contributed one riff to "Hammer Smashed Face." According to Webster, members would write riffs outside of practice and bring them to rehearsal for them to be fleshed out.[5]
Recording and production
The album was recorded at Morrisound Recording studios in Tampa, Florida in February 1992. Guitarist Jack Owen tracked all of the album's rhythm guitar sections at the request of producer Scott Burns; he had observed that the duo had radically different playing styles, and argued that a tighter sound would result from having the band's strongest rhythm guitar player track all rhythms. Rusay was a self-taught guitarist, whose playing style was described as "unorthodox" by vocalist Chris Barnes. He performed the album's guitar guitar solos with Owen polishing them afterward.[6][1]
Tomb was the band's first album in which they had the budget to work longer hours in the studio with producer Burns. Webster commented, "Many fans have told me that "Tomb..." is their favorite album because the production is so heavy. There is no doubt that Scott helped Cannibal Corpse a great deal with the excellent production work he did on this album."[7]
Jack Owen recalled, "The main thing I remember was putting the album together -- the final touches, seeing the song title "Entrails Ripped From a Virgin's Cunt" and saying, "Dudes, we've finally gone too far!" When we got the artwork back, which was a male zombie going down on a female zombie, it's like, "Oh man! We've really gone too far!"[8]
Composition
Musical style and songwriting
Tomb of the Mutilated has been described as a "balls-out gore metal record" that "adheres stringently to the genre's formula." It has been said to have a "grinding atmosphere."[9][10][11] The music on Tomb of the Mutilated has been described as "jarring, alien and nearly incomprehensible," and is considered to be markedly faster and more complex than its predecessors.[12][13] Alex Webster said he became interested in the "technical side of music" after being exposed to the music of Atheist and Cynic while hanging out with Greg St. John of Solstice. Barnes attested to the influence of Cynic present on the album.[14] Pestilence and Gorguts, who the band had toured with prior, are also said to be influences present on the album.[15] Webster said the band's increasingly technical approach to songwriting made the album's sessions the most challenging they had endured at that point, saying: "I think when you listen to the album, and compare it with the first two, you can hear the progression. The songs on [Tomb] were the fastest and most technical we had done at that time [...] but it was this technical push and the challenging music it created that made [the album] a fan favorite."[16] Paul Mazurkiewicz stated that although the infamous bassline in "Hammer Smashed Face" was in his view "a little primitive," it was considered technical by the genre's standards in 1992.[17] Scott Burns' production is considered to be one of the album's hallmarks, and has been described as a "wall of sound". Loudwire said, "the production crunches with each instrument finding its voice in the mix."[18][19] It was the first release by the band to use the overdubbing production technique, as they did not have the budget to do so prior.[20]
The album has been noted for its hooks, and Webster stated that the album's tracks are more "song-like," in comparison to the tracks on Butchered at Birth, which Owen described as "just riff after riff." According to Webster, "When you look at some of the records that really inspired us, like Reign in Blood, they're heavy records, but they're conventially arranged. That was how we approached Tomb. There's still some weird stuff, like on "Post-Mortal Ejaculation." That's pretty far from being a mainstream arrangement."[21]Decibel referred to "Hammer Smashed Face" as the "death metal equivalent of "Stayin’ Alive".[22]Vice said the album's "wall of sound was catchy enough to demand repeat listens." Vice also said the album "sounds like death metal as pop—the genre stripped to its basics, a template that launched thousands of bands since."[23]
Instrumentation
According to Invisible Oranges, "there’s a deep guttural rhythmic quality to the album not unlike a tribal drum or an excited heartbeat."[24] According to Invisible Oranges, the album's guitar work "ranges from writhing Tesla coil leads to pulpy chugs."[25] The band tracked the album's guitars using a Marshall Valvestate head running through a Carbon head.[26] The album's rhythms are further described as "pummeling."[27]
According to Chris Dick of Decibel, "On Tomb, [Webster] made the following statement: Hey, I'm not a guitarist! I'm a bass player!" Paul Mazurkiewicz said, "when you listen to it, he stands out. [...] Tomb of the Mutilated was his stepping-stone. He wanted to be heard." According to Owen, the bass "pokes out" in the album's mix.[28] Former guitarist Bob Rusay described Webster's basslines on the album as "goofy."[29]
The album has been noted for the "belching" vocal performance of Chris Barnes, which consists of largely incoherent death growls.[30]
Lyrical themes
The album's lyrical content explores themes such as sexual violence. According to Invisible Oranges, "Where before the band had wallowed in a more simplistic, and in its own way incredibly enjoyable, sense of excessive violence, Cannibal Corpse came out of 1992 with something darker and scarier, a beast with a unified vision of horror from which it was impossible to look away." Dom Lawson of Metal Hammer wrote that the album is "bulging with moments of stomach-churning horror" and called its lyrical content "provocatively over-the-top."[31][32] The album's song titles have been described as "despicable."[33] Vocalist Chris Barnes singlehandedly penned the album's lyrics. Bassist Alex Webster recalled that the band "placed no limits" on Barnes throughout the process. He said, "He’d come to us with the most vile, repugnant stuff and we’d be like, ‘Sure! Why not?’ We were trying to make the most extreme and aggressive music we could, so why not have the most antagonistic lyrics too?"[34] The album's seventh track, "Entrails Ripped From a Virgin's Cunt" has been referred to as "arguably the most offensive song in the Cannibal Corpse canon".[35] Barnes himself has assessed, "for me, it's hard to lyrically or vocally decide if Butchered or Tomb is the most intense. Both are lyrically obscene."[36] Barnes' lyrics on the album drew influence from true crime, with which he had a fascination with. He said, "it was insanity put to music. A madman's brain on tape."[37] Barnes said the intent behind his lyrics was "invoke thought" by "[sickening] [...] and yet [entertaining]" readers with what he called a "twisted dichotomy," which he compared to "watching a horror movie."[38]
Chris Dick of Decibel recalled that the album's lyrics made him "feel ill" while reading them as a teenager, saying "I thought if I was caught with the sleeve I'd be expelled or placed in some type of protective custody.[39]
Barnes composed the album's lyrics to compliment the increasing extremities of the instrumentation.[40]
"Entrails Ripped From a Virgin's Cunt" is based on a story that a former prison employee had recounted to Barnes about two inmates who were serving life sentences for kidnapping a young girl and raping and disemboweling her with a coat hanger, which Barnes was deeply disturbed by.[41]
Because the liner notes on Butchered at Birth feature quotations from American serial killer Albert Fish, he is often incorrectly credited with being the voice at the beginning of "Addicted to Vaginal Skin". However, the taped confession heard at the beginning of the song most likely belongs to the "Genesee River Killer" Arthur Shawcross.[42]
Artwork
The album's artwork was created by Vincent Locke. It has been called "macabre." Invisible Oranges suggested the artwork could be "a modern interpretation" of “Pocalunek” by Alfred Kubin. The site described the album artwork as "two ivory-skinned gutted lovers caught in an act of mortal cunnilingus, the ambience set with candles, a rotting severed head, and a butcher knife. The expression on the woman’s face is not one of agony, terror, or mania, but of despair and lust."[43][44]
Tomb of the Mutilated has received positive reviews from critics, both contemporarily and retrospectively. Heavy metal webzine Kicked in the Face praised the album's musicianship but criticized the tone of Barnes' vocals and Scott Burns' production.[47]Metal Storm praised the album's songwriting, production and progression over its predecessor, but criticized the one-dimensional nature of the album's lyrics.[48] Vincent Jeffries of AllMusic gave the album three stars out of five, and named "Beyond the Cemetery," "Split Wide Open" and "The Cryptic Stench" as the album's highlights.[49]
Legacy and impact
Tomb of the Mutilated was regarded as having altered the course of the development of the death metal genre "forever", is now considered one of the greatest and most influential death metal albums of all time.[50][51]Decibel said, "Tomb of the Mutilated was the most grotesque, yet commercially viable, death metal album ever. It made soccer moms scream and their kids wonder if sheer possession alone could lead marathon family counseling sessions."[52]Invisible Oranges said the album is "nothing short of a musical milestone within heavy metal as a whole."[53]
Joe DiVita of Loudwire said "Tomb of the Mutilated brought Cannibal Corpse to the forefront of the genre, now fully equipped to compete with contemporaries like Morbid Angel, Death and Suffocation."[54]
Vincent Jefferies of Allmusic argued that the "powerful musical focus" of Cannibal Corpse's early albums, including Tomb of the Mutilated, have contributed to the band's longevity and lasting impact. He explained, "Learned fans have come to appreciate Tomb of the Mutilated as a solid, if not important, offering [...] Cannibal Corpse somehow managed to outlast many of their more critically accepted contemporaries due in no small part to early career efforts like [this one]."[55]
The album's opening track "Hammer Smashed Face" is considered the band's signature song. Loudwire called "Hammer Smashed Face" the "finest death metal song ever written." Jon Weiderhorn of Loudwire included the song in his list of "The Most Disgusting Metal Lyrics of All Time".[56][57]
In 2005, Tomb of the Mutilated was ranked number 278 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.[58]
Current Cannibal Corpse guitarist Rob Barrett has called Tomb of the Mutilated his favorite album by the band, saying "the energy level is amazing on it".[59]Trivium guitarist Corey Beaulieu claims his mother confiscated his copy of Tomb of the Mutilated when he was a teenager after reading the album's song titles.[60] Late The Black Dahlia Murder vocalist Trevor Strnad claimed he had to shelve the album after purchasing it, recalling "me and my bowl cut and my Harry Potter glasses are not ready for this shit".[61] Rapper Ice-T referred to the album's lyrical content as "crazy shit".[62]
In popular culture
"Hammer Smashed Face" was featured during the band's cameo appearance in the 1994 comedy film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective starring Jim Carrey.[63][64][65][66][67][68][69] Carrey was a fan of the band and requested they appear in the film. Guitarist Rob Barrett recalled the actor was more excited to meet the band than they were to meet him.[70] Drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz recalls: "They took us over to the [actors’] trailers, and Jim comes over to us wearing his Ace Ventura garb, going, “Oh my god! Cannibal Corpse! It’s so great to have you guys here!” Then he starts rattling off lyrics and tells us he wants us to play “Hammer Smashed Face.” It was insane."[71]
Paul Mazurkiewicz has stated that the band is frequently told by fans that they were introduced to the band and (death metal in general) through the film, adding "if you worked out an average, it would probably be one person a day".[69]
After the band had shot scenes for Ace Ventura, they were offered another cameo in the film Airheads, though this offer was revoked when the producer learned the band had already done a cameo for Ace Ventura.[67]
