Death metal once was a serious music genre. It stood as a sonic channel for the raw, unyielding exploration of horror and existential dread... a genre where bands like Infester, Incantation, Disma, Suffocation, Khranial and Morbid all forged soundscapes of pure brutality and profound terror.
These pioneers crafted a sonic landscape defined by its relentless intensity and deeply serious themes. Their lyrics, drenched in the grim realities of death and chaos, were rarely intended as mere shock for shock's sake... instead, they served as cathartic expressions of the human condition, the feeble statute of humanity and mankind's own mortality.
Then it all changed.
Cannibal Corpse, the "Jar Jar Binks" of Death Metal?
Enter Cannibal Corpse... a band whose trajectory diverges sharply from the solemn artistry of their forebears.
With a penchant for hyperbolic gore and intentionally outrageous imagery, Cannibal Corpse introduced what many now label as "joke death metal." Their lyrics and album art, drenched in exaggerated carnage and a constant quest for the ultimate shock factor, are more "comedy gore" than "gore comedy". A stance that has exasperated some of their fellow death metal musicians.
"Death metal is about being true and being kvlt", says Nergal of Behemoth. "When people come hear my music, I imagine them to be serial killers and convicts".
Death Metal's Evolution Towards a Comedy Genre
In embracing a style that seems more focused on outrageous spectacle than on sincere exploration of dark themes, they risk reducing the death metal genre - of which they are sort of the "poster child" band - to a mere parody trope.
Comedian George "Corpsegrinder" Fischer answers the accusation in a recent interview, exclusively released in the Death Metal Bible book:
Have you ever felt uncomfortable about Cannibal Corpse lyrics? Nah. We're a death metal band. I got two daughters now, and we’ve got songs like "F[-]cked with a Knife" and "Stripped, R[-]ped and Strangled". It's pretty heavy stuff, and I think a lot of people think we're insensitive to stuff like that, especially in this day and age when you're supposed to apologize for everything you do because of someone's feelings. Look, we're a death metal band; it's horror-movie-type stuff. It's fiction. It's not real.
Corpsegrinder continues by accusing his detractors of being "glam rock drama queens" who can't handle Cannibal Corpse's heaviness...
They [are] totally into all the glam rock. I ain't calling it hair metal, 'cause it has nothing to do with heavy metal. Stop! It's rock 'n' roll and the dudes look like girls and good for them: Cinderella, Poison, Mötley Crüe, Morbid Angel.
In other words, Cannibal Corpse likes brutality in death metal. In a way, his arguments are sensible. I can see both sides of the argument: the overly intellectual side who are scared that "gory" theatrics "cheapen" the genre, and the "br00tal" bros who just want to headbang.
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