Search - Cannibal Corpse :: Bleeding (Clean)

Few other bands have the balls to do this.

Ryan | Metal City, USA | 03/02/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Bleeding isn't even the roughest album they've done, and still people can't handle it. I'm not angered, but amused at all the bitchy reviews of Cannibal Corpse I've seen. Someone will claim to like death metal, then complain that they can't understand Chris Barnes' singing. Huh? Aren't unintelligible vocals a must for modern death metal? Hell, that's been the case since Bathory in '84. It's the sound of the singing that matters. And the complaints about the lyrics... people are too used to weak death metal lyrics just talking about piles of bodies and the like. Anything worse than that and they get offended. And of course we get the people saying straight out that the guys don't have any talent. Yeah, right. I'd like to see any one of those idiots try to beat on a guitar of drums even one thousandth that fast, or play that tightly with the others, something other death metal bands like Obituary can't even pull off. Cannibal Corpse has been banned from playing in Australia and Korea completely, among other countless cities around the world. They push the limits of not just decency, but sanity. They're a pissed off version Metallica on acid and speed. And they have thoroughly freaked out Pat Robertson and Bob Dole, which puts them even higher on my list. It's a hellishly graphic depiction of death and gore, with a great sense of humor to keep to the whole thing running."

Chris Barnes' finest hour

A. Stutheit | Denver, CO USA | 08/03/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is possibly the best death metal album of the 1990's, and maybe the best death metal C.D. I own. It has great all of the great death metal qualities: it's short (36 minutes) and to the point, it has brutal music (booming/cascading/bludgeoning riffs and energetic drums which anchor the beat), monstrous vocals, and repulsive lyrics (although, thanks to Chris Barnes' vocal technique, you can't understand the vocals 90% of the time). Next, vocalist Chris Barnes was also very influential to the death metal scene. Barnes proudly bears the title of the "grandfather of death metal." He didn't invent the genre by any means, but he was one of the first to have true Cookie Monster vocals. Cannibal Corpse do use some influence from Slayer and Morbid Angel, but they stand apart from those bands; they're much heavier than Slayer, but slower than 1980's Morbid Angel. Plus, Corpse's vocals are more growly and their lyrics are much more violent and explicit.



"Staring through the Eyes..." opens with sludgy, almost grinding and throbbing riffs. The beat speeds up when the vocals begin and the drums (which were just filler at the beginning) become a lot faster. Several Slayer-esque guitar solos are tossed in at the end.

"F-cked with a Knife" is very fast paced. It begins with a crashing high hat, then jackhammer riffs and lurching drums. Some shrieks (which Chris would use later with Six Feet Under) are included, in between the usual death metal barks.

"Pulverized" features nice speed changes of drumming, but the real highlight here is the super fast guitar riff which shoots throughout this song. The guitarist (Rob) must work his fingers to the bone when they play this live.

"Return to Flesh" has a slow beginning, before it none-too-subtly changes gears and the beat rips and rockets downhill. It gradually slows down, and the riffs chug heavily, but there's a guitar solo which speeds the beat back up.

"She was Asking for It" opens with a wild guitar solo, but then the song chugs again and the riffs stop and start, while the drummer plays death metal blast beats. Chris whispers "Come to me," then he bellows it, and the song ends with more propulsive riffs and insane drumming.

"Force Fed Broken Glass" has another sprinting beat with annihilating riffs. These riffs, which pause only briefly, almost vibrate at times, and the drummer is doing his best to keep up with them. And around the two minute mark, Chris sounds like he's choking (on glass, maybe?)



So, this is a pretty great death metal record. Every metalhead should have some death metal, and you're just not metal unless you've heard Cannibal Corpse. If you only get one CC album, get this one. You're not likely to hear Corpse on the radio anytime soon, so if you want to escape from the mainstream, pick this up. And no death metal collection is complete without some Cannibal Corpse, so if you just want to have a complete metal collection, pick this up."

Commendable performance

mysanthropyk_overlord | USA | 03/24/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm not a huge fan of Cannibal Corpse, as I prefer melodic death metal over traditional in many cases, but this album is magnificent. It features fast, yet organized, guitar work, and while the drumming isn't the fastest in the genre, it's very good. Chris Barnes doesn't pack the humor into his lyrics with this one, as it seems more serious (?) than other releases. It features Cannibal Corpse's best material to date. Track #3 is brilliant as far as guitar work, and the lyrics do find favor with your sadistic reviewer. I love how passionately Barnes describes the art of strangulation. Only a true sadist could appreciate it. His other topics are quite humorous as well. The vocal delivery is some of Barnes' best with Cannibal Corpse. But this is an album that is highlighted by its guitar work. The band did a good job with this one, and the people that give it bad reviews simply don't understand what death metal is all about. Yes, it sounds choppy. It's supposed to! You need to listen a little more closely to hear all of the musical intricacies, and if you do, you'll know that they put a lot of effort into this album. Every sadistic mind should possess a copy of this brilliant album."