Hammer Smashed Face is the first EP by Cannibal Corpse, released in 1993 through Metal Blade Records. There are two versions of the release, a single version that features the title song "Hammer Smashed Face" with two covers of songs by Black Sabbath and Possessed, and the EP version which includes the three tracks of the single version along with two original Cannibal Corpse tracks. The single version and the EP version both have different cover artwork.

The lyrics tell the story of a man who has a second personality which drives him insane, so he embarks upon a killing spree with a hammer.

Critical reception

"Hammer Smashed Face" is one of the band's most popular songs, mainly due to a shortened version appearing in the film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Since it is included on Tomb of the Mutilated, it was banned from Germany until June 2006, when it was played at a 2006 performance at Essen.

When asked if he had a favourite Cannibal Corpse album, singer Chris Barnes described the Hammer Smashed EP as "one of the underrated ones". Barnes also hailed the group's cover of Black Sabbath's "Zero the Hero" as "one of the greatest". The song itself is included on Kerrang!'s 25 Extreme Metal Anthems.

Popular culture

* An abridged version of the song "Hammer Smashed Face" appeared in the film, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, while Jim Carrey was present at a death metal concert featuring Cannibal Corpse. Carrey is a fan of the band, and was the one to recommend that they appear in the movie.

* The title "Hammer Smashed Face" is referenced frequently, among other Cannibal Corpse titles and lyrics, in the television show Metalocalypse by Nathan Explosion. A one-time character also refers to it, and in the same episode, a character is killed by being smashed in the face with a hammer identical to the one on the cover of the EP.

* The song is released as downloadable content for Rock Band.

* German electropunk band Cyborg Attack made their own version of the song in their album Stoerf**ktor.

Personnel

;Cannibal Corpse

*Chris Barnes- vocals

*Paul Mazurkiewicz - drums

*Jack Owen- guitar

*Bob Rusay- guitar

*Alex Webster- bass

;Production

*Produced by Scott Burns, Dennis Fura and Cannibal Corpse

References

Category:1993 EPs

Category:1993 singles

Category:Cannibal Corpse albums

Category:Metal Blade Records EPs

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Artist/Band Information

Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band from Buffalo, New York. Formed in 1988, the band has released eleven studio albums, one box set, and one live album. Throughout the years the band has been established, they have had little radio or television exposure, although a cult following began to build behind the group with the release of albums such as 1991's Butchered at Birth and 1992's Tomb of the Mutilated which both reached over one million in worldwide sales by 2003, including 558,929 in the United States, making them the top-selling death metal band of all time in the US, and second worldwide.

The members of Cannibal Corpse were originally inspired by thrash metal bands like Slayer, Kreator, and Sodom, as well as other death metal bands such as Morbid Angel and Death. The band's lyrics and its album art (most often done by Vincent Locke), which draw heavily on horror fiction and horror films, are highly controversial. At different times, several countries have banned Cannibal Corpse from performing within their borders, or have banned the sale and display of original Cannibal Corpse album covers.

History

Cannibal Corpse was established by members from three earlier Buffalo-area death metal bands; Beyond Death (Webster, Owen), Leviathan (Barnes), and Tirant Sin (Barnes, Rusay, Mazurkiewicz). The band played their first show at Buffalo's River Rock Cafe in April 1989, shortly after recording a five-song demo tape, Cannibal Corpse. Within a year of that first gig, the band was signed to Metal Blade Records, apparently after the label had heard their demo that was sent in by the manager of the record store at which Chris Barnes was working, and their full-length debut album, Eaten Back to Life, was released in August 1990.

The band has had many line-up changes over the years. In 1993, founding member and guitarist Bob Rusay was dismissed from the group (after which he became a golf instructor) and was ultimately replaced by Malevolent Creation guitarist Rob Barrett. In 1995, singer Chris Barnes was dismissed and was replaced by Monstrosity singer George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher. Barnes went on to perform with the band Six Feet Under, and later Torture Killer.

In 1997, Barrett, who had originally replaced Rusay on guitar, left Cannibal Corpse to rejoin his previous bands Malevolent Creation and Solstice. After Barrett left, he was replaced by guitarist Pat O’Brien, who first appeared on Cannibal Corpse's 1998 release Gallery of Suicide. Founding member and guitarist Jack Owen left Cannibal Corpse in 2004 to spend more time on his second band, Adrift. He joined Deicide in late 2005. Jeremy Turner of Origin briefly replaced him as second guitarist on 2004's Tour of The Wretched Spawn. Barrett rejoined the band in 2005 and was first featured on the album Kill, released in March 2006.

Writing for the next album began in November 2007, as presaged in an interview with bassist Alex Webster. Evisceration Plague, Cannibal Corpse's eleventh studio album was released February 3, 2009, to a highly positive response from fans.

According to bassist Alex Webster, Cannibal Corpse is currently writing a twelfth studio album, which is to be recorded in September 2011 for an early 2012 release.

They are to release a live DVD entitled "Global Evisceration" on March 15, 2011.

Controversy and publicity

United States

In May 1995, then-US Senator Bob Dole accused Cannibal Corpse—along with hip hop acts like the Geto Boys and 2 Live Crew—of undermining the national character of the United States. Although the article seems to imply that Cannibal Corpse is a "rap group" rather than a metal band, it is one of the few reliable sources on the Internet for Dole's exact words. A year later, the band came under fire again, this time as part of a campaign by conservative activist William Bennett, Senator Joe Lieberman, then-Senator Sam Nunn, and National Congress of Black Women chair C. Delores Tucker to get major record labels—including Time Warner, Sony, Thorn-EMI, PolyGram and Bertelsmann—to "dump 20 recording groups...responsible for the most offensive lyrics."

Cannibal Corpse also had a brief cameo in the 1994 Jim Carrey film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, performing an abridged version of their song "Hammer Smashed Face." Being a death metal enthusiast, Carrey insisted that they make an appearance in the movie. Although Cannibal Corpse's performance in Pet Detective is the subject of numerous YouTube videos and mentioned on many different websites, it is very difficult to find a reliable source in which the assertion that Carrey was a death metal fan does not appear as a quotation from one of the band members. The Buffalo News article referenced in here is hard to find without knowing the URL, and the complete text is behind a paywall at that. However, by manipulating search terms in Google News that bring up the article, it is possible to divulge exact quotations without paying a membership fee. is the Google News result used to generate the preceding quotation.

Australia

:For more details on this topic, see Censorship in Australia.

As of October 23, 1996, the sale of any Cannibal Corpse audio recording then available was banned in Australia and all copies of such had been removed from music shops. At the time, the Australian Recording Industry Association and the Australian Music Retailers Association were implementing a system for identifying potentially offensive records, known as the "labelling code of practice".

All ten of Cannibal Corpse's albums, as well as the live album Live Cannibalism, the boxed set 15 Year Killing Spree, the EP Worm Infested, and the single "Hammer Smashed Face", were re-released in Australia between 2006 and 2007, or finally classified by ARIA and allowed for sale in Australia. However, they are all "Restricted", and only sold to those over 18 years of age. Some are sold in "censored" and "uncensored" editions, which denotes the change of cover art. Despite this, when displayed in some stores, even the "uncensored" editions are censored manually.

Germany

All Cannibal Corpse albums up to and including Tomb of the Mutilated were banned upon release from being sold or displayed in Germany due to their graphic cover art and disturbing lyrics; the band was also forbidden to play any songs from those albums while touring in Germany. This prohibition was not lifted until June 2006. In a 2004 interview, George Fisher attempted to recall what originally provoked the ban:

Responses to critics

CannibalCorpse@Innsbruck2009.jpgthumbleftCannibal Corpse at a concert in Innsbruck, February 9, 2009.

Cannibal Corpse prides itself on overtly violent-themed songs and album artwork as nothing more than an extreme form of over-the-top entertainment. In the film Metal: A Headbangers Journey, George Fisher said death metal is best viewed "as art," and claimed that far more violent art can be found at the Vatican, saying that such depictions actually happened.Metal: A Headbangers Journey (2005, Sam Dunn, director) Some of Cannibal Corpse's most controversial song titles include "Meat Hook Sodomy," "Entrails Ripped from a Virgin's Cunt," "Necropedophile," and "Fucked with a Knife."

Of their music, George Fisher once said in an interview: "We don't sing about politics. We don't sing about religion...All our songs are short stories that, if anyone would so choose they could convert it into a horror movie. Really, that's all it is. We like gruesome, scary movies, and we want the lyrics to be like that. Yeah, it's about killing people, but it's not promoting it at all. Basically these are fictional stories, and that's it. And anyone who gets upset about it is ridiculous."

In response to accusations his band's music desensitizes people to violence, Alex Webster argued death metal fans enjoy the music only because they know the violence depicted in its lyrics is not real:

He also believes the violent lyrics can have positive values: "It’s good to have anger music as a release."

George Fisher said in their songs "There’s nothing ever serious. We’re not thinking of anybody in particular that we’re trying to kill, or harm or anything."

Members

;Current

*Rob Barrett – rhythm guitar (1993–1997, 2005–present)

*George Fisher – lead vocals (1995–present)

*Paul Mazurkiewicz – drums (1988–present)

*Patrick O'Brien – lead guitar (1997–present)

*Alex Webster – bass guitar (1988–present)

;Former

*Jack Owen – lead guitar (1988–2004)

*Bob Rusay – rhythm guitar (1988–1993)

*Chris Barnes – lead vocals (1988–1995)

Discography

;Studio albums

*1990: Eaten Back to Life

*1991: Butchered at Birth

*1992: Tomb of the Mutilated

*1994: The Bleeding

*1996: Vile

*1998: Gallery of Suicide

*1999: Bloodthirst

*2002: Gore Obsessed

*2004: The Wretched Spawn

*2006: Kill

*2009: Evisceration Plague

References