The Bleeding (album)

''The Bleeding'' is the fourth studio album by American death metal band Cannibal Corpse, released on April 12, 1994 through Metal Blade Records.

It is the last album featuring singer and founding member Chris Barnes and is the first album featuring guitarist Rob Barrett. According to SoundScan numbers, ''The Bleeding'' is the fifth top-selling death metal LP in the United States, amassing over 98,300 copies sold. ''The Bleeding'' is also Cannibal Corpse's most successful album to date.

''The Bleeding'' is considered by most publications to be one of the band's finest albums, and some consider it to be one of the greatest heavy metal releases of the 1990s.

Background and recording

Following the ''Tomb of the Mutilated'' album cycle, and original guitarist Bob Rusay's replacement with Rob Barrett, producer Scott Burns pushed the band to compose stronger material and be "right up there with the best death metal bands in the world," such as Morbid Angel and Death. The band composed and arranged the album's material during the winter in a haunted house. Barrett claims to have cowritten several of the album's tracks with Webster and Owen. The band members have stated that tensions were high between them during this time.

The album was recorded at Morrisound Recording in Tampa, Florida during the fall of 1993.

A video was made for the song "Staring Through the Eyes of the Dead". A re-mastered version of ''The Bleeding'' is available and features new cover art, a bonus track ("The Exorcist", a Possessed cover) and the music video of "Staring Through the Eyes of the Dead". This music video would later be featured in ''Beavis and Butt-Head''.

Music and lyrics

Called "the essence of Cannibal Corpse," the music on ''The Bleeding'' is generally considered to be less extreme, more mature, and more accessible than on the band's prior releases. It is noted for its advanced musicianship and refined approach to songwriting as compared to its predecessors, and according to Metal Hammer, it "added brains to the blood and gore". According to drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz, "This was the era where we started really refining our sound and it was the beginning of a more modern Cannibal style of writing." Justin Norton of Decibel said, "While '' Butchered at Birth'' and ''Tomb'' were cudgel strikes, ''The Bleeding'' is more a methodical surgeon’s cut." According to Barnes, "I think they were wanting to, in a way, prove themselves as well-skilled musicians."

''The Bleeding'''s song structures have been described as more "linear" than on the band's previous work. The album has been called "death metal with hooks," and “Stripped, Raped, And Strangled" has been called "as close to a radio single as the band would ever write.” The album has more groove-based sections than previous releases, and is noted for the more decipherable approach to vocals by Chris Barnes. According to Greg Pratt of ''Exclaim'', the album foreshadows the style Barnes would pursue in his work with his next project, Six Feet Under. Decibel noted that with the album, the band "set to change their destiny from shock to substance". Rich Hobson of Metal Hammer wrote that the addition of Rob Barrett on guitar "brought a tightness and precision to the Cannibal Corpse sound that had been conspicuous by its absence on their earlier albums". Founding guitarist Jack Owen believed the album to be "almost a commercial evolution in death metal songwriting". The album's lead guitar parts have been likened to Slayer. Some of the album's grooves have been described as "pure filth." Barnes' vocals have been described as "hideous." As with its predecessor, the bass guitar is extremely prominent in the album's mix. According to bassist Alex Webster, "All the songs have cool little bass things that jump out and go a little bit beyond what the guitar is doing in a particular section – for example, there’s a bunch of cool almost-solos on the bass in ''An Experiment In Homicide.''"

In addition to the macabre and sexual violence themes present on the band's previous albums, the lyrical content on ''The Bleeding'' also explores psychological horror. In a 1994 interview with MTV, Barnes said, "I think there's many faces of horror, and you can explore the different types of horror out there."

Reception and legacy

Jason Birchmeier of Allmusic called ''The Bleeding'' one of the "standout death metal albums of the mid-'90s". Chris Krovatin of Kerrang! said, "Showing a confident sense of style, an indomitable momentum, and some of the band’s most iconic and memorable songs, this record is a declaration of the Cannibal Corpse we’ve all come to know and shed blood for in the past two-plus decades." Metal Hammer named ''The Bleeding'' as one of the best metal albums of the 1990s, saying it contains "some of the most horrifyingly violent and undeniably catchy anthems in the band’s arsenal." Joe DiVita of Loudwire named ''The Bleeding'' as the best death metal album of 1994. Metal Injection included the album's second track "Fucked with a Knife" in its list of "The 10 Gnarliest Extreme Metal Lyrics", joking "maybe they got rid of Chris Barnes after The Bleeding because the band was close to going respectable. Just look at that romance".

"Staring Through the Eyes of the Dead" and "Stripped, Raped and Strangled" have become staples of the band’s live sets. Founding guitarist Jack Owen cited ''The Bleeding'' as his favorite Cannibal Corpse album. Bassist Alex Webster said, "I feel that ''The Bleeding'' was a big step forward for me as a bass player, and as a band it put us on the same level as some of the other groups we thought were a little more professional-sounding than we were. We looked up to bands like Morbid Angel and Death."

Track listing

Credits

Writing, performance and production credits are adapted from the album liner notes.

Personnel

Cannibal Corpse

* Chris Barnes – vocals
* Rob Barrett – guitar
* Jack Owen – guitar
* Alex Webster – bass
* Paul Mazurkiewicz – drums

Production

* Scott Burns – production, recording, engineering, mixing, mastering

Artwork and design

* Vincent Locke – cover art
* Brian Ames – design
* Frank White – photography
* Joe Giron – photography

Studios

* Morrisound Recording, Tampa, FL, USA – recording, mixing
* Fullersound – mastering

See also

*Florida death metal
*Morrisound Recording

References

External links

*

''The Bleeding''
at Metal Blade Records

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bleeding, The
1994 albums
Cannibal Corpse albums
Metal Blade Records albums
Albums produced by Scott Burns (record producer)
Albums recorded at Morrisound Recording
Death metal albums