With a career spanning nearly four decades, American death metal progenitors Cannibal Corpse have been one of the most infamous, enduring bands in the genre. With 16 full-length records, many banned and censored for their grotesque album cover art, and song titles and lyrics that sparked political outrage, Cannibal Corpse built its reputation on extremity.
But this band isn’t just a cult fascination for the underground anymore.
Cannibal Corpse is playing sold-out shows, from mid-size clubs to massive stadiums and arenas, opening for bands like Amon Amarth and Meshuggah.
In this new age of viral clips and social media, Cannibal Corpse is finding new fans through TikTok clips and memes, and influencing a generation of younger metal bands ready to carry the torch of brutality. Bassist and founding member Alex Webster recently spoke with The Times from the road, just before the band’s stop in Oklahoma City, as part of its current U.S. tour with crossover thrashers Municipal Waste, guttural death metal band Fulci and up-and-coming hardcore grind band Full of Hell.
Webster spoke about the band’s long-lasting career, his love of classical music and horror films and how they inspire song titles and lyrics, the physical toll playing brutal music takes on the body (except for vocalist George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher), the band’s longtime relationship with Metal Blade Records, and how Cannibal Corpse, and extreme metal in general, has slowly risen from the murky underground into mainstream pop culture.
For Cannibal Corpse tours, do you prefer to play arenas and huge festivals or more intimate clubs/theaters?
You know, as much as it’s a great thing to be able to do the stadiums and arenas and things like that when we get the opportunity, we’ve always played smaller places for so many years. Those, for sure, are just more comfortable for us. Kind of a mid-size place, like House of Blues, is a perfect example of a mid-size venue that we’re very comfortable in. But, you know, we’re happy to do it all. We still occasionally play in really small clubs, too, like below 1,000 capacity. I think occasionally we’ll still play a place like that. And then, of course, yeah, when we’re with bigger bands like Meshuggah or Mastodon, we play really big places. We like it all, but mid-size is really just about perfect for us right now. I’ve experienced it all, and we are grateful for the opportunities to play stadiums, but I do like the smaller shows more, for the intensity and the intimacy of being so close to the audience.
With now 16 albums, how does the band go about choosing the set list for each tour?
We kind of think about what people are asking us for, like when we’re talking to people after shows, songs that they like. With 16 albums, there are certain ones that we’re always going to play, a few others like the “hits.” A death metal band doesn’t really have hits in the way other kinds of music might, because there’s no singles chart for death metal, for example. So we just kind of pick it based on what’s received good reactions over the years. And we have a few that are mandatory. We try to get those popular songs in there, and we try to mix in a few that we think people would like, even if they’re not the biggest ones. We try to cover the whole career, because we’re proud of all the albums that we’ve done. They all represent a whole lot of work. At that point in our career, each album was the best thing we could put together at that time. So, yeah, you’ll see on the set that we’re going to play, you’re probably going to the Anaheim show, that the set list we’ve been playing on this tour really covers everything from pretty early in the career, all the way up to the newest album. There’s a lot from the middle as well. At this point, we’re not really able to get one song from each album in the set list. Usually, we end up missing a few of the albums.
You have been a touring band for 37 years. In that time, what were some of the most memorable opening bands you’ve toured with?
Oh, well, we’ve had so many good ones. We’ve done great tours with all kinds of different bands, black metal bands like Dark Funeral and Mayhem. We’ve had great tours with them. We toured with GWAR back in the day and even bands like the Misfits. There are just so many to name. Now we’re out with Municipal Waste, and we’re really happy that we’ve been able to do a couple of tours with them, because we just love what they’re doing. They’re great guys and such a great live band. Great band in general. They’re a thrash crossover kind of band. We’ve toured with Whitechapel, and we’ve been on lots of shows with Suicide Silence. We like deathcore, grindcore, thrash, black metal, hardcore, whatever, just anything that’s heavy or extreme that gets a good crowd reaction, but not necessarily exactly what we do. We like to give that a try. We’re also totally fine with just doing a full-on death metal tour as well, and we’ve done plenty of those, too. But we’ve found that people really like a tour where it’s a variety of extreme metal, not just all bands doing the same kind of thing. On this tour, it’s a really good mixture: Full of Hell’s grindcore, Fulci is guttural gore death metal, Municipal Waste is crossover, and we’re old-school death metal. So it’s a good mix and we can see the crowds having fun for each band.
Death metal music is heavy, technical and extreme. What is the physical toll on your body from playing such brutal music?
Headbanging is a big part of our show, and that was easier when we were younger, but as we get older, it gets harder. We still do it, though. I think the drummers have it the hardest. For me, I can pace myself a little and headbang a little less, picking my moments to really let loose. But our drummer, no matter what, has it hard from start to finish. That’s how it is for drummers in extreme metal. So they have it the hardest, for sure. I can feel that I’m not 25 anymore, I’m 55, and after years of headbanging, things occasionally go crunch. But we just pace ourselves. But when it comes to George (Corpsegrinder), he seems to have limitless energy; I haven’t noticed him slowing down at all, to be honest. He’s still up there going 1,000 miles an hour for every show we play.
It’s a very athletic kind of music to play and perform on stage. There’s also a lot of athleticism in the audience, and we see it in the pit. I’ve seen some pretty acrobatic things happen out there. But as you get older, you kind of have to adjust a little bit. No matter what, we try to keep the intensity level as high as possible every show we play.
Did you know about the couple who got married in the pit at your show in Pittsburgh last April?
I did know about that. I actually met the couple and the party they were with at a bar across the street while I was eating with some friends before that show. They said something about doing that, but I didn’t really understand what was going on. It was loud, and I thought maybe there was going to be a marriage proposal or something. The next day, we heard they actually got married in the pit, which is awesome! That’s a first, as far as I know, unless someone did it and didn’t tell us. But yeah, it was a really cool thing, and we wish the couple the best.
Have there been other crazy incidents or injuries at shows?
Of course, sometimes there are injuries, but it’s not that common because people pick each other up in the pit. As far as weird things go, costumes are always fun to see. Like the other night, there were two guys dressed as bright yellow bananas in the mosh pit. I don’t know what’s going on with that, but at big festivals, there are always people dressed as bananas. I guess they’re in the pit, “going bananas.”
When you first started the band, did you think Cannibal Corpse would last this long and become a part of pop culture?
No, we had no idea. We’re just so grateful this has happened. So many bands from our era are still doing it too, like Morbid Angel, Deicide, Obituary and many others who are our peers. Think about it, when we got together in 1988, heavy metal itself was barely 20 years old, with Black Sabbath coming out around 1968. There was no precedent for a subgenre like thrash, or death metal, or black metal to last this long. Now we’ve been together for more than three decades and counting, and we never could have predicted it. We’re all just very grateful to the fans who keep coming out, keep buying our albums and shirts, and supporting bands like us and keeping death metal music alive.
Do you think Cannibal Corpse could ever make the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or win a Grammy?
I would have thought it was impossible back in the day, but nowadays those organizations are paying more attention to extreme metal. I do think maybe one day, it could happen, you never know. Other metal bands have been in a similar position, like Lamb of God, Slayer, Motorhead and Mastodon, have been nominated in the past. Megadeth has won, I believe. I don’t really keep track, but once something as extreme as death metal has been around for decades, it becomes an established part of the music scene. Respect ends up being given even by organizations that might not have acknowledged it before. Now they kind of have to acknowledge it. I don’t think it is impossible for a band like Cannibal Corpse, but at the same time, I’m not going to hold my breath. I’m just happy to see other metal bands getting respect.
Do you get celebrities like athletes, actors, comedians or pop music stars come up to you as fans?
Very occasionally. I know there are actors, comedians, chefs and even professional athletes who are into death metal and like Cannibal Corpse. The one that comes to mind is Janne Niinimaa, a Finnish hockey player who played in the NHL in the 2000s. He was on the New York Islanders and the Edmonton Oilers. That was really cool to us, especially since we’re from Buffalo, and our drummer, Paul, loves hockey. So for him, it was awesome that an NHL player was a fan. He’s a really cool guy and a total metalhead. Stuff like that happens occasionally, and people have come up to us. It just goes to show that famous people from politics, sports or entertainment can be into this type of music too. It’s been around long enough that you don’t have to be totally underground to hear about it or be a fan. So yeah, people from all walks of life are into extreme metal, including celebrities.
You’ve been with Metal Blade Records your whole career. Has it been a conscious decision to stay with one label?
Yes, we have chosen to stay with Metal Blade. It is really uncommon because most bands we know have been on a few labels over their careers. With us, we hit it off with Metal Blade right away. It’s the kind of label where you can speak with people at the top. We got to know Brian Slagel, the owner and founder, right away. He is more passionate about metal than anyone I know. That might not be true of all labels. We’ve always been happy with Metal Bade, to us it feels like family. Everyone who works there also actually loves heavy metal music; they are not just there for the job, they are fans. It’s been a perfect fit. We’ve never considered going anywhere else. We’re Metal Blade for life.
Do horror films still inspire your lyrics?
Well, yes, they do. But not 100%. For our lyrics, I usually start with a blank slate, not directly from movies, but inspiration can come from anywhere: movies, the news, books. Nowadays, the headlines are full of plenty of horrific stories that fuel our inspiration. Sometimes these real events are more brutal than any horror movie. It all goes into your head, and when you’re writing, it comes out. As for horror movies, we’re all fans, and I don’t mind new horror films, but I love classics like “Gates of Hell,” “The Shining,” “The Exorcist” and other classics. Horror entertainment is one of those things where it might look scary to some, but a lot of people enjoy it as an art form.
I heard you were into classical music? How is it similar to death metal?
I love classical music; I’ve been listening to it since I was younger. From Beethoven, Bach and Mozart, all of that music is amazing. There’s complexity, harmonies and even some darkness and heaviness to some of the best classical music. Some classical pieces are so heavy they sound like metal before metal even existed, like Holst’s “Mars, Bringer of War,” for example. Many metalheads love that composition. Classical music was the extreme music of its time, and proved you don’t need electricity, amplification or even gory lyrics to be heavy.
Death metal used to be male-dominated. Do you notice more women getting into extreme metal now?
I do notice that, and I support it. I think it’s awesome. We want everyone involved in this music, whether male or female. Metal music unites everyone, regardless of gender. What is cool is that now in death metal and thrash, you have bands like Crypta, Nervosa and Castrator, among many others out there, who have shown that it doesn’t matter who’s playing, talent is talent, and a lot of these women are making some really killer metal music. I’m not sure why it’s happening more now, but I’m glad it is.
Do you have any bucket-list goals left for Cannibal Corpse?
As a band, it sure feels like we’ve done everything, but we still want to keep making the best albums possible. As for tours, maybe opening for Metallica would be great. We never got a chance to open for the biggest metal band in the world. We’ve had surprises too, like playing Red Rocks with Amon Amarth. That was incredible. Playing Madison Square Garden and the Forum in L.A. with Meshuggah was another honor. Our goal is always to make the best music we can, and the rest happens organically.
What accomplishments are you most proud of with Cannibal Corpse?
We’re proud of our career as a whole. It’s been such a blast. Little things stand out, like being in the movie “Ace Ventura” in 1994. Touring with Slayer in 2019 was a dream come true as well. We got to tour South America, Asia and Australia several times. Overall, we’re just proud and thankful to all our fans around the world for making this career possible.
What’s one misconception people have about death metal fans?
Well, the obvious one is they see the imagery, and read the lyrics, and think we condone all this violence. That’s not true. Fans are just regular people, often horror aficionados. People don’t assume horror movie fans condone violence, so why would they assume that of horror music fans? It’s actually very positive for musicians and fans alike. For people out there with some hesitation or anxiety or fear about metal, I would recommend that they come to a show. See all the smiling faces. See how much fun people have and how much energy is released. See all the camaraderie and headbanging. People might be surprised.
Cannibal Corpse performs Saturday at the HOB Anaheim, with special guest opening bands Municipal Waste, Fulci and Full of Hell.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
