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You asked for the bad takes, you're getting the bad takes. In this thread I'll be ranking my favorite Cannibal Corpse records from bottom to top. RIP to my mentions. https://twitter.com/EldritchElitist/status/1304091514214256640
14. Eaten Back to Life: fun enough but very unrefined, and lacking the identity that defines so much of what I've come to love about Cannibal Corpse.
13. Butchered at Birth - It's impressive how much Cannibal Corpse's sound was fleshed out between this and their debut, but the end result is a bit stiff. Solid riffs abound, but the execution isn't quite there for me.
12. Vile - There are some obvious growing pains here as CC learns to adapt without Barnes, but despite an abundance of filler there are a handful of great cuts (see: "Eaten From Inside").
11. Gore Obsessed - a bit of a letdown coming off of the absolutely massive Bloodthirst, defined by a more groove-oriented approach that doesn't quite convey the band's trademark manic energy.
10. Red Before Black - Carries on the thrashy sound of A Skeletal Domain, albeit less effectively. There are some great cuts here ("Shedding My Human Skin," "Hideous Ichor"), but otherwise feels a bit homogenous.
9. Gallery of Suicide - A notable jump in quality over Vile, this effectively sets the stage for Corpsegrinder-era CC. Perhaps a bit too much filler to qualify it as one of the greats, but melodically speaking this has some of the band's most interesting ideas to date.
8. The Wretched Spawn - Perhaps not the most distinct sounding CC album, but those riffs cannot be denied. I don't have much else to say about this one - it's one of CC's most straightforward records, but that's not a knock against it.
7. Tomb of the Mutilated - The jump in quality over Butchered at Birth is massive; this is a classic for a reason. Not the band's best material, but certainly one of their most consistent efforts.
6. Evisceration Plague - Them GROOVES though. This is a really catchy and effectively heavy record, almost like an improved version of Gore Obsessed. I could listen to this one all day.
5. A Skeletal Domain - Possibly my hottest Cannibal Corpse take. This is a really underrated record, an effective pivot into thrash metal territory without sacrificing any of the band's technicality or blunt force impact.
4. Torture - One of the most diverse records in CC's catalog, and nearly every track is a banger. Following Kill and Evisceration Plague, this really cemented the band's modern era as possibly their best.
3. Bloodthirst - Good lord, this thing is fucking heavy. Not exactly the most diverse Cannibal Corpse record, but it excels on the sheer weight of its enormous riffs.
2. Bloodthirst - The best collection of riffs CC has to offer. It somewhat lacks the manic technicality that would come to define Corpsegrinder-era Cannibal Corpse, but as far as straightforward death metal goes, it doesn't get much better than this.
