Cannibal Corpse - Red Before Black (2017)

 

 The band started to write the album in 2016 after the last run of touring for their previous album, A Skeletal Domain. When interviewed in 2017 drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz stated that the band never go by any specific blueprints when they start writing for an album, pointing out that this was also the case with Red Before Black. However the idea of utilizing some slower doom elements was discussed beforehand. This manifested in a couple of songs, while they mostly remained true to their death metal sound and thrash metal roots.
Mazurkiewicz came up with the album title while sleeping in the middle of the night, making him wake up. Further down the road of creating the album he said about the title "... I really pushed for it because I felt it was very strong and something very different than our previous titles. It’s simple, but effective".

After hearing the song 'Only One Will Die', penned by bassist Alex Webster, all members of the band thought it should be the first track of the album. The first song they worked on was 'Red Before Black'. It started out as an unnamed piece written by guitarist Pat O'Brien with Mazurkiewicz contributing with a title and the lyrics later.

Choosing to work with Erik Rutan as a producer again after working with Mark Lewis on the previous album was partly because of convenience, enabling the band to stay focused during the recording process, although Rutan's previous work with the band was also a deciding factor.

 

 

 

 

 -Tracklist:

 Side A
1.     Only One Will Die     03:24
2.     Red Before Black     03:12
3.     Code of the Slashers     04:45
4.     Shedding My Human Skin     03:28
5.     Remaimed     04:13
6.     Firestorm Vengeance     03:43

Side B
7.     Heads Shoveled Off     03:37
8.     Corpus Delicti     03:29
9.     Scavenger Consuming Death     04:33
10.     In the Midst of Ruin     03:25
11.     Destroyed Without a Trace     04:01
12.     Hideous Ichor     04:33

46:23

 

-Line up:

 • Alex Webster : Bass, Songwriting (tracks 1, 6, 9, 12), Lyrics (tracks 1, 6, 9, 12)
• George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher : Vocals
• Paul Mazurkiewicz : Drums, Songwriting (track 11), Lyrics (tracks 2, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11)
• Pat O'Brien : Guitars, Songwriting (tracks 2, 4, 5, 7)
• Rob Barrett : Guitars, Songwriting (tracks 3, 8, 10, 11), Lyrics (tracks 3, 8).

 

 

 

 Label: Metal Blade Records – 3984-25040-1.

 Engineered and mixed at Mana Recording Studios.
Mastered at West West Side Music by Alan Douches.

Cover:Vince Locke  

 Layout: Brian Ames.

 Photography: Alex Morgan.

 Opaque red vinyl, limited to 700 copies. Includes printed insert.