Review by Elijah on March 13, 2020.

People always argue about which album of Chris Barnes era is the best, and everyone always seems to put Butchered At Birth in last place, which I don't understand at all. The first 4 CC albums are all obvious classics, but this album is the one that stands out the most, and is the heaviest and best in every way possible. Although this album is popular, it’s still highly underrated by numerous death metal fans. Cannibal has always been trying to get that sick, disgusting, and downright wrong feel ever since they formed the band, and on this album they've truly done that. Every single thing about this record is nasty and sick in the best way ever!

First of all, let’s start with the artwork, two zombie doctors dissecting an unborn baby from the decaying pregnant mother. This cover art already makes this album great. You don't even have to listen to this album, one look at this cover and you already know it’s gonna be damn great once you get into it. The music. The guitar sound grindy and disgusting which is perfect, the drums sound tight yet deep, which backs up that rotten sound the guitars give off, the bass playing of Alex Webster is there, more points for that, you gotta have that thick, present bass in death metal, especially a brutal, heavy as fuck death metal album like this one. The music here fits Cannibal Corpse's lyrical aspect and theme perfectly, no other album describes CC better than Butchered At Birth.

This album is also extremely underrated. With an album like Butchered at Birth, Cannibal presents themselves at their most extreme form. After their debut Eaten Back To Life, they come back with something even better. Barnes started to experiment with sexually violent lyrics on this album, and the band made their instruments sound heavier and nastier to fit his lyrics. There can’t be songs called 'Meathook Sodomy' or 'Covered in Sores', without the perfect music to fit the lyrical content. The music is the backbone to the vocals, the vocals being there to describe the ultimate torture that is happening. Literally every aspect of this album isn’t disappointing, every single thing lives up to itself, no matter what it is, or however it may come off as.

It confuses me when people talk bad about this album, people will say "The production is bad, there’s nothing that special about it, the guitar tone is monotone and bland, the drums sound bad, etc." Isn't that what we want in death metal??? Especially with an album like with lyrics these extreme and an album name and cover that brutal. If this album comes off as brutal, gory, and nasty, the music should be the same exact way, I’m not complaining about how this album sounds at all, because it's exactly how it SHOULD sound. This is obviously a gem in classic death metal becuase once again, this is an album that lives up to its name and doesn’t disappoint in the slightest. This record also helped start out the brutal death metal genre as well. Heavier vocals, unique guitar sound, machine gun drums that play fast as hell, good bass, everything. The album itself inspires tons of new bands and etc. to learn from.

Look at what we have here, a perfectly brutalist album that is great in every way possible, and included with that, an album that goes in 2 different directions, meaning it inspires 2 different genres, death metal, AND brutal death metal. How can this album suck in any way when these factors are in place? When I think of the TRUE Cannibal Corpse I think of the Butchered At Birth era. The heaviest, brutalist, and disgustingly amazing era of Cannibal Corpse. Once again, I seriously don't understand how Butchered At Birth isn’t their most popular album, this is the band's peak!

When I got sick of every CC album, this album always stuck with me. Butchered At Birth never got annoying or old once. If you wanna listen to some GOOD Cannibal Corpse, listen to this, and if you're a new fan of the band, START WITH THIS ALBUM.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Review by Felix on May 28, 2023.

Double strike! Fasten seat belts, because "Angel Cry" and "End of Time" kick off the ninth full-length of Sabina and her instrumental supporters in a very impressive way. A smooth riff creates a frictionless flow, the chorus connects a somehow cosmic guitar with the background inferno and sticks in the mind in a matter of seconds, while the energizing speed of the song completes the picture. "End of Time" scores with its dynamic tempo changes, the high degree of pressure and the effective, drilling chorus. After many, too many albums without real killer tracks, these two fireworks light up the sky in the most glittering colours. With a view to the discography of Holy Moses, this opening begs the question of whether "Strength Power Will Passion" is able to endanger the top position of "Finished With the Dogs". Unfortunately, the masterpiece from the year 1987 remains untouched, not only for nostalgic reasons.

This is not to say that the album has nothing else to offer than its first two highlights. The easily memorable chorus of the rapid "I Will" leaves its mark in view of the effective back vocals and the mid-harsh "Sacred Crystals" connects crude melodies during the verses with an intensifying chorus. Needless to say that the barking of Sabina adds the extra portion of rudeness. Nevertheless, the record does not achieve the density and intensity of the band's reference work. Songs like the double bass driven "Symbol of Spirit" are absolutely okay, but this highly appreciated pinch of insanity is missing. Anyway, the here presented work confirms the upward trend of "Disorder of the Order". Rather boring pieces like the slow-moving "Space Clearing" remain exceptional, because a proper number of ominous leads offer good entertainment.

Some parts of the songs border on punk and hardcore. The staccato of the back vocals and the stubbornness of the unswerving gang point in this direction as well. Finally, the voluntary renunciation of unusual or even progressive song patterns underlines the weakness of the band members for simple music. Admittedly, the album fails to transport the feeling of juvenile anger which is typical for hardcore formations, but I do not think that Holy Moses had the intention to create the most impulsive approach. Instead, the full-length shows a more or less mature facet of the formation. Sabina and her motivated guys are able to channel their energy in a clever way. I still worship the aspiration for total annihilation that Holy Moses celebrated on "Finished with the Dogs", but the accurate method on "Strength Power Will Passion" commands respect, too. No doubt, the second half of the full-length is not overloaded with brilliant compositions (the verses of "Rebirthing" are lent from "In the Slaughterhouse", albeit in a slightly weaker configuration), but the sharp guitar sound and the authentic mentality of the protagonists form solid tracks. Give it a try, the two openers alone are worth the money.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10