In 1992, Cannibal Corpse entered Morrisound Recording in Tampa to make what would become one of death metal’s defining albums: Tomb of the Mutilated.
The band had two guitarists — Jack Owen and Bob Rusay. But when it came time to capture the album’s rhythm guitars, producer Scott Burns faced a problem.
Owen and Rusay had noticeably different playing styles.
For music this fast, dense and precise, Burns wanted the rhythm tracks to lock together as tightly as possible. The solution was unusual: rather than having both guitarists record their respective rhythm parts, Jack Owen ended up recording the rhythm guitar tracks, while Rusay’s presence remained in the lead work.
Owen later recalled the awkward moment when the decision reached Rusay during the sessions. According to Owen’s account, bassist Alex Webster told Rusay that Owen would be handling the rhythms. Not long afterward, Rusay had left the studio and returned to the hotel.
It was more than a minor production detail.
Tomb of the Mutilated contains some of Cannibal Corpse’s most recognizable early material, including “Hammer Smashed Face” and “I Cum Blood.” Beneath the extremity, its impact depends heavily on something less obvious: exceptionally tight rhythm playing.
Scott Burns was already one of the central figures behind the sound coming out of Florida’s death-metal scene, working from Morrisound with bands including Death, Obituary and Deicide. In this case, the pursuit of precision appears to have outweighed the expectation that two guitarists should automatically split the rhythm duties.
But on Tomb of the Mutilated, one of death metal’s most infamous records carried a detail hidden beneath all that distortion:
two guitarists were in Cannibal Corpse — but one of them laid down the rhythm guitars.
The noise had two names on guitar.
The rhythm had one.
THE STORIES BEHIND THE NOISE
SOURCES
https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Cannibal_Corpse/Tomb_of_the_Mutilated/941399
https://musicbrainz.org/release/51b8449e-9768-416a-875c-7c19d6530d35