Hammer Smashed Face Explained

Hammer Smashed Face
Type:ep
Artist:Cannibal Corpse
Cover:Hammer smashed face album coverart.jpg
Alt:a face that has been gruesomely destroyed by numerous hammer blows; a claw hammer is still wedged in the temple
Released:March 23, 1993
Recorded:January 1993 – Niagara Falls, New York
Genre:Death metal
Length:26:17
Label:Metal Blade
Prev Title:Tomb of the Mutilated
Prev Year:1992
Next Title:The Bleeding
Next Year:1994

Hammer Smashed Face is the debut EP and single by American death metal band Cannibal Corpse, released in 1993 by Metal Blade Records. There are two versions of the release, a single version that features the title song "Hammer Smashed Face" with two covers of songs by Black Sabbath and Possessed, and the EP version which includes the three tracks of the single version along with two original Cannibal Corpse tracks. The single version and the EP version both have different cover artwork.

Critical reception

"Hammer Smashed Face" is the band's most popular song, mainly due to a shortened version appearing in the 1994 comedy film .[1] Since it is included on Tomb of the Mutilated, it was banned from Germany until June 2006, when it was played at a 2006 performance at Essen.

When asked if he had a favorite Cannibal Corpse album, singer Chris Barnes described the Hammer Smashed EP as "one of the underrated ones".[2] Barnes also hailed the group's cover of Black Sabbath's "Zero the Hero" as "one of the greatest".[2]

In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked the song No. 93 on their list of the 100 greatest heavy metal songs.[3]

Personnel

Cannibal Corpse
Production

Notes and References

  1. Book: J. Purcell . Natalie . Death Metal music: the passion and politics of a subculture . 2003 . . 0786415851 . 66.
  2. Web site: "Ghosts of the Undead" – Six Feet Under vocalist Chris Barnes delivers ten bludgeons of his philosophical hatchet with seventh record Commandment. Morgan, Anthony. Lucem Fero. June 2007. 2008-05-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20080414222527/http://www.lucemfero.com/sixfeetunder062007.php. 2008-04-14. dead.
  3. The 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Songs of All Time . . 13 March 2023 .