Register Forgot login?

© 2002-2024
Encyclopaedia Metallum

Privacy Policy

Cannibal Corpse > 15 Year Killing Spree > Reviews
Cannibal Corpse - 15 Year Killing Spree

Like flushing cocaine down the drain - 50%

autothrall, January 17th, 2010

15 Year Killing Spree is a large fan package put together well into Cannibal Corpse's career as a vehicle to release some material that has not previously been available to their mass legions of fans. I would tell you that no expense was spared on this, as it has great packaging, new artwork, guitar pick, a poster, a comic, 3 audio discs, some booklets, and a DVD, but in truth, the first two discs are comprised of previously available material and this severely cripples the value in my opinion. Still, if you have an opportunity to acquire this cheaply, it is worth it for the third disc, which features some songs you may not have heard, or at least some alternate takes on tracks that you have.

First, of course, come the compilation discs, which offer a slew of tracks from their first eight albums (from Eaten Back to Life to Gore Obsessed) and the Worm Infested EP, with a few live cuts thrown in the mix rather than their studio counterparts. The track list is largely predictable, but I was rather relieved at the inclusion of some of their less 'staple' and amazing tunes, like "The Cryptic Stench", "Disfigured" and "Sanded Faceless". The live versions included are "I Cum Blood", "Fucked With a Knife", "Unleashing the Bloodthirsty" and "Meathook Sodomy". The cover of Black Sabbath's "Zero the Hero" from the Hammer Smashed Face EP is also present. Though the discs contain 32 tracks, there is truly a pervasive sense of redundancy, for most Cannibal Corpse fans with the devotion to purchase this product already have all of the albums they have been drawn from...and it does feel like a waste of space. But for the sense of completion, I'm not sure what else they could have included in the package. More live work? Cannibal Corpse is not a band with a boatload of rare material to spare, most of what they write is good enough to make it to the studio albums.

This is where Disc 3 comes in...the most worthwhile of the lot. It begins with the entire 1989 demo, which is pretty rare these days, so any fan without a legitimate copy of the cassette could now claim to have their meathooks on the material. The tracks from hte demo are "Skull Full of Maggots", "The Undead Will Feast", "Scattered Remains, Splattered Brains", "Put Them to Death", and "Bloody Chunks", all of which sound more raw than the debut album, and vocals which border more on thrash/crossover in places than death, though the growls still appear. I prefer the album versions myself, but at least this is interesting to hear. The next seven tracks provide another treat, as they are the original Created to Kill sessions, basically the demo tracks done for the Vile album, with Chris Barnes on the vocals! So if you ever wanted to hear that material with the original singer before his departure, you have "Unburied Horror", "Mummified in Barbed Wire", "Gallery of the Obscene", "To Kill Myself", "Bloodlands", "Puncture Wound Massacre" and "Devoured by Vermin", some of which wound up on the full-length with George Fisher's vocals, some getting a name change (for example, "Gallery of the Obscene" becomes "Orgasm Through Torture"). The demo sessions for Gallery of Suicide are also included: "Chambers of Blood", "Dismembered and Molested", "Gallery of Suicide", "Unite the Dead", "Crushing the Despised", and "Headless", and while this is also nice to have for the completist, the final versions on the album are superior in all cases.

Rounding out this disc of bonus material are a trio of covers, which are honestly the best material in this entire collection. First is the treatment of "Bethany Home (A Place to Die)" from the 1987 More Fun Than an Open Funeral Casket from Seattle splatter pioneers The Accüsed. Fun song, a fun version, and well worth a few scene points. Next is Kreator's classic "Endless Pain", which is given a brutal delivery here that completely kicks ass, with Fisher going ape wild on the vocals and the guitars thrusting away like Mille and crew simply weren't capable of due to the original production value. But the best of the three is the Cannibalized "Behind Bars", covered from Razor's excellent 1988 album Violent Restitution. It is almost always fantastic when a successful band does proper justice to a lesser known influence, and in this case justice is served, no pun intended. It sounds so good that you wonder if Cannibal Corpse really wrote the song in the first place. In general, these three tracks are the real treat of the release, and had they been issued on a full-fledged album of covers, the value would be far greater.

Disc 4 is a DVD with live footage from four sources: their first gig in 1989; studio takes from the Butchered at Birth sessions in 1991; Cannibal Corpse Eats Moscow Alive in 1993; and lastly, from a live performance at The Palace in Hollywood, in 2002. In my opinion the footage from their debut gig is the most interesting, but the footage of the band in the studio during their formative years might also please fans. Their live performances are much like any you may have seen in person, but if you haven't had the chance, you can know check it out on your widescreen TV.

I can't completely recommend this release because so much of it is redundant to what you've already listened to, but if you are a death metal collector who wants the complete spread of Corpse's work, it allows you to gather some of their rarer pieces in one place. This is not so easy to find these days, and I certainly do not advise anyone to spend some ridiculous amount of money on it. Cannibal Corpse hooked up the box with a lot of extras, but unless you're some fanatic fanboy or fangirl who actually salivates over a band's poster or guitar pick, you're not going to derive a lot of value from these contents. As a compilation from this band was inevitable, I'd have to say they did a fair job at putting it together. I simply would have preferred a lot more rare or unreleased material, maybe some exclusive new tracks, etc. But it was not to be...and today I only visit this boxed set for the three cover songs I don't have elsewhere.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

WOW!!! A BOX FULL OF MAGGOTS!!! - 95%

GruesomeSean, December 7th, 2004

This is the ultimate Cannibal Corpse box set. This has everything I've been wanting to see released from them for a long time. You've got 2 discs of "best of" material, which is fine, but we've already heard it. The 3rd cd is great. Their original demo is interesting to hear because Chris Barnes doesn't even really do any death metal growling on it. He sounds more like an old school thrash metal screamer. The "Created to Kill" sessions are fucking cool too. You get to hear how some songs that ended up being on Vile originally sounded before Barnes left CC. The DVD is my favorite part of this box set. You get CC's first ever live show, studio footage for the recording of Butchered at Birth, a show from the TOTM tour in Russia, and CC's performance from the Metal Blade 20th Anniversary Show. All this, along with a guitar pic, a poster and a booklet make 15 Year Killing Spree the best death metal box set that's been released so far.

15-Year Killing Spree - 85%

CryOfMankind, November 22nd, 2003

It took my a while on thinking whether i should shell out $50 on a box set that includes almost all previously released material, that I already own. But being a huge fan of Cannibal Corpse I decided to buy it and I was quite pleased with my purchase. The Box is well packed for its size, including 3 CD’s 1 DVD, a poster, a comic book, a guitar pick and a large book outlining the bands lengthy career.
Three CD’s were included in this box set, the first being “Best Of’s” including around three tracks from all of their albums, ‘Eaten’ Back to Life’ to the ‘Worm Infested E.P.’. The third CD includes previously unreleased material, the bands ‘89 demo, the ‘Created to Kill sessions’ (done with Chris Barnes before he was fired from the band) the ‘Gallery of Suicide’ demo and three cover songs. The first two Cds are decent for anyone who already owns their albums, and they are great for anyone who is new to Cannibal Corpse, as it includes all of the CDs greatest songs. The third CD is great for Cannibal fans, it includes lots of great rarities that are previously unreleased.
The DVD included includes the 1st Cannibal Corpse show, Butchered at Birth studio footage, the never before released 1993 Moscow show, and a live show at the Palace in Hollywood CA. The DVD is pretty average, the shows are decent although their first show looks like it was recorded by some random guy in the audience and the band is hard to watch as their style is a bit different from he Cannibal Corpse we know today. The Butchered at Birth studio footage is nothing to get excited about, decent. The Moscow show is the highlight on this DVD great show, but the drums and bass are going throughout the same amplifier so it sounds a little messed up. The performance at the Palace is a good one good show, but can get boring as the camera seems to stay situated throughout the entirety of the show.
The Box set also includes a comic, done by Vincent Locke (Draws all the album covers for the band) as i am not a fan of comic books, there is nothing to interest here, its about a 12 page, black and white comic that is based off of the song “Unleashing the Bloodthirsty.” The guitar pick is a simple black, heavy pick with “Cannibal Corpse” on it in red lettering, nice addition I think. There is also a 12x18” poster, it just has five different pictures of all the band member, 2000 of these posters were actually signed by the band. Lastly there is a great 28 page book, including tons of color pictures of the band throughout the years, it has a history of the band and a track listing for the CDs/DVD included.
In closing I would like to say that if you are new to Cannibal Corpse you could save a lot of money by buying this instead of all of their albums as it includes all of the bands best songs. For fans of Cannibal Corpse this would be a great addition, but may be a little too expensive for some, it does include two CD’s of material that you already may have. This box set is best for people that want to look into Cannibal Corpse but don’t feel like buying all of their albums, or the most devoted Cannibal Corpse fans.