Originally founded in 1996, Cattle Decapitation's songs protest the mistreatment and consumption of animals as well as the abuse of the environment. Lyrics may also focus on subjects such as misanthropy and genocide of the human race. Much of their music is based on putting humans in the situations that animals are subjected to (animal testing, slaughter, etc).
Their 2002 album To Serve Man saw controversy in Germany, where distribution company SPV refused to handle the album due to its graphic cover. The cover of the 2004 album Humanure, featuring a cow excreting human remains, was reportedly censored without permission from the label in some outlets. Record store owners did not display the album, making it difficult for customers to find and buy it.
Former member Gabe Serbian is a member of the band The Locust.
Metal author and journalist Garry Sharpe-Young once acknowledged the band as "one of the few metal bands whose message hits as hard as their music."
Cattle Decapitation has toured with many death metal bands including Suffocation, Cryptopsy, The Black Dahlia Murder, Deicide, Behemoth, Hate Eternal, Krisiun, and Job For A Cowboy. Their album The Harvest Floor was released in 2009.
The band has been cited repeatedly for being an early influence to bands such as Job For A Cowboy, The Black Dahlia Murder as well as a legion of "deathcore" hopefuls.
In August 2009, Cattle Decapitation parted ways with long-time bassist Troy Oftedal because of musical and personal differences.
Their 2012 album, Monolith of Inhumanity, was met with positive reviews upon release for introducing a more melodic tone - ultimately skyrocketing the band's influence and engaging a new audience. Their latest album, The Anthropocene Extinction, received the same feedback, with Metacritic giving it an 86/100. The Anthropocene Extinctions's lyrical content follows their normal style of the effects of mankind's influence on the environment, such as the Great Pacific garbage patch.
Mammals in Babylon
Cattle Decapitation Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The whole of Eden in our hands
The privilege of existence
The ubiquitous lay of the land
We suffocate ourselves
We defecate on the product line
Fell under our own spell
Carelessly crafted hell
Too Many people in this world to simply forgive, to only forget
Obsessive procreators
Destined for failure
Mine eyes caught staring through these mercenaries
Ashamed that I am of the same class
Carnivora, Primates, Rodentia = Mammalia
No reason to suffer… suffer anymore
Not today… in this day and age
The stench of sulphur, brimstone-lined shores
Lake of flames… is this day and age
As a human, slave unto my acumen
Request to defect, reject this sect imperfect
Too Many people in this world
to simply forgive, to only forget
Obsessed with ideas of saviors
Destined for failure
Perturbing vertebrates
Articulated subordinates
Scatter
Sociopathic pervasive demographic
The messiah, the humans, these ingrates, goddamn them all
Contaminate, infested, adulteration - Hominoidea
The lyrics to Cattle Decapitation's song Mammals in Babylon speak to the destructive nature of humanity and the impact of our actions on the world around us. The first few lines describe how humans once had everything they could want - "the whole of Eden in our hands" - but how that privilege has been squandered. The lines "we suffocate ourselves, we defecate on the product line" speak to the way that humans have polluted the environment and poisoned themselves in the process. The references to "carelessly crafted hell" and "this messed up place we call our home" paint a picture of a world that has been ruined by humanity's actions.
The second half of the song focuses on the idea that there are too many humans in the world, and that our obsession with procreation has led to our downfall. The lyric "too many people in this world to simply forgive, to only forget" suggests that there are too many humans making too many mistakes for us to simply move on and forget about our past misdeeds. The lines "obsessed with ideas of saviors, destined for failure" speak to the idea that humans often look for outside solutions to their problems, rather than taking responsibility for their own actions. Overall, the song is a scathing indictment of humanity's impact on the world around us, and a warning of the consequences of continuing down this path.
Line by Line Meaning
We had it all
We possessed everything
The whole of Eden in our hands
We had complete control over our surroundings
The privilege of existence
We once had the luxury of being alive
The ubiquitous lay of the land
Our environment was everywhere
We suffocate ourselves
We cause our own harm
We defecate on the product line
We produce waste too close to what we value
Fell under our own spell
We became ensnared by our own doing
Carelessly crafted hell
We created a bad situation by not paying attention
You can’t escape your own rape when you’re not the only rapist
When multiple people are responsible for a destructive act, no one can evade its repercussions.
Too Many people in this world to simply forgive, to only forget
The greater population makes it difficult to move on from past offenses.
Obsessive procreators
Individuals who are overly preoccupied with reproduction
Destined for failure
Bound to not succeed
Mine eyes caught staring through these mercenaries
I saw people motivated and paid to behave unethically
Ashamed that I am of the same class
I'm embarrassed to share the same traits as others
Carnivora, Primates, Rodentia = Mammalia
Three groups of animals fall under the category of mammals.
No reason to suffer… suffer anymore
There's no need to endure pain further.
Not today… in this day and age
In the current era, it can't go on any longer.
The stench of sulfur, brimstone-lined shores
An unpleasant aroma coming from hellish territories.
Lake of flames… is this day and age
A hellish environment exists in the modern era.
As a human, slave unto my acumen
I am bound to my own intelligence as a human.
Request to defect, reject this sect imperfect
I declare myself separating from an imperfect group
Too Many people in this world to simply forgive, to only forget
The world is too populous to forgive and forget easily.
Obsessed with ideas of saviors
Overly occupied with the notion of rescuers.
Destined for failure
Sure to stumble.
Perturbing vertebrates
Upsetting animals with backbones.
Articulated subordinates
Malleable underlings.
Scatter
Disperse frantically.
Sociopathic pervasive demographic
An insane, widespread population.
The messiah, the humans, these ingrates, goddamn them all
Everyone, including the saviors and humans, ought to be cursed.
Contaminate, infested, adulteration - Hominoidea
These primates are corrupt, worm-ridden, and contaminated.
Contributed by Hailey L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Дисколютик
We had it all
The whole of Eden in our hands
The privilege of existence
The ubiquitous lay of the land
We suffocate ourselves
We defecate on the product line
Fell under our own spell
Carelessly crafted hell
You can't escape your own rape when you're not the only rapist
Too many people in this world to simply forgive, to only forget
Obsessive procreators
Destined for failure
Mine eyes caught staring through these mercenaries
Ashamed that I am of the same class
Carnivora, Primates, Rodentia = Mammalia
No reason to suffer... suffer anymore
Not today... in this day and age
The stench of sulphur, brimstone-lined shores
Lake of flames is this day and age
As a human, slave unto my acumen
Request to defect, reject this sect imperfect
Too many people in this world
To simply forgive, to only forget
Obsessed with ideas of saviors
Destined for failure
Perturbing vertebrates
Articulated subordinates
Scatter
Sociopathic pervasive demographic
The messiah, the humans, these ingrates, goddamn them all
Contaminate, infested, adulteration - Hominoidae
gringochucha
I seriously don't understand how guys in bands like these can play a whole concert without immediately getting tendinitis.
alpenjodel24
its all about training. but a lot of guitar players get it but dont care.
Ploynapat Sivaraks
ๅ
Joseph Foreman
it's about conditioning. just like sports....or typing. you cant get to a point of doing these types of things by conditioning in a counterproductive manner
gringochucha
Well, I've had chronic tendinitis from the guitar for about eight years now, and I can't play anything faster than Iron Maiden anymore, so yeah...
Narednik Lobanja
well practice and lots of practice makes good work stopping any tedinitis
Blaine Morin
I'm pretty surprised how melodic this song is. Changed my mind a little about this band.
Andrew G.
+Blaine Morin since their last album, The Monolith of Inhumanity, they've upped their melodic factor by a ton, if you like this you should like that album as well as this new one.
TM26
+Blaine Morin Dude the entire album will blow your mind. Every song has an epic melodic part like this. My favorites are probably from Plagueborne and Pacific Grim.
Nordmann Håvarð
Yeah dude I listened to karma bloody karma and even an album before that and was like “meh” but their last handful of albums esp with the singing have been sooooo good