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.
Plagueborne
Cattle Decapitation Lyrics
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To this assembly of disorder
Infiltrating insidious species specific disease
Capitalizing casualty hoarder
I am the history of adaptation materialized
Judge, jury, trial and error
I am the one you look for under your bed at night
Hell born unspeakable terror
No God would ever have created me
Nothing could be so insane
This nature that makes us - inherited disgust
Animal and inane
Inside of you
In the host I will spawn - multiplying, dividing, fucking taking over
All that you know is gone - corruption of phylum, genus, kingdom, order
You cannot go on - I am the scythe that's cutting you down
Pandemic - scourge, human bodies are purged
Within the minds of every one of us
Lies of piety, truths of lust
Deep inside of everyone alive
A plague that can't be denied
Poisonous. Parasitic. Infectious. Pestiferous.
Endemic. Indigenously malignant. Contagious.
Alone, a plague. Together, a curse.
Ravenously consumed, pre-humously doomed.
We shit where we eat and we eat it all
Within the minds of every one of us
Lies of piety, truths of lust
Deep inside of everyone alive
A plague that can't be denied
Turn us to ashes
Reduce us to dust
We cannot perish
Fast enough
The lyrics to Cattle Decapitation's song Plagueborne describe a malicious, parasitic entity that infiltrates and overtakes its hosts, causing a pandemic that consumes and destroys everything in its wake. The entity is described as an imbued atmospheric sepsis, capitalizing on the casualties it creates, and exemplifies the horror of nature. The singer tells the listener that they are the history of adaptation personified, the judge, jury, and trial that has come to consume and wipe up everything in existence. The singer also reveals that the plague is inside of every human being, lying at the core of their minds like a plague that cannot be denied.
The lyrics offer a grim commentary on humanity's self-destructive tendencies and how it ultimately affects the world we inhabit. We are shown the destructive nature of humans as we consume everything in our path without a second thought. Our actions ultimately lead to our downfall, and we are eventually reduced to ashes and dust. The song is a warning of the consequences of our actions and a call to change our ways before it's too late.
Line by Line Meaning
Imbued atmospheric sepsis, my contribution
I bring about a putrid atmosphere, adding to the chaos and confusion of the situation
To this assembly of disorder
I thrive in an environment of chaos and disorder
Infiltrating insidious species specific disease
I invade and infect specific species with subtle yet destructive diseases
Capitalizing casualty hoarder
I benefit from the death toll and keep tallies of the number of casualties
I am the history of adaptation materialized
I represent the history of evolution and adaptation, manifested in a physical form
Judge, jury, trial and error
I am responsible for making decisions based on trial and error, with no oversight or accountability
I am the one you look for under your bed at night
I am a lurking threat that can strike at any moment, instilling fear and paranoia in those who fear me
Hell born unspeakable terror
I am a creature of horror that can only be described as originating from hell itself
No God would ever have created me
I am a creation so vile that no benevolent deity could ever have conceived of making me
Nothing could be so insane
My existence is so extreme and grotesque that it defies all forms of rationality
This nature that makes us - inherited disgust
The natural world is filled with revolting and abhorrent features, which we have unfortunately inherited
Animal and inane
Our animalistic instincts and behaviors are foolish and nonsensical
Inside of you
I exist deep within you, as an aspect of your own nature
In the host I will spawn - multiplying, dividing, fucking taking over
Once I take root in a host, I will rapidly reproduce and consume it, ultimately taking over and destroying it
All that you know is gone - corruption of phylum, genus, kingdom, order
My influence is so pervasive that it corrupts entire taxonomic classifications, from phylum to kingdom
You cannot go on - I am the scythe that's cutting you down
I am the deadliest force acting against you, the thing that will ultimately kill you off
Pandemic - scourge, human bodies are purged
My spread is a pandemic that will sweep away entire populations of people, purging them from the earth
Within the minds of every one of us
I exist as an aspect of human nature, inside the minds of every one of us
Lies of piety, truths of lust
We are torn between our conflicting desires for virtue and pleasure
A plague that can't be denied
We are all afflicted with a terrible plague, one that cannot be denied or ignored
Poisonous. Parasitic. Infectious. Pestiferous.
I am poisonous, parasitic, infectious, and pestiferous, a noxious presence that destroys all it touches
Endemic. Indigenously malignant. Contagious.
I am a disease that is endemic to certain regions, malignantly destructive in the places where I grew up, and easily transmitted between hosts
Alone, a plague. Together, a curse.
On my own, I am a terrible plague, but when combined with the other plagues around me, I become a curse that is impossible to overcome
Ravenously consumed, pre-humously doomed.
I consume my hosts in a ravenous frenzy, leaving them doomed to die before their time
We shit where we eat and we eat it all
We engage in self-destructive behavior, feeding on our own filth and wasting away
Turn us to ashes
We are so degenerate and corrupt that we deserve to be turned to ashes
Reduce us to dust
Our physical existence is worthless and deserves to be reduced to mere dust
We cannot perish
We are so deeply entrenched in our own depravity that we cannot easily be rid of it
Fast enough
We need to be eradicated as quickly and efficiently as possible
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: JOSH ELMORE, DEREK PAUL ENGEMANN, DAVID MCGRAW, TRAVIS RYAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind