Cephalic Carnage is an American death metal band formed in Denver, Colorado in 1992. The band consists vocalist Leonard Leal, guitarists Steve Goldberg and Brian Hopp, drummer John Merryman and bassist Nick Schendzielos. Cephalic Carnage has released six studio albums and toured in North America, Europe and Japan.
Cephalic Carnage play a technically proficient deathgrind style, as well as prolifically experimenting with other genres and incorporating songs of joke nature into their albums, such as parodies of black metal or metalcore. They refer to themselves as "rocky mountain hydro grind".
History
Conforming to Abnormality and Exploiting Dysfunction (1992–2001)
Cephalic Carnage formed in Denver, Colorado, in 1992 by vocalist Leonard Leal, drummer Anthony Chavez, bassist Tom Clenin, and guitarist Zac Joe. The quartet recorded a demo EP titled Scrape My Lungs in 1993, but then took a break until 1996, when they recruited drummer John Merryman, guitarist Steve Goldberg and bassist Doug Williams. Merryman also collaborated with Secret Chiefs 3. Soon after the reformation, their second demo EP Fortuitous Oddity was released. During 1997, Cephalic Carnage financed its own tour across the United States. and subsequently in the U.S. with German thrash metal veterans Kreator and Destruction. In May 2003, the band undertook the "North American Contamination" tour alongside Mastodon and others. That September, Cephalic Carnage and Madball supported Hatebreed on the North American "Rise of Brutality" tour. The song parodies American metalcore with its music, lyrics and vocals. In March 2005, Anomalies was released, and the band toured in North America once again. In March, the band's recording studio was robbed. They played several shows in the United States in April, and an extensive European tour followed in June
Xenosapien and Misled by Certainty (2007–2010)
thumb|Guitarist Steve Goldberg in 2009
The band recorded its next studio album between November and December 2006, which started in continental Europe on May 4, continued in United Kingdom and Ireland in May across the U.S. throughout June and July along with Decapitated among others.
Cephalic Carnage reissued Conforming to Abnormality under Relapse Records on April 29, 2008. They participated in a "mini-tour" of Japan in May 2009, performing in Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo. In October 2009, the band released a music video for the song "Vaporized" while writing a new album and announced a planned concert DVD entitled Live at Your Mom's House.
Cephalic Carnage began recording their new album, Misled by Certainty, in May 2010. It was released August 31, 2010 by Relapse Records. They also reissued Lucid Interval on September 13, 2011.
Musical style
AllMusic describes the style of Cephalic Carnage as "crazy concoction of truly experimental grindcore, death metal, and jazz". technical death metal, occasional surf rock, instrumental, to flamenco interludes or violin-and-sax ambient jams. Their early style is typically progressive and technically proficient, with some comedic songs. Their later work developed into a more experimental, complex direction.