Every single release Cannibal Corpse has ever put out since 1990 has been on Metal Blade Records. So it's safe to say Metal Blade's CEO Brian Slagel and the band get each other, but back in the 90s Cannibal Corpse wasn't exactly accepted in the mainstream (aside from their appearance in 1994's Ace Ventura).
Slagel tells The Metal Insight Podcast that while it was all controversial at the time, it's just art and it doesn't necessarily depict the people behind it accurately. He also says he's not really in the business of censoring other people's art.
"I grew up as a huge fan of KISS and Alice Cooper. They were both really pushing the envelope, and I'm a big horror movie fan. And all this is – it's art. It's pushing the boundaries and is making people uncomfortable, which I think is something that needs to be done. And I love doing that sort of stuff. But at the end of the day – it's all fantasy.
"I remember back when all this stuff was really controversial, when those records were coming out. People were saying, 'How could you put this stuff out?' Look, first of all, Cannibal Corpse guys off stage are like the nicest most normal guys you'll ever meet.
"They are the complete 180-degrees difference of what you would think they would be based on the [album] covers and the lyrics. The sweetest, most normal, regular guys ever and really easy to work with. But it's art. It's all art! It's like saying, 'Vincent Price, was he a satanist because he was in all these crazy movies?' No, he's an actor! He's an artist! And that's what Cannibal Corpse it.
"I would never in a million years tell any artist what they can and cannot say. It's up to their vision of freedom to do it and we always thought of that – whether it's GWAR or Cannibal Corpse or whomever it is! That's their art, we support them to do their art. Like I said, I grew up with KISS and Alice Cooper, I like stirring a pot a little bit I guess."
We've said it before and we'll say it again – art is just art. It doesn't mean the dudes in Cannibal Corpse are running around killing everyone in their spare time, and it's cool that Slagel took that stance right off the bat when people were a little freaked out by the band and its lyrics.
[via UG]
