The true Gods of Gore are back with their latest DVD “Global Evisceration” and ready to butcher us all over again. 21 years on from "Eaten Back to Life" we couldn't pass up this chance to chew the gristle with Alex Webster about life in one of Death Metal's most recognisable bands.

Earlier this month your new DVD “Global Evisceration” was released, what has been the reaction to the DVD thus far, and do you guys pay any attention to press and public perception?

Yes, we pay attention to how people react, and so far the reaction seems to be extremely positive. That doesn’t really surprise us that much since Denise from Wild Wind always makes great DVDs. It seems like people like the performance footage a lot but like the behind the scenes footage even more.

The DVD includes footage from the Englewood and Albuquerque shows from the Evisceration Plague era tours, plus behind the scenes footage. How did you go about selecting the shows to record and why choose 2 shows in the end; and at over 3 hours long it’s sure is value for money?

We chose Denver and Albuquerque as the two cities where we wanted to shoot multi-camera performance footage because they are cities with killer death metal scenes and also because the venues were the perfect size for filming. Yes, I think the DVD is a good value. Either the performance portion or the documentary portion would’ve have been an OK deal for the money, but having them intertwined in the DVD not only made it more interesting, it made it a better value.

Cover art is provided courtesy of the infamous Vince Locke. Cannibal Corpse have always been a very visual band, so how much input do you have into the creative process of covers and artwork?

We let Vince do a lot on his own; he’s the artist after all. We’ll just give him our song titles and maybe a rough idea of what we’d like and then he’ll come up with concepts for our approval. We’ll make suggestions along the way, but the art is Vince’s.

Denise Korycki who was behind “Centuries of Torment” again directs, so what is it about Denise that made her the obvious choice for the new DVD; how pleased were you with the final result?

We like Denise because she is very talented and she’s an incredibly hard worker. Also, she is someone we trust. That’s important when you are letting someone have total access to your life. And yes, as I said above, we are very happy with the result. We knew Denise wouldn’t let us down.

What are the plans when it comes to the next release, when can we expect to see you guys back in the studio & on tour?

We’ll be entering the studio in September. The album will probably be released sometime in early 2012. After that, we plan to do a massive amount of touring. It’s shaping up to be the most extensive tour we’ll have ever done.

“Evisceration Plague” was a darker album than its predecessor “Kill”, much of that was attributed to Erik Rutan’s production, but both visually and lyrically “Evisceration Plague” was a change to the traditional Cannibal Corpse historic style. How much of this was conscience and how much was just organic?

I guess it’s all pretty organic. Each writer in the band writes a song as an individual piece of music first, and as a component of an album second. So, the overall character of the album is usually not something we plan out; the album gets its vibe in sort of an accidental way. Creating a dark vibe with our music is something we always strive for so I’m not sure if I agree that E.P. is darker than Kill, although I certainly consider it a compliment that you said so!

What direction do you anticipate the next Cannibal Corpse album taking, and is it likely to be recorded in and produced again by Erik Rutan’s studio?

Again, it’s going to be different from song to song. I can say for sure there will be a lot of variety between the songs on this album. That’s something we always strive for, and hopefully we’re getting better at reaching that goal as the years go by. The best albums are the ones where each song stands out. As for the recording, Erik will be the producer again, but we are probably going to go to Sonic Ranch Studios in Texas rather than Erik’s Mana Studios, just to mix things up a bit.

I think we’re probably influenced by everything we listen to from the past and present, in many different genres. We all love music, and we are all probably influenced by music we love in slightly different ways. Each writer in the band has a different style and a different way of being inspired to write. For example, I love metal of course, but I also enjoy some really technical fusion like Planet X. Listening to a band like that might inspire me to write a part that features an odd time signature or something else that you might not find in a lot of standard metal music. The thing is, if I hadn’t mentioned that inspiration it would be hard to notice. Any influence I might take from a source outside of metal I try to use in a way that is 100% metal and appropriate from Cannibal’s music. It’s OK to draw influence from other bands in your own genre, but I think looking elsewhere is probably better for keeping things fresh. As long as the end result is a killer brutal death metal song, it doesn’t matter how you get there.

I think censorship probably gave our career a big boost- all that “bad” press attracted a lot of attention to our band. Controversy is an extreme band’s friend, not its enemy. You’d think the censors would realize this by now, but hey, if they want to keep promoting our band this way they can go right ahead.

Given the longevity of the band you are in a rather unique position to asses the progression of Death Metal from its inception through to today. What is your take on the scene today vs. the past 25 yrs would you say?

So much has changed, mainly with technology. It’s a lot easier to learn about new bands now. This is great, but it also takes a little of the magic out of it. Waiting three weeks for a demo tape to arrive from Sweden or wherever created an anticipation that you just don’t get with the instant gratification of a streaming track you found on myspace two minutes after you heard a new band’s name. We really had to do a lot of work to get our music back then, so we appreciated it! As far as the state of the scene goes, there are many excellent bands now that came out after the initial boom in the late 80’s/early 90’s. Death metal has had a strong and steady following for over 2 decades- it certainly didn’t come and go between ‘89 and ‘93 or anything like that. Look up the dates these bands got started and you’ll see that this is true: Possessed, Death, Morbid Angel, Immolation, Deicide, Nile, Krisiun, Deeds of Flesh, Angelcorpse, Hate Eternal, Blood Red Throne, Aeon, Hour of Penance, Arkaik, Perdition Temple...there have been great death metal bands forming steadily since the 80’s. As long as great bands are around, the scene will stay strong.

Thanks for time, really appreciate it. Any final words to all the Cannibal Corpse fans out there?