Over the course of their existence, the San Diego-based
Cattle Decapitation have transformed from a stripped-down, animal rights-supporting, gore-grind side project of
the Locust to a full-fledged death metal band of their own. Emerging in the late '90s with a punitive sonic attack that evoked decibel-crushing contemporaries like
Carcass and
Cannibal Corpse, the group eventually signed to Metal Blade Records and, musically, took on more of a professional death metal sound on notable outings such as
Monolith of Inhumanity (2012) and
Death Atlas (2019), while retaining their original pro-vegetarian/gore-oriented lyrical stance.
Cattle Decapitation formed in San Diego in 1996. The lineup originally featured
David Astor on bass and
Gabe Serbian on drums -- both were then also members of
the Locust -- as well as an unknown guitarist/vocalist, who allegedly vanished without the other members knowing anything about his whereabouts. Seeking a replacement on vocals, the group turned to
Travis Ryan, who had actually been playing drums for another San Diego metal band, Strangulation, in addition to serving as vocalist in a gore metal group called Anal Flatulence. With
Ryan on board,
Astor moved from bass to drums, and
Serbian moved from drums to guitar. This lineup quickly released two albums, the
Human Jerky LP (on the Nevada label Satan's Pimp) and the
Homovore CD/LP.
Next, they added a bassist, Troy Oftedal, with whom they recorded their third full-length,
To Serve Man, released in the fall of 2002 on Metal Blade, a move that would expose them to a more death metal-oriented audience (as opposed to the primarily hardcore/grindcore one that they had been playing to before). Also in 2002, the band added a second guitarist, Josh Elmore (formerly of
7000 Dying Rats), who eventually took over as their sole guitarist after
Serbian left in order to devote himself more fully to the
the Locust. (
Serbian plays drums in
the Locust, replacing
Astor, who ironically had left
the Locust so that he could more fully devote himself to
Cattle Decapitation.)
Astor left after
To Serve Man and was replaced by
Creation Is Crucifixion drummer Michael Laughlin for the 2004 release
Humanure. A split 7" with Caninus arrived in 2005, followed by the full-length
Karma. Bloody. Karma in 2006, which featured guest vocals by
the Locust's
Joey Karam. 2009 saw the departure of bassist Troy Oftedal, as well as the release of the full-length
Harvest Floor.
Monolith of Inhumanity, the group's seventh studio album and first offering to dabble in melody, arrived in May 2012.
The Anthropocene Extinction appeared in 2015 and became the first
Cattle Decapitation album to crack the Billboard 200. It would also be the last studio outing for bass player
Derek Engemann, who had joined in 2011 and left the fold shortly after the album's release.
Cryptopsy bassist Olivier Pinard joined the band for album number nine, 2019's
Death Atlas.
The myriad members of
Cattle Decapitation have been involved in several side projects, among them Oftedal's punk/metal band DisreantiyouthhellchristbastardassmanX,
Ryan's noise project 5/5/2000, and UUM, another noise project involving both
Ryan and Oftedal. Drummer
Gabe Serbian died on April 30, 2022, at the age of 44. ~ William York