We sometimes wonder if Cannibal Corpse might be any different today had founding member Chris Barnes remained in the band. Barnes would end up leaving the band in 1995 and be replaced by George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher.
Back in 2017, the ex-Cannibal Corpse singer took part in a conversation with The Chainsaw Symphony and spoke to why he left the band. In talking about his exit from Cannibal Corpse, Chris brings up how he didn’t want to be around people who weren’t nice to him; however, he does also bring up that he has no animosity towards anyone in the band (at least at the time that this interview took place). The following was transcribed by Metal Injection:
“I just didn’t like being around them, because I was being ridiculed, and I just didn’t feel comfortable being in the same room with people that weren’t very nice to me personally. And I was part of that too, so we had all of our own type of differences, personally, and I don’t think it was gonna be able to be worked out. You know, mutual respect goes a far way when it comes to being in close quarters with people.
“I’m sure we’d do things differently [today] — I mean, I know we would. It’s just the way things worked out. And I don’t have any animosity towards those guys at all, and I don’t think they do towards me. It’s just that… It would be too confusing for things [if we were to tour together], I think, from their perspective.”
The interviewer then brings up the idea of a possible reunion involving Barnes and Cannibal Corpse; mind you, this interview took place in 2017 (for who knows how Barnes feels today about a theoretical reunion):
“That would be a tough one to put together, my friend. You wouldn’t have any problems from my side of things, but I don’t think other people would be agreeable to that. I don’t think there’s animosity [between us]. I think there’s just protecting other people’s feelings. I think that everyone knows certain things about everything and they’d like to see things a certain way, and that wouldn’t portray things a certain way that they would wanna portray them. So… I’m being very general and trying to be diplomatic about it.”
Without speaking to Barnes or the other members of Cannibal Corpse, it’s tough to officially tell where things stand now between everyone. That said, some months ago, folks began chanting “Fuck Chris Barnes” at a Cannibal Corpse show, and all Corpsegrinder said was, “You said it, not me.”
Would you want to see a Cannibal Corpse reunion involving Chris Barnes? You can check out the full interview involving Barnes via The Chainsaw Symphony below.
In other Cannibal Corpse related news, the band will be hitting the road next month for a North American tour. You can find all the dates and locations associated with that tour below. Also, earlier today, we wrote about an AI generated music video for the band’s song “Hammer Smashed Face,” which features imagery from The Simpsons.
- 11/3 – Silver Springs, MD – The Fillmore
11/4 – Albany, NY – Empire Live
11/5 – Montreal, QC – MTELUS
11/6 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall
11/8 – Cleveland, OH – The Agora
11/9 – Cincinnati, OH – Bogart’s
11/10 – Fort Wayne, IN – Piere’s Entertainment Center
11/11 – Joliet, IL – The Forge
11/12 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave II
11/15 – Calgary, AB – The Palace Theatre
11/17 – Vancouver, BC – The Rickshaw Theatre
11/18 – Vancouver, BC – The Rickshaw Theatre
11/19 – Seattle, WA – The Showbox
11/21 – San Francisco, CA – Regency Ballroom
11/22 – Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern
11/23 – San Diego, CA – The Observatory North Park
11/25 – Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues
11/26 – Tucson, AZ – Encore
11/28 – Austin, TX – Empire Garage
11/29 – Dallas, TX – House of Blues
11/30 – Oklahoma City, OK – Diamond Ballroom
12/2 – Denver, CO – Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest at Summit Music Hall
12/3 – Lawrence, KS – The Granada
12/4 – Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theatre
12/5 – Belvidere, IL – The Apollo Theatre AC
12/6 – Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue Theatre
12/8 – Knoxville, TN – The Concourse
12/9 – Athens, GA – Georgia Theatre
12/10 – St. Petersburg, FL – Jannus Live