Butchered at Birth is the second studio album by American death metal band Cannibal Corpse.

Cannibal Corpse began writing new material immediately following the release of their debut album, Eaten Back to Life.

[5] With their sophomore effort, Cannibal Corpse sought to create a heavier sound and even more gruesome imagery than their debut.

The spirit of competition within the scene encouraged the band to keep a quick pace with releases, and Butchered at Birth was recorded over a two-week period.

[11] Producer Scott Burns, revered within the Florida death metal scene, assisted the band in refining the sound of their debut to achieve even more dissonant and guttural sonic textures.

Founding guitarist Jack Owen believes Butchered at Birth showcases the band's greatest evolution between albums.

The guitar lines meld into these indefinite, evolving, waves of unsettling frequencies [...] it actually adds to the revolting brutality of [the] album."

Alex Henderson of Allmusic assessed that Butchered "comes off as a parody of death metal and grindcore more than anything", describing the album as the "musical equivalent of B-movie horror flicks.

"[22] It was created by longtime collaborator Vince Locke and is frequently identified as one of the most gruesome album covers of all time.

This band's obvious goal was to deliver the musical equivalent of B-movie horror flick, and on that level, the album is outrageously successful.