{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = Hammer Smashed Face | type = ep | artist = [[Cannibal Corpse]] | cover = Hammer smashed face album coverart.jpg | alt = a face that has been gruesomely destroyed by numerous hammer blows; a claw hammer is still wedged in the temple | released = March 23, 1993 | recorded = January 1993 – [[Niagara Falls, New York]] | venue = | studio = | genre = [[Death metal]] | length = 26:17 | label = [[Metal Blade]] | producer = {{hlist|Dennis Fura|Cannibal Corpse}} | prev_title = [[Tomb of the Mutilated]] | prev_year = 1992 | next_title = [[The Bleeding (album)|The Bleeding]] | next_year = 1994 | misc = {{Extra album cover | header = Single version | type = single | cover = Hammer Smashed Face single.jpg | border = | alt = | caption = Cover for the single version of ''"Hammer Smashed Face"'', which was originally from the album ''[[Tomb of the Mutilated]]'' (1992) }} {{External music video|header=Audio| {{YouTube|vlgiWBCbCJk|"Hammer Smashed Face"}}}} }}
'''''Hammer Smashed Face''''' is the debut [[Extended play|EP]] and [[Single (music)|single]] by American [[death metal]] band [[Cannibal Corpse]], released on March 23, 1993, by [[Metal Blade Records]].
There are two versions of the release, a single version that features the title song "Hammer Smashed Face" with two covers of songs by [[Black Sabbath]] and [[Possessed (band)|Possessed]], and the EP version which includes the three tracks of the single version along with two original Cannibal Corpse tracks.
Many consider it to be the band's greatest song, as well as being among the greatest death metal songs of all time.
== Music == According to Loudersound, "The song is notorious for its pummelling and rhythmic start, where Paul’s quick yet primal drumbeats give way to a brief, bass guitar-led interlude, all before a gigantic and climactic breakdown."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Millspublished |first=Matt |date=2023-09-06 |title=Horror, hate and, er, Jim Carrey: How Hammer Smashed Face made Cannibal Corpse the world's most famous death metal band |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-story-behind-cannibal-corpse-hammer-smashed-face |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=louder |language=en-GB}}</ref>
The song's main riff has been called "hauntingly sinister." The song's breakdown has been called "clobbering" and "stomach churning." [[Revolver (magazine)|Revolver]] said the "lyrical specificity of a madman bashing a victim’s head to bits can still make even the most hardened [[Heavy metal subculture|headbanger]] squirm."<ref name="Enis">{{Cite web |last=Enis |first=Eli |title=Fan poll: Top 5 CANNIBAL CORPSE songs |url=https://www.revolvermag.com/music/fan-poll-top-5-cannibal-corpse-songs/ |access-date=2025-01-06 |website=Revolver |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Hartmann">{{Cite web |last=Hartmann |first=Graham|date=2017-07-27 |title=10 Sickest Breakdowns of All Time |url=https://loudwire.com/10-sickest-breakdowns-of-all-time/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=Loudwire |language=en}}</ref> Drummer [[Paul Mazurkiewicz]] has commented that the lyrics to "Hammer Smashed Face" are "mild" compared to the rest of the tracks on ''Tomb of the Mutilated''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dick |first1=Chris |title=Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces |publisher=Da Capo Press |page=150}}</ref>
==Artwork== Unlike most releases by the band, the album's artwork was not created by longtime collaborator Vincent Locke. Cannibal Corpse did not approve the album artwork that was used in the final product and do not know the name of the artist who produced it.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 1, 2013 |title=The Moshville Times - Interview Archive: Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse) |url=https://www.moshville.co.uk/interview/2013/04/interview-archive-alex-webster-cannibal-corpse/ |website=The Moshville Times}}</ref> The single version and the EP version both have different cover artwork.
==Reception and legacy== "Hammer Smashed Face" is the band's most popular song, mainly due to a shortened version appearing in the 1994 comedy film ''[[Ace Ventura: Pet Detective]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=J. Purcell |first1=Natalie |title=Death Metal music: the passion and politics of a subculture |year=2003 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]] |isbn=0786415851 |page=66}}</ref> Since it is included on ''[[Tomb of the Mutilated]]'', it was banned from Germany until June 2006, when it was played at a 2006 performance at [[Essen]].
When asked if he had a favorite Cannibal Corpse album, singer [[Chris Barnes (musician)|Chris Barnes]] described the ''Hammer Smashed EP'' as "one of the underrated ones".<ref name="ChrisBarnesLucemFero">{{cite web|title="Ghosts of the Undead" – Six Feet Under vocalist Chris Barnes delivers ten bludgeons of his philosophical hatchet with seventh record ''Commandment''|author=Morgan, Anthony|publisher=Lucem Fero|date=June 2007|url=http://www.lucemfero.com/sixfeetunder062007.php|accessdate=2008-05-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080414222527/http://www.lucemfero.com/sixfeetunder062007.php|archive-date=2008-04-14|url-status=dead}}</ref> Barnes also hailed the group's cover of [[Black Sabbath]]'s "Zero the Hero" as "one of the greatest".<ref name="ChrisBarnesLucemFero"/>
In 2012, ''[[Loudwire]]'' wrote: "Easily one of the best death metal songs ever written, the track tends to often overshadow the mastery heard on the rest of the album."<ref>{{Cite web |last=DiVita |first=Joe DiVitaJoe |date=2015-04-17 |title=Top 25 Extreme Metal Albums of All Time |url=https://loudwire.com/top-extreme-metal-albums/ |access-date=2025-07-26 |website=Loudwire |language=en}}</ref> In 2015, the same publication stated that it was the best Cannibal Corpse song.<ref>{{Cite web |last=DiVita |first=Joe DiVitaJoe |date=2015-09-28 |title=10 Best Cannibal Corpse Songs |url=https://loudwire.com/10-best-cannibal-corpse-songs/ |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=Loudwire |language=en}}</ref>
In 2023, [[Rolling Stone]] ranked the song No. 93 on their list of the 100 greatest heavy metal songs.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-heavy-metal-songs-1234688425/hammer-smashed-face-cannibal-corpse-1234689058/ |title=The 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Songs of All Time |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=13 March 2023 }}</ref>
[[Revolver (magazine)|Revolver]] called it "the perfect death metal song."<ref name="Enis"/> Graham Hartmann of ''[[Loudwire]]'' called the change to half-time in the song's middle section "one of the most stomach churning breakdowns ever recorded."<ref name="Hartmann"/>
==Track listing== {{Track listing | headline = EP version | title1 = Hammer Smashed Face | length1 = 4:04 | title2 = The Exorcist | note2 = [[Possessed (band)|Possessed]] cover | length2 = 4:37 | title3 = Zero the Hero | note3 = [[Black Sabbath]] cover | length3 = 6:35 | title4 = Meat Hook Sodomy | length4 = 5:47 | title5 = Shredded Humans | length5 = 5:12 | total_length = 26:17 }} {{Track listing | headline = Single version | title1 = Hammer Smashed Face | length1 = 4:04 | title2 = The Exorcist | note2 = [[Possessed (band)|Possessed]] cover | length2 = 4:37 | title3 = Zero the Hero | note3 = [[Black Sabbath]] cover | length3 = 6:35 | total_length = 15:17 }}
==Personnel==
; Cannibal Corpse *[[Chris Barnes (musician)|Chris Barnes]] – vocals *Bob Rusay – guitars *[[Jack Owen]] – guitars *[[Alex Webster]] – bass *[[Paul Mazurkiewicz]] – drums
; Production *[[Scott Burns (producer)|Scott Burns]], Dennis Fura and Cannibal Corpse – production
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Cannibal Corpse}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:1993 EPs]] [[Category:Cannibal Corpse albums]] [[Category:Metal Blade Records EPs]] [[Category:Cannibal Corpse songs]]