History

Cattle Decapitation was formed in 1996 by Scott Miller on vocals and guitar, Gabe Serbian on drums, and Dave Astor on bass. The band put out their first material in 1996 with a demo called Ten Torments of the Damned. Scott Miller left the band in circa 1997, Gabe Serbian assumed the guitar and also shared drums duties with Dave Astor, and Travis Ryan joined the band as the new vocalist. In 1999 their first EP, Human Jerky, was recorded and in 2000 their second EP Homovore was recorded. The two EPs were both recorded at Double Time Studios with recording engineer Jeff Forrest. Gabe Serbian ended up leaving the band 2001 to focus on The Locust. Guitarist Josh Elmore and bassist Troy Oftedal joined the band right after, so Dave Astor focused only on the drums.

Cattle Decapitation's first album, To Serve Man, came out in 2002 and saw controversy in Germany, where distribution company SPV refused to handle the album due to its graphic cover. Drummer Dave Astor left the band the following year and was replaced by Michael Laughlin, who stayed in the band until 2008, when Dave McGraw took over the drummer position. The cover of the 2004 album Humanure, featuring a cow excreting human remains, was reportedly censored without permission from the label in some outlets. Record store owners did not display the album, making it difficult for customers to find and buy it.