Cephalotripsy is an American

slam death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, fea ...

band from California. The group formed in 2003 and have released one album, three demos and promos and have been included on a split with Membro Genitali Befurcator. The band is characterized by their very slow death metal style, which focuses primarily on playing slam riffs. They are also known as one of the most influential bands to play the 'slam' style of death metal. The band's name refers to the method of removing a stillborn fetus from the womb by crushing its head. A medical tool known as a

cephalotribe A cephalotribe was a medical instrument used in obstetrics to crush the skull of stillborn fetuses (cephalotripsy). It was used in cases of obstructed labor (dystocia) to aid delivery.W.L. Richardson (January 3, 1878).Recent progress in obstetr ...

is used to do this. As explained by

Webster's Dictionary ''Webster's Dictionary'' is any of the English language dictionaries edited in the early 19th century by American lexicographer Noah Webster (1758–1843), as well as numerous related or unrelated dictionaries that have adopted the Webster's n ...

; a cephalotripsy is "The act or operation of crushing the head of a fetus in the womb in order to effect delivery."

History

Cephalotripsy originally began with the members in high school, playing basement shows and house parties. The band wasn't taken seriously until at least 2006, when they released a three-song demo. Following their demo, the band wrote and recorded their full-length album entitled ''Uterovaginal Insertion of Extirpated Anomalies'' (2007), it was released through Amputated Vein Records and was met with mixed reviews. Some favored the band's style of playing slam

riffs A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accomp ...

almost exclusively while others panned the release for being "too boring." Despite this, Amputated Vein re-released the album the next year. In 2008, the band played the New England Deathfest alongside bands including

Dying Fetus Dying Fetus is an American death metal band originally from Greater Upper Marlboro, Maryland. Formed in 1991, the group is known for their consistently hook-laden song structures, characterized by blast beats, complex riffing, slam riffs and hea ...

and

Circle of Dead Children Circle of Dead Children is an American deathgrind band formed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1998. After the release of a self-titled demo that was put out the same year they formed, Circle of Dead Children signed on with Willowtip Records to r ...

. 2011 saw Cephalotripsy release their ''Promo 2011'' CD, displaying a new musical style of which abandoned their previous "slam only" style. This was met (again) with mixed reception, having some fans not favor the release while others praised their new direction. The following year, the band was included on a split entitled ''Membro Cephalic Symbiosis'' with the Russian band Membro Genitali Befurcator. As of 2014, Cephalotripsy have announced that they are due to release their second full-length album entitled ''Induced Primordial Regression''. They have stated that plans to begin recording start in either July or August. In 2017, after years of inactivity, the band was included on the ninth annual Las Vegas Death Fest, their first performance since 2012. Cephalotripsy shortly thereafter followed-up this show with a US tour with the

brutal death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

bands Splattered and Incinerate.

Members

Current

*Andres Guzman - guitar *Angel Ochoa - vocals *Forrest Stedt - drums *Diego Sanchez - bass

Former

*Nick Ochs - guitar *Kyle Heart - drums *Mark Candelas - bass (guitarist for Cerebral Incubation) *Wes Kell - guitar *Kenny Huffman - guitar *Carlos Hernandez - bass *Rah Davis - bass

Discography

;Albums *''Uterovaginal Insertion of Extirpated Anomalies'' (2007, Amputated Vein) ;Demos/promos *''Demo 2006'' *''Promo 2007'' *''Promo 2011''

References

External links

*{{Facebook, CephalotripsyOfficial, Cephalotripsy Death metal musical groups from California American musical trios Musical groups established in 2003 Musical groups from San Diego