Robert Joseph Barrett III (born January 29, 1970) is the guitarist for

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 ...

band

Cannibal Corpse Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York in 1988, now based out of Tampa, Florida. The band has released fifteen studio albums, two box sets, four video albums, and two live albums. The band has had little radi ...

. He played with the band from 1993 to 1997 and rejoined in 2005. He has cited

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, heavy metal, and jazz ...

Malcolm Young Malcolm Mitchell Young (6 January 1953 – 18 November 2017) was an Australian musician who was the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and songwriter of AC/DC. Except for a brief absence in 1988, he was with the band from its beginn ...

Randy Rhoads Randall William Rhoads (December 6, 1956 – March 19, 1982) was an American guitarist. He was the co-founder and original guitarist of the heavy metal band Quiet Riot, and the guitarist and co-songwriter for Ozzy Osbourne's first two solo alb ...

Eddie Van Halen Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he co-founded along ...

Tony Iommi Anthony Frank Iommi () (born 19 February 1948) is a British musician. He co-founded the pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's guitarist, leader and primary composer and sole continuous member for nearly five decades. I ...

and

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist for ...

, among others, as his influences. He currently resides in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

Career

Barrett was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

. He started his professional career in 1990 when he formed the band

Solstice A solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21. In many countr ...

with drummer Alex Marquez and guitar player Dennis Muñoz. The band recorded a demo in 1991 produced by Jim Morris and signed a record deal with the German label SPV/Steamhammer. In 1992 they released their debut album entitled ''Solstice'' (the name changed to "The Sentencing" on some pressings). That same year, Barrett and Marquez decided to join

Malevolent Creation Malevolent Creation is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York in 1987 and later based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The band's original members were rhythm guitarist Phil Fasciana, vocalist Brett Hoffmann, lead guitarist Jim Nic ...

after their previous drummer and second guitar player didn't show up to a rehearsal, putting Solstice on hiatus. They took part on the recording of Retribution and toured with the band.

Cannibal Corpse

In 1993, Barrett was contacted by Alex Webster and asked to join Cannibal Corpse, shortly after the recording of ''

Tomb of the Mutilated ''Tomb of the Mutilated'' is the third studio album by American death metal band Cannibal Corpse. It was released in 1992 through Metal Blade Records and is the last record with the band's original lineup, as founding guitarist Bob Rusay was fire ...

'', as a guitar fill-in for Bob Rusay. He stayed with the band for the subsequent tours and eventually became a permanent member. He recorded the 1994 album '' The Bleeding'' and the 1996 album '' Vile''. He also made a brief

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

with the band in the 1994 film '' Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'' starring

Jim Carrey James Eugene Carrey (; born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and artist. Known for his energetic slapstick performances, Carrey first gained recognition in 1990, after landing a role in the American sketch comedy te ...

. In 1997 Barrett left Cannibal Corpse after an argument over musical differences between him and the other band members. While he was replaced by

Pat O'Brien Pat O'Brien may refer to: Politicians * Pat O'Brien (Canadian politician) (born 1948), member of the Canadian House of Commons *Pat O'Brien (Irish politician) (c. 1847–1917), Irish Nationalist MP in the United Kingdom Parliament Others *Pat O'Br ...

, Barrett rejoined Malevolent Creation in 1998 and stayed with the band for six years. In 2005, Barrett expressed to the members of Cannibal Corpse his desire to come back to the band and after careful consideration, Barrett was finally welcomed back and replaced Jack Owen. Since then, he has been featured on the albums ''

Kill Kill often refers to: *Homicide, one human killing another *cause death, to kill a living organism, to cause its death Kill may also refer to: Media *'' Kill!'', a 1968 film directed by Kihachi Okamoto * ''Kill'' (Cannibal Corpse album), 2006 * ...

'', ''

Evisceration Plague ''Evisceration Plague'' is the eleventh studio album by American death metal band Cannibal Corpse. The album was produced at Mana Recording Studios by Hate Eternal guitarist Erik Rutan. The album entered the US ''Billboard'' 200 at number 66, ...

'', ''

Torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

'', ''

A Skeletal Domain ''A Skeletal Domain'' is the thirteenth studio album by American death metal band Cannibal Corpse. Released on September 16, 2014 by Metal Blade Records, the album was produced at Audiohammer Studios by Mark Lewis. The album entered the US ' ...

'', ''

Red Before Black ''Red Before Black'' is the fourteenth studio album by American death metal band Cannibal Corpse, released on November 3, 2017. This is the band's final album to feature guitarist Pat O'Brien before producer Erik Rutan officially replaced him i ...

'', & ''

Violence Unimagined ''Violence Unimagined'' is the fifteenth studio album by American death metal band Cannibal Corpse, released on April 16, 2021. It is the band's first album in nearly four years since ''Red Before Black'' (2017), the longest gap between two rec ...

HatePlow

In late 1994 right after Malevolent Creation recorded their third album, Barrett formed the death metal band HatePlow with guitarist Phil Fasciana and late drummer "Crazy" Larry Hawke, both members of Malevolent Creation. Barrett was the original vocalist, the band eventually got Kyle Symons to join on vocals due to Barrett's commitment to Cannibal Corpse Although HatePlow was intended initially as mere a fun side-project, the trio recorded a four-song demo that enjoyed a wide spread throughout the underground trading circuit. After his departure from

Barrett extended his commitment to Malevolent Creation & HatePlow and participated in the recording of the albums ''Everybody Dies'' and ''The Only Law Is Survival'' which came out in 1998 and 2000 respectively. In 2004, he left HatePlow. The same year Barrett left, the "Moshpit Murder" compilation was released which features tracks recorded live during "The Only Law Is Survival" U.S tour with

Stormtroopers Of Death Stormtroopers of Death (abbreviated to S.O.D.) was an American crossover thrash band formed in New York City in 1985. They are credited as being among the first bands to fuse hardcore punk with thrash metal into a style sometimes referred to as ...

in 2000, tracks from their 1996 demo, and one song from their 1999 demo that was done with a drum machine.

Collaborations and side-projects

Since the 2000s Barrett has made a few guest appearances, providing extra guitar playing for bands such as Eulogy,

Hollenthon Hollenthon is a heavy metal band from Austria founded in 1994. History The beginnings of Hollenthon date back to 1994, a time of an active Austrian Black Metal Syndicate and an incognito project known as Vuzem. He joined forces with drummer ...

, Infernäl Mäjesty,

Pro-Pain Pro-Pain is an American heavy metal band based in New York City, formed in 1991 by vocalist and bassist Gary Meskil and drummer Dan Richardson, both former members of Crumbsuckers.Strong, Martin C. (2001) ''The Great Metal Discography'', MOJO ...

and Unearthed. In 2005 Barrett joined in on the recording of the

Roadrunner United ''Roadrunner United'' was a project organized by American heavy metal record label Roadrunner Records to celebrate its 25th anniversary. It culminated in an album released worldwide on October 11, 2005, entitled ''The All-Star Sessions''. Four ...

album ''

The All-Star Sessions ''Roadrunner United'' was a project organized by American heavy metal record label Roadrunner Records to celebrate its 25th anniversary. It culminated in an album released worldwide on October 11, 2005, entitled ''The All-Star Sessions''. Fou ...

'' where he played guitar on the tracks "Annihilation by the Hands of God" and "Constitution Down". In 2019 Rob Barrett recorded with death metal band

Deicide Deicide is the killing (or the killer) of a god. The concept may be used for any act of killing a god, including a life-death-rebirth deity who is killed and then resurrected. Etymology The term deicide was coined in the 17th century from m ...

for a tribute album for the 40th anniversary of shock punk-metal hardcore legends The

Dayglo Abortions The Dayglo Abortions (sometimes abbreviated to DGA) are a Canadian hardcore punk and metal band from Victoria, British Columbia. Their lyrics reflect a genre-typical disregard for societal norms. The band was formed in 1979 and released their first ...

titled "Fuck The World If It Can't Take a Joke". The track recorded was "Inside My Head" from their 1985 release Feed Us a Fetus. In the mid-2000's Barrett planned on starting a hardcore band with J.C. Dwyer on drums and Jonathan Buske on bass. It is currently unknown if a name was decided or if any recordings exist.

Equipment

Guitars

Barrett is currently endorsed by

Dean Guitars Dean Guitars, commonly referred to simply as Dean, is an American importer and maker of stringed instruments and musical products with its headquarters in Tampa, Florida. Its products include solid-body electric guitars, bass guitars, and acous ...

and uses their custom guitars, mainly

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

's but also V's and Z's. All of his guitars are equipped with either an EMG set or a Fishman Fluence set and are tuned to A# and G# Standard, he also tunes his guitars like the top 6 strings of a 7 string guitar. Around 2007 Dean Guitars produced a signature model in limited numbers called the Cadi-Kill. In the past Barrett used to play two

Gibson Les Paul The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typi ...

's, a

Jackson Dinky The Jackson Dinky is a Superstrat-style double-cutaway electric guitar built by Jackson Guitars. The "Dinky" is named for its slightly smaller than normal (7/8) body size. Usually fitted with a two humbucker pickup configuration, some models al ...

, briefly a B.C. Rich Bich, a Custom ESP M-1, and a Charvel 475 that was also in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, the Charvel featured stickers from bands such as Black Flag,

Biohazard A biological hazard, or biohazard, is a biological substance that poses a threat to the health of living organisms, primarily humans. This could include a sample of a microorganism, virus or toxin that can adversely affect human health. A bioh ...

Slapshot A slapshot (also spelled as slap shot) in ice hockey is a powerful shot. Its advantage is as a high-speed shot that can be taken from long distance; the disadvantage is the time to set it up as well as its low accuracy. It has four stages whi ...

, Wasted Youth and

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk rock, punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, sa ...

. His Les Paul's are now only used for studio recording. He now uses Fishman Fluence pickups in his signature guitars.

Amplifiers

Like O'Brien, Barrett uses

Mesa Boogie Mesa/Boogie (also known as Mesa Engineering) is an American company in Petaluma, California, that manufactures amplifiers and other accessories for guitars and basses. It has been in operation since 1969. Mesa was started by Randall Smith as a s ...

amplifiers, such as the Dual Rectifier (old 2 channel version), the Triple Rectifier and, more recently, Mark V. For cabinets, he uses

Crate A crate is a large shipping container, often made of wood, typically used to transport or store large, heavy items. Steel and aluminium crates are also used. Specialized crates were designed for specific products, and were often made to be reusa ...

, Marshall and

4 x 12", which are loaded with

Celestion Celestion is a British designer and exporter of professional loudspeakers. History Origins What became Celestion was started in Hampton Wick (suburban London) in 1924. ''Cyril French'' and his three brothers had taken over a plating works ...

Vintage 30 speakers. Before settling for Mesa Boogie, Barrett used Crate and Marshall amplifiers.

Effects and accessories

Barrett runs a few pedals, namely an ISP Technologies Decimator noise gate, Boss MT-2 Metal Zone, Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner and a Maxon ST-9 pro+ Super tube. The units are connected with Monster cables.

Discography

* 1991: ''Demo'' * 1992: ''Solstice''

* 1992: '' Retribution'' * 1998: ''

The Fine Art of Murder ''The Fine Art of Murder'' is the sixth studio album by Florida death metal band Malevolent Creation. It was released on October 27, 1998 via Pavement Music. Phil Fasciana and Rob Barrett originally planned to do all the bass tracks on the album ...

'' * 2000: '' Envenomed'' * 2002: ''

The Will to Kill ''The Will to Kill'' is the eighth studio album by Florida death metal band Malevolent Creation. The U.S. and UK album covers are alternate. Track listing Personnel ;Malevolent Creation * Kyle Symons - Vocals * Rob Barrett - Lead guitar * P ...

'' * 2004: ''

Warkult ''Warkult'' is the ninth studio album by Florida death metal band Malevolent Creation. Track listing Personnel *Kyle Symons: All vocals *Phil Fasciana: Guitars *Rob Barrett: Guitars *Gordon Simms: Bass *Dave Culross: Drums Production *Produc ...

* 1994: '' The Bleeding'' * 1996: '' Vile'' * 2006: ''

'' * 2009: ''

'' * 2012: ''

'' * 2014: ''

'' * 2017: ''

'' * 2021: ''

'' Eulogy * 2010: ''Burden of Certainty'' (demo) HatePlow * 1996: ''Demo'' * 1998: ''Everybody Dies'' * 2000: ''The Only Law Is Survival'' * 2004: ''Moshpit Murder''

Guest appearances

* 2001: ''

With Vilest of Worms to Dwell ''With Vilest of Worms to Dwell'' is the second studio album by Austrian symphonic death metal band Hollenthon, released by Napalm Records in 2001. Track listing Music by Martin Schirenc, lyrics by Elena Schirenc. #"Y Draig Goch" – 3:55 #"Wo ...

'' Infernäl Mäjesty * 2007: ''Demon God'' (EP)

* 2008: ''No End in Sight''

* 2005: ''

'' Unearthed * 2007: ''Imposition of Faith''

References

External links

Cannibal Corpse website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, Rob 1969 births Cannibal Corpse members Death metal musicians Living people Malevolent Creation members Rhythm guitarists