Cannibal Corpse was formed in 1988 by members of the bands Beyond Death (Webster, Owen), Leviathan (Barnes), and Tirant Sin (all from Buffalo) (Barnes, Rusay, Mazurkiewicz). In April 1989, the band performed their first show at Buffalo's River Rock Cafe, shortly after recording Cannibal Corpse, a five-song demo tape. The band was signed to Metal Blade Records a year after that first gig, presumably after the label heard a demo sent in by the manager of the record store where Chris Barnes worked, and their full-length debut album, Eaten Back to Life, was released in August 1990. ¹⁾