David Astor and Gabe Serbian who were also members of The Locust formed San Diego-based Cattle Decapitation in 1996. The young band demonstrated influences from Napalm Death and Carcass.

The band releases a 7" entitled 10 Torments Of The Damned through Humanure Atrocities before losing its original singer/guitarist. Replacement is found in Travis Ryan who ironically was previously the drummer for local death metal band Strangulation. Strangulation later reformed as Disgorge. Ryan also sang for Carcass clone band Anal Flatulence. Astor and Serbian swap spots (former to bass and latter to guitar) at this point.

An LP entitled Human Jerky follows via Satan's Pimp Records. The trio delivers the Homovore album in the same year. The Decapitacion 7" appeared also in 2000 where the band delivered three of the Homovore songs in Spanish! The band plays numerous local shows and also ventures into Mexico. Bassist Troy Oftedal is added to the fold.

In 2001, the band appeared on Necropolis Records' Requiems of Revulsion: A Tribute to Carcass with the track Burnt to a Crisp. An early version of the song The Regurgitation Of Corpses is featured on Metal Blade sampler compilation Uncorrupted Steel. Consequently, the band signs with Metal Blade in early 2002. Produced and mixed by Juan Urteaga at Trident Studio, To Serve Man appears in July, 2002 and is immediately banned by Metal Blade's German distributor SPV for its gruesome cover art. The illustration, courtesy of Wes Benscoter, depicted a man whose innards are gushing out onto a platter. The band supported the album via an opening slot with Gwar. The band supports PETA and other Animal Rights organizations.

Cattle Decapitation was forced off the Cannibal Corpse 2002 US tour "due to a medical emergency at home." The band played a Bay Area show with Vio-lence, Testament and Death Angel in the spring of 2003. The band's next album was dubbed Humanure. In the spring of 2003, the band asked drummer David Astor to leave the fold due to his "inability to live up to the obligations of touring." Drummer Michael Laughlin from Creation Is Crucifixion replaced him. The band also entered the studio to record a new track for the Metal Blade compilation, Uncorrupted Steel 2. The song was a demo version of Cloacula: The Anthropophagic Copromantik.

2004's Humanure soon created problems for the band. The cover artwork proved controversial in Germany. Metal Blade's German distributor SPV refused to put the album into the stores, therefore in Germany Humanure was only available via mail order. A few months later the band would yield to censors picking the image on the back of its Humanure CD as the album's new cover art. The band's original cover artwork was the subject of censorship and difficult to find. The band began touring to promote the album. One bill had the band hit North America with The Black Dahlia Murder, Cattle Decapitation and Goatwhore. Another had the band touring with Gwar. The band announced Karma.Bloody.Karma. as the title for its July 2006 album. The band also recruited drummer J.R. Daniels formerly of Unholy Ghost and Royal Anguish. Drummer Michael Laughlin rejoined the group at the beginning of 2007. Like clockwork the group had yet another drummer to kick off 2008. David McGraw, formerly of Sleep Terror, was the new man.

CATTLE DECAPITATION - TO SERVE MAN - METAL BLADE
To Serve Man, Cattle Decapitation's third album and first on Metal Blade, is a speed-oriented blast of powerful metal with dual-channel vocals throughout. While the focus is clearly on blasting drums and growled vocals, a thrashy guitar tone akin to Vio-lence makes for a sharp yet different feel to the proceedings. There is some melody present as the album's last two songs Deadmeal and Chunk Blower demonstrate. That being said, To Serve Man will never serve those into melody as the blasting is as incessant on these tracks as anywhere else on the album. Furthermore lead guitar parts are rare and those present are kept to a short duration. Those which do kick in are well worth the wait though thus giving rise to asking why the band does not see the need to incorporate more of the same. The album's biggest fault though comes courtesy of the production. While both loud and clear, the songs would have certainly benefited from several more overdubs. The songs are occasionally hollow-sounding and often sound thin. A prime example is the song Everyone Deserves To Die.
Manifestly inspired by Cannibal Corpse and Carcass, Cattle Decapitation throws the listener for a loop with its vegetarian stance and advocacy for Animal Rights. According to Metal Blade the album cover is already banned in Germany by SPV the label's distributor. One has to wonder whether a record company marketing ploy is at hand for there is little there that is either shocking or that has not already been depicted elsewhere. Either way Cattle Decapitation is a furious band with a different slant on the extremity proceedings.