Cannibal Corpse Tap Hate Eternal's Erik Rutan To Fill In For Pat O'Brien On Tour

Last year, when Cannibal Corpse guitarist Pat O'Brien was arrested and charged with Burglary and Assaulting A Police Officer, one of our immediate questions was how that would affect the band's upcoming tour dates with Slayer.

Now, a statement on the Cannibal Corpse Facebook page has cleared the issue up: the band will embark on all future tours as planned, but with Hate Eternal frontman Erik Rutan subbing in on guitar.

According to the statement, "Cannibal Corpse have announced that Erik Rutan will fill in for guitarist Pat O'Brien as O'Brien tends to personal issues...This won’t be the first time these death metal powerhouses have worked together; Rutan has produced four albums with Cannibal Corpse (Kill, Evisceration Plague, Torture, Red Before Black) and is uniquely equipped to fill the role -- he is one of the death metal's most acclaimed guitarists and is known for his time as part of Morbid Angel (who are co headlining the Decibel tour alongside Cannibal) throughout the 90s and early 2000s, as well as handling vocals/guitars and production duties for his current band Hate Eternal."

Obviously, Erik is one of the more nuanced and talented men in metal today, and Cannibal have toured with Hate Eternal in the past.

Make sure to catch Cannibal playing with Erik alongside Slayer, Lamb Of God, and Amon Amarth at one of the dates below.

May 2 - Phoenix, Ariz. @ Ak-Chin Amphitheatre
May 3 - Albuquerque, N.M.@ Isleta Amphitheatre,
May 5 - El Paso, Texas @ UTEP/Don Haskins Center
May 7 - Edinburg, Texas @ Bert Ogden Arena
May 8 - Dallas, Texas @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
May 10 - Tampa, Fla. @ MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre
May 11 - West Palm Beach, Fla. @ Coral Sky Amphitheatre
May 13 - Huntington, W.V.@ Big Sandy Superstore Arena
May 14 - Columbia, Md. @ Merriweasther Post Pavilion
May 16 - Noblesville, Ind. @ Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
May 17 - Bonner Springs, Kansas @ Providence Medical Center Amphitheater
May 19 - Clarkston, Mich. @ DTE Energy Music Center
May 20 - Youngstown, Ohio @ Covel Centre
May 22 - Ottawa, Ontario @ Canadian Tire Centre
May 24 - Camden, N.J.@ BB&T Pavilion
May 25 - Mansfield, Mass. @ Xfinity Center