Hailing from San Diego, California, Cattle Decapitation is an extreme metal band founded in 1996. The band is known for its heavy environmentalist and misanthropic lyrics; they protest against the mainstream consumption of animals, pollution, and genocide. They have gone through several lineup changes but the current band consists of vocalist Travis Ryan, guitarist Josh Elmore, guitarist Belisario Dimuzio, bassist Olivier Pinard, and drummer David McGraw.

Sometimes jokingly referred to as a post-vegetarian farm core, the band commented on their stance:

Josh and I are what you would call “vegetarian”. We’ve tried and tried to be as upfront about that as possible but the entire media world thinks we are hardline vegan, which in turn trickled down to fans and we’re just not. I’ve been vegan at points but I try to be as correct as possible and point-blank, there are times on tour where I just don’t know if what I’ve been given to eat has eggs or dairy in it and the road is rather unfriendly to us. We aren’t afforded the luxury of going to a Whole Foods at 3 am after a show. At that point its fucking Taco Bell or something disgusting. You’re driving down the road burning fossil fuels and your vehicle is covered in the carcasses of insects and sometimes birds and other animals. So how far does one take it? This is why I can’t claim vegan. I live my life with as much compassion as I can for others, the environment, and the animals though. At home it’s much easier.