Death metal pioneers Cannibal Corpse have begun recording their 12th studio album at Sonic Ranch Studios in El Paso, Texas. The band has recruited Hate Eternal vocalist/guitarist Erik Rutan to produce their latest effort. Rutan has worked with Cannibal Corpse on their last two releases, 'Kill' and 'Evisceration Plague,' but this will be the first time Rutan will act as the band's head producer.

Bassist Alex Webster stated, 'After having spent the past 7 months writing and rehearsing new material, we're very excited to finally begin recording. We've had great success working with Erik Rutan on our past two albums so we've decided to work with him again, but to keep things fresh we decided on a change of location -- we're returning to Sonic Ranch studios in Texas, where we've recorded several albums in the past. We are psyched to see how this combination works out- we feel it's pairing that could result in our best album yet.'

Rutan also shared his enthusiasm: 'I am super excited to work with Cannibal Corpse for our 3rd album together. We are determined to make the best album we possibly can. Everyone is very focused and the new material is awesome. There is a great blend of classic, old school CC with a newer, more heavy, dynamic and aggressive approach. I look forward to the challenge of making one heavy as hell record!'

Cannibal Corpse recently released their fourth DVD, 'Global Evisceration' in March of this year, which chronicled their journey to 10 different countries in 18 days.

As previously reported, Cannibal Corpse will headline the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise setting sail from Miami, Fla., in January 2012.

More From Loudwire