Obituary - Dying of Everything (2023)

Dying of Everything might have received the most critical praise I've seen for an Obituary album in a very long time...at LEAST since the first few back in the late 80s/90s when they were sort of a shocking novelty based on the roiling guitar tone and John Tardye's sickened vocal style. It seemed like I couldn't avoid year's end lists, blogs and videos without this being mentioned, and having just skimmed over it upon release, I was looking forward to going back to it and hearing what I might have missed. This has led me only to confusion, for while this album does fire off a few very exciting tracks, the rest are quite dull and predictable, business as usual for one of Florida's least progressed death metal acts, and I don't mean that as any sort of insult, some groups stick to what they know, and this is one of them.

Now, "Barely Alive", the opener, is quite explosive and really gave me hope for this album when I first came in contact. It's not super catchy riff-wise, but the energy and leads are certainly palpable and it's hard not to get infected with it. But just as quickly, you get "The Wrong Time", which has a cool intro followed up by a pretty boring rock-ish riff, with maybe one decent groove later on. And that's the formula for many of the tunes, there's one undeniable ferocious part and then a bunch of filler riffing to surround it. Not for the first time, and hell even the better riffing sequences here just sound like slight variations on many others they've already released. Again, that just comes with the territory, there's just not much nuance or ambition to any of the material. You get a few hints of it, like the drawn out backing growls, and the bolder and brighter production than on a lot of their albums, but structurally, while this ticks all the boxes and does hurl out a half dozen admirable riffs which spark all my nostalgia for their first two, beloved records, it's rarely something special.

Now, admittedly, that production IS great...it sounds huge coming out the speakers, one of their better balanced mixes through the decades, grasping on where it can to modernity without losing the original plot, and the chugging, the lead guitars, the vocal and drums are all monstrous. There is certainly an audience for that alone, and I think that might be the main draw to this one, but anytime I'm really about to get into a track, they just spin off into some banal, uninventive material that doesn't impress me beyond the audio force alone. The Mariusz Lewandowski cover art does feel fresh for the band, and don't get me wrong, this record sends dreck like Darkest Day, The End Complete and Frozen in Time home on a stretcher, but I wouldn't mind hearing this same level of production used on material that's more evil, atmospheric, or even slightly dissonant and innovative within the riff choices themselves. It's a decent record, but like a lot of what they've put out, feels like jogging in place through the cemetery, where I'd rather they dug down a little deeper into the rot-choked soils, or broke into some of the sepulchers for some ideas.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://www.obituary.cc/

Obituary - Cause of Death: Live Infection (2022)

Like it's companion piece, Slowly We Rot: Live & Rotting, this is a full live presentation of one of Obituary's classic albums, and this one happens to be my favorite across their catalogue, so I was a fraction more juiced to check it out for those morbid, evil grooves and riffs that I clung to so much growing up. This one is also recorded in Tampa, so basically the band's home turf, and given the same extremely professional treatment, sounding just as good or better than when you're actually standing in front of the band at one of their gigs. The tunes on this album are slightly more controlled and I daresay catchier than on the debut, but at the same time they did feel slightly less carnage-strewn or extreme, but here on Live Infection, there is more of a consistency with Slowly We Rot, and as they start churning along, they get a few opportunities to measure up in extremity.

Again, they are played exactly in the order of the original, including the Celtic Frost cover of "Circle of the Tyrants", which sounds superior to the "Dethroned Emperor" they tossed onto the other record. The chords feel meaty and powerful, and since they're a little more spacious and measured than on the debut, the drums Donald's drumming feels even more powerful. Some of my favorite Obituary tunes like "Body Bag" and "Memories Remain" sound absolutely fantastic, and while John's doesn't always sound 1:1 for the studio versions, he's grotesque and intense as his throat splatters these lines all over the huge grooves. The leads sound a little better and more musical with the way their effects work in the live incarnation, and overall the first nine tracks of this brought so many great memories and turned out to be one of the better live albums I've come across in the last couple years. I realize it's trendy for all these bands to be playing their classics and some might consider it a cash grab, but the fact is a lot of these tunes probably left the set lists long ago, so it's good to have them back even in a limited capacity.

Like the Slowly We Rot live album, there are tracks added here which were not a part of the original, but a sprinkling from later in the career. "Straight to Hell" from the s/t doesn't do a ton for me, but "Threatening Skies" is exciting with its hardcore-meets-Obituary feel, and then you've got the dependable grooves of "By the Light" and while I'm no End Complete fan, I think "I'm in Pain" sounds much more explosive in this live setting than it did fronting that studio album. So in addition to me enjoying the core experience more, the add-ons are also slightly superior for me than those chosen for Live & Rotting. Having said that, I think both of these albums are better than their old 1998 live album Dead, which was actually decent in of itself, but lacks the strength that these have by focusing in on the best material the band has written still to this day. If you're a fan, or you just like really well-produced live death metal, both of these should earn a place on your shelf.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

https://www.obituary.cc/

Obituary - Slowly We Rot: Live & Rotting (2022)

Slowly We Rot: Live & Rotting is one in a pair of special concert presentations released on physical and digital media through Relapse records. Having seen Obituary a number of times through the years, I can attest that whatever inconsistency their studio output might have brought me, this is an arena in which they are quite good, translating their simplistic, evil old death metal into roiling entertainment, fit for a crossroads of extreme music audiences what with all the grooving and moshing potential. This live album, I am happy to say, captures the experience with a professional sound, without going too far into an over-mixed or over-polished territory. In fact, I'd take this over the vast majority of the studio albums they've put out across the decades beyond 1990.

The material is mostly presented in the order of the original album, with an ominous stage intro and then an extended title track at the end. The lineup is the same as it has been since Inked in Blood, with the three original members joined by scene veteran Terry Butler on bass, and second guitarist Kenny Andrews, but it might as well just be the whole original studio incarnation, because it does the debut album great justice. The guitars are soaked in distortion, making the rhythm crunch just as evil as it did 30+ years ago, while the leads sound like whipping, spontaneous serpents that scream out into the atmosphere over the tight performances of Butler and Donald Tardy, both of whom sound excellent. The bass is really thick and the drumming feels even more intensive than on the studio version, and it all ends up pretty much flawless. John also sounds great, his trademark growl might miss a syllable or two, or at least it felt that way, but it's still got the same gruesome sustain to helm the band whether they're blasting away or settling into one of their swampier grooves. It's difficult to pick a favorite among the main tracks here, because each is delivered with precision and care for an audience that must be psyched to see this.

There isn't a lot of fan interaction, or noise, it's all pretty slick, and they've added a couple of later songs to lengthen out the set and release; they aren't really necessary, like "Redneck Stomp" from the crappy Frozen in Time album, which is just as dull here as the original, and "A Dying World", which was a single they put out as part of an [adult swim] series a few years before this. That's not an impressive tune either, but it's much more energetic and fun than "Redneck...", and it's cool that it was included due to its scarcity. The best of the bonus tunes, however, is their cover of Celtic Frost's "Dethroned Emperor", paying tribute to the band that is unquestionably the hugest influence upon their own sound. To be honest, though, I would have been satisfied with just the Slowly We Rot material, it seems that presentation and the accompanying Blu Ray would be enough here, and a few of those later tracks drag it down a little. Overall, though, this delivers what it promises, an ageless performance of what many consider their best album.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://www.obituary.cc/

Obituary - Obituary (2017)

Apart from the first two records, both excellent, I've been fairly ruthless with the Obituary catalog. There have been occasional tracks of note permeating the last 27 years of material, but so much of it felt phoned in, lazy and lacking in the menace and savagery of Slowly We Rot or its groovier, more minimalist and memorable follow up Cause of Death. The band experimented with a more hardcore, mosh oriented sound and audience at one point, which had mixed results, but have since come back around to exploring their roots in detail, trying to figure out what made those early records stick as classics. I'm surprised to say that the eponymous 10th album has done a better job of that than the last seven, by reaching right back to that wretchedness of their formative years and supplementing with something I just didn't expect, a more pure 'heavy metal' sense of melody and structure to several of the riffs, in particular the bridge and lead sections.

So rather than some dissonant, whipping frenzy of a solo, they'll break out something a little more blues based or accessible sounding, and stunningly, it works rather well. That's not to say it's the first time they've crossed that line, but here it actually complements the more ruthless and ripping rhythm guitar tracks throughout the verses, most of which are more or less paraphrased from the band's huge backlog with an emphasis on the earliest material. A few chords are tweaked here or there, but you'll pretty quickly identify where a lot of the note progressions or grooves are hailing from. Only, because I've felt so long parched for Obituary that I enjoy, I'm a little more forgiving here, especially with how angry and vicious John sounds with these vocals in cuts like "Kneel Before Me" or swaggering "Lesson in Vengeance". He's not belching out anything out of the ordinary, but there's a caustic and mean balance between how his voice is mixed here and the sheer might of the rhythm guitars which totally overpowered my speakers and had me rictus grinning from cheek to cheek.

Granted, it doesn't hurt that cuts like "It Lives" feel like they were taken from the Cause of Death sessions, my favorite record from the band, but this has never been a band that flaunted a lot of progression or originality once they had first made their mark with a more gruesome if simple brand of thrash-infused death metal that their statesmen like Death first created. You're still hearing a few of those meaty, Hellhammer-style groove breaks and fat, oozing bass lines, but a lot of the material here is just this wall of mortuary flesh strengthened by the double kick batteries and the cruel symbiosis of Tardy's grating growls and the murderous bent of his lyrics (love that sustained growl that opens "Turned to Stone"). Obituary isn't a total success for all its retread ground and a few tracks seeming staler than others, but it's for sure the first time in a great many years where I have been so thoroughly entertained by one of their releases, and I've already listened through the thing like a dozen times without getting tired of it. Beyond that, it's got enough of an internal variation that it should sate both fans of the more ripping, faster material or the gym-busting bro-groove. Cool.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

http://www.obituary.cc/

Obituary - Inked in Blood (2014)

I'm not going to delve too deeply into the controversy and politics behind the creation of this record. Yes, Obituary crowd funded the recording of this and then put it out on a label anyway. Yes, it seems awfully shady that they'd need or want to crowd fund an album in the first place...it's not like some label was going to 'stifle' their creative process...they're fucking Obituary. They might place an ill-advised death/groove metal rap track as a joke on one of their outings, but they're not going to be corralled into sounding like One Direction. If you've signed this band, then you pretty much know what you're getting; and as I have discovered through the actual musical content of Inked in Blood, what you are getting is more of the exact same riffs, grooves and vocal meters that the band has been largely rehashing since their first two, genuine classic albums Slowly We Rot and Cause of Death.

There is absolutely nothing on this new 'comeback' which seems even a fraction out of place, but that's exactly the problem with it: no fucking ambition whatsoever, and that's a tactic that painfully few bands ever pull off or should even be allowed to pull off. Where once this style of dirty, fuzzy, grotesque Floridian death metal reigned supreme for its unabashed primacy and vocal murder, it now seems just so redundant, a tactic playbook of stock rhythm guitars which are ultimately really dry and ineffectual. That's not to fault the production values here...the bass is roiling and loud, the guitars are like having your guts twisted into batter, the drums have a nice, flexible feel somewhere between the acoustic and augmented, and John Tardy can still sound like he's vomiting blood into a microphone, but all of the patterns here have already been mastered by the band long ago, were much catchier back then (tunes like "Body Bag" and "Memories Remain" are still far more memorable than any track on this...), and they don't really add anything new apart from maybe an occasional pair of harmonized chords breaking into or out of a verse or lead ("Visions in My Head", "Violent by Nature"), or a bit of Southern haze over a doomy riff, an ingredient that was likely drafted over from the Tardy Brothers project.

Now, Inked in Blood isn't entirely shit...for those who simply wanted more of the same that they've been getting for decades, but it stuns me that nothing here is even as striking as two of their most catering, accessible 90s tunes like the super-groovy "Don't Care" or the hardcore surge "Threatening Skies". A lot of this is that when it comes to the rhythm guitars, they stick to the same dull chord progressions instead of trying to put together something out of left field, something more evil and sinister. The band has long subsisted on Tardy's gruesome vocals, but the issue there is that they have not felt threatening or compelling themselves in quite some time. Tunes like "Back on Top" and "Visions in My Head" are so banal in the guitar department that they seem as if they took mere seconds to write...most groups could improv this entire album without any difficulty, just take a few of those old Hellhammer groove motifs and render them as unappealing as possible. As a result, Inked in Blood is beyond lazy, too invested in repeating itself of giving 'the fans what they want' which is rarely a good thing if that's the same audience which thought the last album was good.

I feel like in some alternate universe there might have been/still be an Obituary which built upon the morbidity and menace of the first two albums and progressed that into something really creepy, but this band went the opposite direction, trading in the cemetery spade for a pair of gym shoes. The album has no atmosphere, no creativity, no strong writing, not even a fucking song title stands out. If they'd throw some weirder guitars, some dissonance, some vocal effects, anything to vary this up a little it could go a long way towards building upon the band's legacy rather than becoming suffocated by it. Inked in Blood can't necessarily be accused of being terrible, because it's twice the album Frozen in Time was (not saying much). But it's just not enough for a band that has so long enjoyed its status as a death metal legend, and if I'm being honest...there hasn't been 'enough' since I was a teenager. Fun live band, but their studio output is almost perpetually lacking.

Verdict: Indifference [5/10]

http://www.obituary.cc/

Obituary - The Best of... (2008)

No fans actually want it. The band did not approve of its release. It is not suited to serve as even cow manure. Gee, it must be another of Roadrunner's fabulous fuckwitted entries into their 'best of' series. Another useless reprint of tracks that the label had already drawn profit from when they were released on their constituent full-length studio albums. Another failed molestation of the underground, who already have the albums and could not care less. Similar to what they did a few years prior with Deicide and Malevolent Creation, the Roadrunner brand has devised yet another ineffective paperweight of the past while their unfortunate gluttony for trendsetters and money makers was about to continue into another decade.

For God's sake, they couldn't even fill up a damn disc with this material! The Best of Obituary is but 52 minutes long, with 13 tracks. Each of the first four albums (Slowly We Rot, Cause of Death, The End of Complete, and World Demise) is represented with three songs, while the two most recent Roadrunner albums (Back from the Dead and the pathetic Frozen in Time) each get a single entry. Would it have taxed them just to throw in another pair from those albums? Or were they doing us all a favor by not wasting that empty space with tracks that no one wanted to hear anyway? Whatever the case, there is absolutely no impetus to purchase this lazy ass cash grab. If you're still in the dark: buy Slowly We Rot and Cause of Death. Enjoy the shit out of them in their entirety. If you're feeling daring after that, maybe give a listen to World Demise or Back from the Dead.

The plan here was obvious: Copy over some previously released music. Throw up an old photograph for the cover. Don't even bother using the band's logo itself. They've moved on to Candlelight, so it's just one last ditch effort to squeeze some green out of the few devotees sucker enough to buy anything with the band's name on it. Honestly, unless you are a metal radio DJ with no Obituary albums available to play on the air, and can get this for the cost of zero dollars and zero cents, there is just no need to bother at all. A vicious byproduct of greed and ignorance, from a once mighty label grown too big for its britches. I hope someone somewhere at least got a new Porsche in their garage over this. I'm sure John Tardy and Trevor Peres didn't.

Verdict: Epic Fail [0/10]

http://www.obituary.cc/

Obituary - Left to Die EP (2008)

Left to Die is one of those quaint little EP releases that does very little to justify its own existence, but nevertheless, Xecutioner's Return must have stirred up enough excitement that Obituary were 'returning to their roots', so Candlelight gave it a green light. The best I was hoping for from this was that the band continued to pace themselves and actually write out their new material, rather than offer anything further along the dry and abominable axis of 2005's Frozen in Time. It would have been great if the band could settle into a positive evolution, unlike the grooving and hardcore that inspired them in the 90s, but such is just not going to be the case.

There are two new tracks here, "Forces Realign" and "Left to Die", which would be included at the end of their next full-length, the mediocre Darkest Day. This sort of gimps about half the value of the EP itself. But even had they been exclusives, neither is really any good They do at least follow the example of Xecutioner's Return in bring out the early 90s, with the same focus on the leads, but the rhythm riffs are pretty meek, with only one bordering on catchy (the verse of "Forces Realign"). These are joined by a re-recording of their classic "Slowly We Rot", which is a waste of space, adding absolutely nothing of note that could not be gleaned from the original other than marginally modern production and a tweaked but forgettable solo; and a cover of Celtic Frost's "Dethroned Emperor". This is not the first time Obituary have paid tribute to their major influence, "Circle of the Tyrants" (from Cause of Death) is a quite beloved cover, but this time out it's not so effective, lacking much of the original's charm.

Lastly, they've included a video for "Evil Ways", which is little more than a standard rock star exhibition, the band banging their heads in front of an American flag while skulls and other grisly images are occasionally superimposed on them. Not the worst I've seen, and the song itself is one of the better tracks of Xecutioner's Return, but again, it's not really a reason to pursue this. You can just watch the video on Youtube or something and get just as much value. In the end, Left to Die should be left out to pasture. It's got two album tracks from one of their weakest efforts (Darkest Day is even less appealing than The End Complete, if not as bad as Frozen in Time), a remake of a classic that needs no such treatment, and then an average cover. Save your dough.

Verdict: Fail [4/10]

http://www.obituary.cc/

Obituary - Xecutioner's Return (2007)

Obituary must have felt the pangs of nostalgia when putting this 7th full-length album, because not only did they break out their original moniker for the title, but they also reached straight back to where they left off with Cause of Death in 1990 and ripped out the old school, faster paced material. I've seen mixed criticism of the album through the years, some detractors insulted that the band would finally return to the roots as if it were 'selling out' to a sound that they themselves created, others praising it as the first decent thing the Florida veterans have released in well over a decade. I tend to side with the latter camp, but not because I think Xecutioner's Return is necessarily some triumph of a comeback, but because just about anything, ANYTHING would have been better than the pedestrian tripe branded Frozen in Time.

We've gone from the pathetic, phoned in riffing of that miserable pustule to something that is at least an approximation of the classic Obituary that sends shivers down the spine. Sure, the guitar tone is vintage Cause of Death being played at the speeds of Slowly We Rot, and there are treacherously few new ideas, but I'd take this in a split second over their tough guy groove metal libations of the mid to late 90s, and there are a handful of genuinely good songs here like "Lasting Presence", "Evil Ways" and "Drop Dead" which are all in a solid block near the beginning of the disc. The deeper you go into the track list, the band does seem to transform back into the vapid grooving of their last four discs, which might not be a negative if the riffs were catchy enough, but songs like the bloated "Contrast the Dead" and the dull "Lies" reek too much of disposable filler that was used to swell the play length of the album.

Also, Obituary continued to be pretty lackluster with most of the song titles and lyrics here, which can't have taken them more than a few minutes to throw together. To be fair, this was a trait present as far back as Cause of Death, but at the time the band felt so fresh with their blend of burgeoning Hellhammer guitar riffs and Tardy's atrocious awning growls that we were not, understandable, paying much attention to some of the trimmings. Xecutioner's Return might also be 'accused' of having the best (or worst) leads in the band's catalog: the best if you fancy a more melodic, memorable approach that doesn't cede the band's monstrous atmosphere, the worst if you are actively offended but anything outside of the zipping, wailing specters that graced the first few records. I rather enjoyed them, personally, because they at least offered some distinction against the band's history.

Xecutioner's Return is probably the comeback album the band should have released a few years earlier, but it does not at all abandon the distractions of the escalating 90s, and it ultimately sits at a crossroads between Cause of Death and Back from the Dead. Its got a solid Morrisound mix that really draws upon the throwback tones, but there are no songs here like "Body Bag" or "Memories Remain" that I'm going to find myself enamored with for decades. That said, it does help soothe the scarring left on me by the lazy and terrible Frozen in Time, even if its ultimately not stronger than a World Demise. There is at least an Obituary inside this album, struggling to find its way back to the rot and regret of its ominous origins.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10] (death toll declined)

http://www.obituary.cc/

Obituary - Frozen in Time (2005)

After an eight year hiatus from the studio, I had every expectation that Obituary might have stood back, assessed their career and perhaps turned back the clock to the years in which they produced not only viable, but exceptional death metal. Forget the heedless, grooving overtures of the mid to late 90s, forget the slam dance only crowd, and return to the creeping, beloved abominations of the past! After seeing the artwork for Frozen in Time, I was so sure that my prayers were to be answered that I gushed out to purchase the CD as quickly as possible. Within the first few tracks, I had realized my error, realized the risk of 'early adoption' in its most treacherous form: for this is the worst fucking album Obituary has released in their entire career, and that includes some pretty poor choices (The End Complete, Darkest Days, need I continue?).

Frozen in Time does not, in fact, return to the band's earlier years, nor in fact does it produce anything new of note. Sure, the influence from Cause of Death remains, loosely, but this album is an effect a hybrid of the band's hokey groove core circa World Demise or Back from the Dead, only those efforts possessed a saving grace in several of their riffs, sodden but memorable. That is not the case here, because the band have churned out the most half assed compositions of their career! Most of the songs contain no more than 1-2 riffs with meager variation, and even when they get something tolerable going, they repeat it unto oblivion, until you've no other choice but to angrily press the TRACK FORWARD button! Point in case: the bridge riff in "Blindsided". This horrendous, two note groove is one of the most amateur spectacles I've experienced in metal music. So weak that a band of 6-year olds into Six Feet Under would probably turn their snotty little noses up at it rather than commit it to tape!

But it's not alone here, joined by a cacophony of tripe such as the brooding groove of "Mindset", "Slow Death" or "Lockjaw". Yes, they spent as much time on the song titles as the music (not that Obituary has ever been complex in this regard). Even when the band picks up the pace mildly, as in "Back Inside" or "On the Floor", the material feels like nothing more than weak paraphrasing of tunes from The End Complete or Cause of Death. Let me not get into "Redneck Stomp" (yes, "Redneck Stomp"), a pedestrian slammer so stupid that it should have written itself out of existence. Add to this the rather brute, boring production of the album, lack of anything hinging on a good lead, and a phoned in John Tardy performance which does little else than vapidly repeat patterns he has already well covered on previous albums, and you've got one of the biggest faux pas in all of Florida death metal! An aberration of a once frightening, relevant entity!

Frozen in Time sucks. There is simply no excuse for such a work as this, least of all from a band who have nearly 20 years of experience in their field. Even the lyrics suck. They could write an album of this merit six times in a single afternoon, it's so lackluster. You could dissect, cut and paste riffs from any of their past albums using audio editing software, almost at random, and come up with something better. There are actually people who enjoy this? I say to these: earwax. Time to clean it out, lest another decade of deafness pass by in ignorance.

Verdict: Fail [2.25/10]

http://www.obituary.cc/

Obituary - Anthology (2001)

Of the two Obituary collections released by Roadrunner Records, the first of them, 2001's Anthology, is slightly the more favorable. This is due only to the presence of a few unreleased knick knacks amongst the retread waste, a demo track that many might not have heard, and a few minor edits or tweaks elsewhere. When I mention 'favorable', of course, it is only by comparison to 2008's The Best of Obituary, which the band had no say in, but the difference is about as much as being gunned in the balls and left bleeding to death, or a clean and merciful headshot. Most would take the latter. In no way should any human being squander their money on Anthology when there are countless more valuable things to do with it, but if you find yourself held at gunpoint to select one, then this will sting less.

With over 77 minutes of material, Obituary and Roadrunner have conspired to give the listener their money's worth of...what they already have. The 'compilation' element is delivered through a largely chronological fashion, beginning with a demo cut of "Find the Arise" which is a slightly cruddier alternative to the final studio version (Cause of Death). Then its straight to the races, with a chunk of material from their classic albums; Slowly We Rot ("'Til Death", "Intoxicated", "InternalB leeding", and the title track) and Cause of Death ("Chopped in Half", "Turned Inside Out", "Dying" and again, the title track). The wisest among us would stop right there, as these are the only two Obituary albums that really matter to this day, and the surprising neglect of two of the sophomore's best songs ("Body Bag", "Memories Remain") seems rather suspect in the chooser's choosing. But they press on, with three tracks from The End Complete ("I'm in Pain", "Back to One", and AGAIN the title track); three from World Demise ("Final Thoughts", Kill For Me", and of course "Don't Care") and three from Back from the Dead ("Threatening Skies", "By the Light" and another title track).

If Anthology had been offered as a free download or super discounted disc with proceeds going to some charity, the selection itself might not be frowned upon. After all, certain omissions aside, they carve out an adequate representation of what each studio full-length represented, and one can clearly hear the band's 'evolution' towards groovier LCD fare down the stretch. Alas, that is not the case, and this was another major label cash grab (major for metal), Roadrunner ironically churning out junk like this while failing to care much about signing new death metal bands and further supporting one of the genres that got them to the top in the first place. But the band has also included a few bones for the fans that have blown their cash on it, in the form of a cover of Venom's "Buried Alive" (not so bad once the goofy intro is out of the way and we hear John Tardy's grisly howling above the rocking), and a "212 degree Sporadic Mix" of the song "Boiling Point", which is cast in an interesting industrial drumming claptrap, though that's the only thing distinct about it.

So, in the end, even these bonus tidbits are not compelling enough to save the Anthology. Their legendary cover of "Circle of the Tyrants" will probably always remain their go-to tribute to the past, and next to this "Buried Alive" blows. The industrial remix could have been interesting, sort of like the Laibach 7" remixes done for Morbid Angel, but it's as if they just tacked on a campy, alternative beat and left it there. But, fuck, at least there is SOMETHING present which the death metal fans did not already own. A few of the other tunes are supposedly alternate recordings or edits, but fuck if I could notice or care about the differences. Even the most rudimentary newb or poseur would be better served shelling out the cash for Slowly We Rot and Cause of Death, or the 2003 'Two From the Vault' double-pack, than this currency-craving detritus.

Verdict: Epic Fail [.75/10]

http://www.obituary.cc/

Obituary - Dead (1998)

Dead is one of two long awaited live entries from the Florida elite to be issued in 1998, the other being Deicide's When Satan Lives. This was recorded the year prior at the Axis in Boston, when the band was touring up a storm for their Back from the Dead full-length. It's also curious in that I am pretty damned sure I was at the actual gig, though the half dozen times I've experienced Obituary through the years have admittedly muddled together in my brain. Regardless, this is quite an effort, with 16 tracks and excellent standards of production that should surely satisfy the avid follower of the band's carnal creations. Powerful, thick guitars, solid drumming and John Tardy giving a performance worthy of any studio effort. About the one element falling behind in the mix would be the bass, but it's not that you can't hear it: the instrument has simply never been dominant in the band's tone. As for the leads, they sound impressive, standing out on stage even more so than they do from the studio efforts.

I must begrudge that a few favorites of mine are missing from this set list, namely "Body Bag" and "Memories Remain" from Cause of Death, and about half the worthwhile content of their debut Slowly We Rot, but what remains is an entertaining mix of the band's earlier death metal and then their more hardcore and groove-infused 90s fare. The recent selections like "Platonic Disease", "Threatening Skies", "By the Light", "Download", "Rewind" and "Back from the Dead" offer a sizable exposure to their latest full-length outing Back from the Dead, danceable enough to whip the largely hardcore crowd into a frenzy; while popular World Demise tunes "Don't Care", "Final Thoughts" and "Kill for Me" are also included. "I'm in Pain" is thankfully the sole track from the mediocre End Complete, and the remainder of the set is a delight hearkening back to the band's pinnacle of achievement (1989-1990); Cause of Death represented by its title track, "Dying", "Chopped in Half" and "Turned Inside Out", all of which sound fucking amazing.

There are but two included from Slowly We Rot, but oh, how well the title track is placed at the conclusion of the set, its pungent and doomed grooves inciting violence throughout the audience. The last is "'Til Death". Naturally, I would have paid good money for an ENTIRE set list culled solely from the first two full-lengths, but I feel that the band at least captured some of their catchier moments from their entire body of work (to that point), and you're getting an hour of solid Obituary which was accurate to their obvious polish. They also went all out for the release, with a nifty black/white cover image and a mix job courtesy of Andy Sneap (ex-Sabbat UK), who had by 1998 begun to establish himself as a metallic go-to, though usually for his studio efforts. All told, Dead is even better sounding than it was to attend one of the band's concerts with the p.a. and amplifiers blasting into your eardrums. Most of the tunes are quite close to their studio counterparts, so there's not much improvisation or embellishment, but its certainly a decent live recording for this genre.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://www.obituary.cc/

Obituary - Back from the Dead (1997)

Obituary's 90s predilection towards groove metal and hardcore reached its peak with their 5th full-length album in 1997. One must ignore the zombie strewn cover image and the bold, blood-dripping chrome of their masterful logo, because grisly and gory this is not. Really, calling it Back from the Dead was a bit of a misnomer, as this is no rallied return to the form of their career best (Slowly We Rot, Cause of Death) and in fact the band would dissolve into a hiatus for the following 5-6 years. More accurately, it's a natural extension of where the Floridians were headed with World Demise, only more palpably accessible to audiences outside the death metal sphere. In fact, the band has gone so far as to invite a pair of rappers for a remix of one of the new originals.

One instantly realizes just how tangible the hardcore/punk influence is once "Threatening Skies" launches into its emotional fast break. Really, this is almost straight up NYHC, and it would take only a slight moderation of John Tardy's presence for this to transform into a Sick of It All tune. That said, the song is probably the catchiest of the entire release, and Tardy's ghastly torn throat fits the mold with uncanny precision. There's another nice punk/death metal solo break in "Download" which deserves mention, but this is probably the limit of the straight core appeal. Beyond these, there are a number of tracks which successful develop a pedestrian groove reminiscent of something the band would have written between 1990-1994. "Platonic Disease" and "By the Light" are the best examples, with concrete hooks that are not at all unpleasant due to the thick production, bred for the moshing audience but certainly reflective of the band's huge Celtic Frost/Hellhammer influence. There are also a few half-baked grooves elsewhere, in "Feed on the Weak" and "Inverted", but neither is quite that consistent.

Then, of course, we have "Bullituary", an abomination of "By the Light" which features a pair of would be hip hop mavens known as 'The Bully Boys': Skinner T. and Diablo D. (try not to blow whatever you're drinking out your nose and ears). The two perform in a tough guy style not unlike Onyx, Geto Boys and the Boo-Ya Tribe, but like much of that mid 90s rapcore crossover, it's got no value beyond the riotous irony of its construction. There have been worse lyricists within the genre, and there's an interesting contrast when some of Tardy's original vox echo beyond the hip-hop verses into the Biohazard style gang shout sequence, but you don't need me to tell you that this is ultimately LAME. I reiterate what I've said in the past: it's not because there isn't potential for a band to come along and mesh rap and metal elements into a quality whole. It's that NO ONE had the tact and ability to do such. Thus we wound up with awkward, diminishing returns as the 90s progressed, and then the mighty fallout and ensuing mockery that humanity has thrust upon the majority of these mutants.

Granted, "Bullituary" was considered a bonus track for shits and giggles by the band, and it does sound like all involved had some fun with it, but the taint remains, further poisoning what is otherwise not a great album to begin with. Some credit is due here, because the production of the album is quite nice, John's growling cutting through the guitars wonderfully. Back from the Dead is far from the worst Obituary album, because despite the mash up of styles the band explored within, it's still more exciting than the enormously dull architecture of The End Complete or the pathetic comeback Frozen in Time, but it was not enough to contend with the yawning expanse of mediocrity that had plagued the band since their excellent sophomore album in 1990.

Verdict: Indifference [6.25/10] (sirens rage in vain)

http://www.obituary.cc/

Obituary - Don't Care EP (1994)

The Don't Care EP is just another of those padded corporate pocket liners that has been manifest simply to direct currency into the label and (hopefully) the band itself. Released a few months before the band's heavily groove-oriented World Demise, it features two tracks from the full-length and one that you wouldn't find until the 1998 re-issue, which arguably is the only piece of value to anyone hunting for this. Even the cover to Don't Care is incredibly lazy, just a zoom on the smokestacks present on the full-length's facade, filtered through a different color palette. If anyone had given a fuck about this EP, they might have restricted the redundant content to just the title track, then peppered in a few extra live tunes, videos, and more non-album, unreleased material, but it's nothing but a teaser.

The central piece is of course "Don't Care", in which we get the first look at the new Obituary. Having found The End Complete to be a ruddy and forgettable rehash of their great sophomore Cause of Death, I had no idea what to expect, so I was rather pleasantly surprised by the huge grooves the band set forth. The lyrics seem pedestrian on the surface, but there is more to them, and John Tardy's growling charisma fits the mold well, and the primal leads work really well over the bridge. The tune also plays it short, only around 3 minutes, and its probably the band's most 'accessible' yet. "Solid State" is the other album track, a pumping hardcore groove built for the flexing of violent limbs, but despite its swagger, it soon becomes incredibly repetitive, and the gimped, lazy mosh breakdown near the close of the bridge is incredibly weak.

"Killing Victims Found", the non-album bonus, is very similar. It takes an effective, leaning groove and then alternates it with the massive, stock Obituary wall of chords and belligerent, almost tribal drums. Definitely carries the huge Hellhammer/Celtic Frost tone and influence that we'd all come to expect from the Floridians, and does so rather well. I don't love the song, it suffers from the same sort of repetition for diminishing returns that "Solid State" commits, but it is admittedly the best thing about this EP. Unfortunately, the track is included with the reissue, rendering Don't Care completely useless in retrospect. And in all honesty, anyone with even a half-canny suspicion would have realized this was just as worthless as nearly any CD single or promotional EP in those times. Do yourself a favor, if you're interested band's mid-90s style, save the money on this and make a direct line for World Demise or Back From the Dead. I can't promise either is a good album, but certainly they are more cost effective.

Verdict: Fail [2.25/10] (pitfalls twisted)

http://www.obituary.cc/

Obituary - World Demise (1994)

By the time World Demise rolled around, the audience for extreme metal had already begun to change far and wide. A lot more punk and hardcore kids were attending the shows, in my region even making up the bulk of any death or thrash gig attendance, and it only makes sense that bands would begin to adapt. If you'd been to a performance by this band in the mid to late 90s in the States, then you know exactly what I'm talking about. Now, I'm not accusing Obituary of some chameleon strategy, and a band cannot necessarily choose its audience (nor should they), but there can be no dispute that the band was beginning to incorporate an increasing amount of heavier grooves into their songs, perfectly suited to the mosh tastes of a wider fan base seeking the release of youthful testosterone (or estrogen) over the endurance of lasting, legendary music.

On the one hand, World Demise creatively channels the underlying themes of their classics Slowly We Rot and Cause of Death into an urban bricklaying force, with a near excess of manly swagger. We had already been inundated with the hilarious "Don't Care" from the EP of the same name earlier in the year, but here it sits atop its proper throne of primal, driving grooves and crude but effective chorus. John Tardy sounds quite good here, as he does on the concrete crushing of the title track, another of the clear favorites here for the relationship of the descending chugs and resonant growling; and a great pure old school, creepy death bridge. Other pieces of note include the almost hypnotic sway of "Lost", the warlike percussion of "Redefine", and of course "Final Thoughts", with the hugest and most menacing groove on the entire album. Most of these do suffer from a faint reek of useless repetition, and in most cases :30 seconds could have been snipped to greater effect, but they're all fun enough songs that the album was almost instantaneously more memorable than its dull predecessor The End Complete.

On the other, I really would have liked more fast material on this album. It's all too rare that the band will surge into one of their morbid and wild, frenetic scenarios, like the bridge to "Solid State" and its winding, deceptively sloppy lead sequence. There are some decent old school rhythms here that hearken back to the heyday of Xecutioner and Death ("Set in Stone", etc), but not enough. A lot of 'one and done' tracks choke off the album's efficiency: "Burned In", "Paralyzing", "Kill for Me", "Boiling Point" are not incompetent, but they suffer from familiar vocals patterns and tempos that have already been done better (by this very same band). As an EP with 6-7 songs, this would have been all I could hope for, but the 51 minutes of its entirety are swollen with redundant ideas and a decided lack of restraint.

Scott Burns had a hand in the recording here, and it's another success for him, ably capturing the band's broad Hellhammer guitar tone and vocal dynamics. Despite the simplicity of the song titles (not a first for Obituary), the minimalist lyrics are rather poignant, a disjointed poetry, though there is no question the band was aiming for a more socially conscious subject matter than their past albums. The cover art is probably the worst of the band's career (even suckier than some of their post-hiatus flops), but it too reflects this shift towards matters of importance with impunity. All told, World Demise is far from the worst of Obituary's full-length excursions, but neither is it consistently engaging. A scant few tracks belong among the band's career highlights, and the rest snuggle comfortably into oblivion.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10] (the shocked earth groans)

http://www.obituary.cc/

Obituary - The End Complete (1992)

In 1989, Slowly We Rot caused us to cling our Bibles in terror, hiding from the things beneath the bed and in the closet; John Tardy upping the gory game with vocals that stretched into terrifying incredulity. In 1990, Cause of Death took the same principle of sound and refined it into the best set of songs Obituary has ever (and likely will ever) unleashed upon the populace. Momentum was clearly in the band's favor, and thus when it was announced that their third effort would be dubbed The End Complete, I was personally expecting some anomaly of epic disgust that would shake the very foundations of all taste everywhere, and plunge us into the morbid, threatening skies (haw haw) of the apocalyptic, desolate cover art...

Well, safe to say that The End Complete is nowhere NEAR that level of quality, and in fact it is what I might consider one of the most 'overrated' albums in all of classic death metal. Now, I choose such a word carefully, knowing all of the butt hurt it will create, letter bombs and cow paddies being sent towards my address with due haste. I only use it here, because financially speaking, this album was clearly a success for Obituary, or for death metal in general, selling its fair share of copies. But it's really nothing more than Cause of Death II, with almost nothing to distinguish it from its vastly superior sibling. The riffs and patterns here are naught more than minor deviations to the formulas of the sophomore, with any potency and wretchedness being wrung out like old blood from a sponge. Yeah, some stain will remain, but not the memories (okay, enough with the cheap puns).

Now, naturally I am not opposed to an album following in the cemetery-treading footprints of its predecessor, but unfortunately that path has led to an unassailable stone wall of creativity. It's not the style of The End Complete that suffers, but the songwriting, which is honestly one of the laziest examples of 'paraphrasing' I've heard in this genre. Sure, many do it unconsciously, but this album truly feels like an egg scrambling of the first two. Shit, we need another album? Let's put on our thinking caps. 15 minutes later: Oh, fuck this, let's just rearrange some of the older songs, change up the leads, and profit. All of the sodden darkness of Cause of Death is drained out within about three songs here, the dull and warlike "I'm in Pain" with its predictable notation until the faster bridge fails to save it; "Back to One" which opens almost like a sequel to the great "Memories Retain" only far more boring; or the chugging, mud mosh of "Dead Silence", which, despite its decent leads and honest neanderthal moshing, is just as unmemorable.

Does the album get better than this? Not exactly. John Tardy still has what it takes to splatter the musical content throughout, and a few of the tracks in the thick make an earnest break for something more, like the lead to "In the End of Life". But these are counterbalanced by such generic fare as "Killing Time", whose initial bouncing escalation sounds almost entirely a doppelganger of Death's "Pull the Plug". About the only track that doesn't bore my socks off would be "The End Complete" itself, not because it's really noteworthy, but the primitive groove of the Hellhammer derived rhythms creates at least a moment or so of escape.

If this were the first death metal (much less Obituary) album I'd ever heard, and I had just fallen off the proverbial turnip truck, then it might have had more than a middling impact, but exposure to the band's prior output as it was being rolled out of the sewer and on to the retail shelves ensured that would not be the case. The End Complete was essentially The End of This Band Releasing Good Records. Maybe that's an overstatement...Xecutioner's Return was decent and a few of their groove/hardcore albums had some riffs worth revisiting, but this was truly the first sign that we were not looking at a death metal dynasty, but an empty parking lot of corpse strewn creativity. It might not suck, but neither does it suck the listener into the charnel crypts of its enormously superior, elder siblings.

Verdict: Indifference [5.25/10]

http://www.obituary.cc/

Obituary - Slowly We Rot (1989)

If Scream Bloody Gore or Leprosy could represent the cackling crypt lord ruling over the animated corpse court of a sepulchral domain, then Obituary's Slowly We Rot would be the shambling caretaker and enforcer, with a cruder outlook but the same ghastly intent. Having spent a good 5 years on the underground/demo circuit under the name Xecutioner, they were originally writing filthy thrash in the vein of Hellhammer or Venom, and you can certainly hear those influences carried to the extreme here. But foremost, the difference would be in the vocals of John Tardy. They're not entirely unlike Chuck Schuldiner, but taken to a grisly extreme that, while taken for granted by most today in lieu of the basement gutturals and pig squealing so common for death metal, were quite frightening in their age. You simply hadn't heard a man vomit this much into a microphone, and while Death kept the vocals creepy but level with the onslaught of fantastic guitar riffing, Obituary is cool with letting Tardy own the mix.

There are some similarities in the guitars also, but Trevor Peres and Allen West were using a thicker, more processed distortion highly reminiscent of the Hellhammer tone, and a lot of the riffs are slower and more doomy than those on Leprosy. That said, the motif works to great effect here, because Tardy's presence over such slogs as "Slowly We Rot" or "Bloodsoaked" will instantly transport the listener into the pit of festering terror that permeates this album. This is ultimately a very well paced effort, with equal measures of carnal breakdowns and faster zombie riots that conjure a morbid hypnosis. Once the resonant sewage gutturals of the "Internal Bleeding" intro cede to the drum fill, and the crushing guitars arrive beneath Tardy's initial torn throat, the band breaks into this incredibly primitive groove while you attempt to acclimatize to the vocals you are hearing. How does a human being sound like this without having appendages trapped in a meatgrinder? Truly sickening and effective, and the perfect balance for the more lowly mixed instrumentation and the effortless, wild tearing of the guitar leads that penetrate the atmospheric din like needles stitching the flesh of patchwork abominations.

"Godless Beings" moves at a faster slice not unlike the material you were hearing on Brazilian Sepultura's Beneath the Remains (same year), but then busts into this wall of groove which Obituary would use about 300 times through the rest of their catalog. The slower bridge here provides a great foreshadowing to "Memories Remain", perhaps my favorite song from the band (appearing on Cause of Death). From here, we hit on a number of other classics like the titular "Slowly We Rot" with its forceful doom drudge and total punk rock out; "Bloodsoaked" with the escalating carnage of its central riff and washes of harrowing vocal gore that cut through the intro sequence; "Stinkupuss" which has an amazing, shrill lead sequence in between its flesh quaking grooves; or "Deadly Intentions" with its thick broil of pulverizing Hellhammer thrash rhythms. A few of the riffs here were uninspired even by 80s standards and the newly burgeoning genre, and I've never been all that taken with "Gates to Hell" or the lengthy "Intoxicated" outside of the Tardy vocals, but Slowly We Rot is nothing if not consistent through most of the 35 minutes.

Considering the fresh menace of its newly dubbed genre, and the rare ability to hold up after so many years, it's safe to say that the Obituary debut is a bona fide death metal classic. It's not a masterpiece at the level of Leprosy or Altars of Madness because the individual songs don't possess that same level of riffing. This is an issue that was clearly addressed with its followup Cause of Death, which is superior and the best thing the band have released to this day. Yet Slowly We Rot is still well worth repeated visits due to its visceral, unforgiving aesthetics. I can recall many conversations in high school and at thrash gigs about how disgusting and extreme this new Florida band Obituary was, and certainly the debut does not disappoint, with brutal vocals and adequately nihilistic lyrics. But this initial 'shock' value aside, it does suffer from some mild redundancy where its successor does not.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10] (rotting as one)

http://www.obituary.cc/

Obituary - Darkest Day (2009)

Like the previous album, Xecutioner's Return, Darkest Day is another attempt at a return to Obituary's roots: pure death metal, with deep grooves and horrifying vocals courtesy of John Tardy. Gone are the hardcore overtures which plagued some of their late 90s albums. Sadly, while it's superior to 2004's abysmal Frozen in Time, this album fails to deliver the quality moments of creepy riffing that permeated their classic albums Cause of Death and Slowly We Rot. Xecutioner's Return was proof that perhaps this horse hadn't been beaten to death, but this album is weak enough to overturn that evidence.

On the surface, this album does possess all the elements that made their old records so great. Even the mix sounds similar, with the band's signature guitar tone and lead outbursts. It just lacks in inspirational riffing. Tracks like "List of Dead" and "Blood to Give" could be outtakes from Cause of Death, but they lack the replay value. A few tracks later on the album come close, like the grooving "This Life" and the furious "Violent Dreams", but they fall shy of the mark.

At this point, I can't really call Darkest Day a disappointment. I've been underwhelmed by a number of the band's previous albums (The End Complete, Frozen in Time). Perhaps one day, the 'forces realign' and Obituary kicks my ass once again. Not this time around.

Verdict: Indifference [5/10]

http://www.myspace.com/obituary

Obituary - Cause of Death (1990)

Obituary is another case of a killer beginning and no follow-through, despite their rather deep legacy. To be fair, their live shows are quite kick ass and they had a smattering of decent tracks on the albums World Demise and Back from the Dead. But their recent work leaves much to desire, a dull retread of ideas that the band already mastered on the only efforts that really mattered: Slowly We Rot and Cause of Death. The former is a legend of the death metal genre; it may seem silly these days, but Slowly We Rot was all the talk of the town when it first dropped, for the unbelievable vomit soaked vocals of John Tardy and the guttural violence of the Slayer/ Hellhammer influenced guitar work. Cause of Death was actually restrained by comparison, but the style remained intact, and the writing more effective and 'mature'. It remains my absolute favorite of this Florida execution squad.

"Infected" begins with a brief industrial repetition before evoking a wall of slow, gloomy chords. Haunting leads strike off like matches to the 'swing' of the grim atmosphere. Then the song begins to grind and Tardy emits his horrific and awesome vocals, easily among the best of the death metal pioneers and remaining so (the order of the day seems to be out-gutturalizing the rest of the scene, yet Tardy is still heavier than all these fuckwits combined). There are points where his voice will just merge into the carnal landscape of slight leads and the effect is entirely creepy. "Body Bag" follows with a catchy thrash riff and excellent vocal pattern, then the bluesy bridge. Obituary can easily evoke doom-like power in the simplicity of a few chords, and frankly were at their best when doing so. Tardy's presence just makes it all the more volatile. "Chopped in Half" uses a vocal pattern to create the mid-paced, desolate forward lurch of its cumbersome heaviness. The cover of "Circle of the Tyrants" here is one of the best Celtic Frost tributes I've heard, taking the original of Tom G. Warrior & crew to the next logical conclusion. It's also fitting because Hellhammer/Celtic Frost is a tremendous influence on the riffing of Trevor Peres (the restless guitar mercenary James Murphy also performs on this album). "Dying" has a strong flow and groove to it, while "Find the Arise" once again makes great use of a vocal intro to lead the wave of destruction. The title track is another of the slow death/doom variety, with a great thrash pick up and perfect death metal chorus.

Yet, the best song here and my favorite Obituary piece has to be "Memories Remain". It has a similar structure to "Cause of Death" but creates the most amazing fucking death/doom atmosphere during the chorus, as Tardy grunts Life goes on... even after death... life goes on. The leads are shrill and expertly delivered, and this song is really the very definition of 'death metal'. Evil and brooding without needing even the trace of complexity. "Turned Inside Out" is actually another great track to close out the album, with some catchy chug and groove.

Cause of Death sounds deep and menacing, the perfect accompaniment to an evening in the morgue. The lyrics are vague and minimal, and honestly, all that is required here. Imagine the bodies of murder victims rotting in the steam of the Florida night. Imagine you can polymorph these visions into actual music. Voila: I give to you Obituary, circa 1990. Cause of Death (and it's predecessor Slowly We Rot) is one of the true classics of USDM, coming right at the 'cut off' of the earliest years for this now oversaturated genre. It sounds every bit as vibrantly evil and threatening as it was almost 20 years ago, and belongs in the collection of every death maven who doth not reek of poseur.

Verdict: Epic Win [9.5/10] (dissection of the light)

http://www.obituary.cc/