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Afterlife > Surreality > 1993, CD, Grind Core International > Reviews
Afterlife - Surreality

Connecting the dots between 'technical' and 'brutal'... - 76%

robotniq, March 24th, 2021

Afterlife was a short-lived Midwestern death metal act from the early 1990s. They diverged from the typical 'Midwestern' sound (if such a thing exists). Their music was speedier and more technical than the grubbiness of Viogression, Cianide or Morta Skuld. Their only album ("Surreality") resembles the Florida and New York scenes; Suffocation, Morpheus Descends and Monstrosity were contemporaries. Afterlife was not as brutal or as opaque sounding as those bands. They played an early example of what might be called 'technical brutal death metal'. This album may not sound much like modern interpretations of the sub-genre (e.g., Defeated Sanity), but fans of classic American death metal should take heed.

I would place “Surreality" somewhere between the manic, busy, brutal death metal of Suffocation, and the greater musicality of mid-era Death or Pestilence. The band’s song-writing was dense and obscure with smidgens of melody. Comparisons with Cannibal Corpse are inevitable because Afterlife used the same choppy, technical-ish riffs interspersed with bass noodling. I'm not a huge fan of this kind of death metal, but Afterlife were better than most others who were playing this style. Many of the songs on this album sound like an interchangeable series of riffs. Sections from one song could be spliced with sections from another song without disrupting the flow.

A couple of songs stand out. "Dreading the Marrow" is the biggest surprise. It differs so much from the rest of the album that it sounds like a different band. The slow, methodical ooze of this song sounds more like Autopsy, with eerie guitar melodies evoking an interesting atmosphere. I tend to gravitate to this kind of death metal sound, so this is my favourite song here. The other intriguing song is "Shell of a Being". This one has a prolonged, gentle mid-section with clean guitar and whispered vocals, and then a solo that extends into near-virtuoso territory. The album is more varied than it first appears and the musicianship is well above average. Afterlife was more than just a brutal death metal clone, although the one-dimensional vocals sometimes give that impression.

There are minor problems with the production. This album has none of the beefiness that the Morrisound recordings had, and none of the power of properly produced records like "Dawn of Possession". The guitar tone is weak; too thin and feeble for this kind of death metal. A heftier tone would have resulted in a more brutal and effective album (closer to Suffocation). The overall production sound is passable because the other instruments sound decent. The bass rears its head occasionally, like in the middle of "Embrace", which works well. The drums are a highlight. The snare has a nice rattle, the drumming itself is varied and energetic. The drummer has a hurried sound, propelling the songs forward with tension and urgency.

"Surreality" is an underrated death metal album. It fills a void between the more brutal and the more technical ends of American death metal. It isn't as satisfying (or as brutal) as "Ritual of Infinity" or "Imperial Doom" (let alone "Effigy of the Forgotten"), but it differs enough from those records to avoid competing with them directly. A fuller guitar sound could have qualified this album as a hidden classic. As it stands, it is one of the better American death metal obscurities. Fans of Suffocation and Monstrosity should apply.

A Psychedelic DM Gem - 86%

TheBlackClam, April 22nd, 2018
Written based on this version: 1993, CD, Grind Core International

Amongst the hordes of classics from Florida and Sweden, there are a handful of murky, rancid, and devastating death metal albums from the Midwestern US. Perhaps due to being so far from the hotspots at a time without internet, early 90s bands from this area display serious creativity, inspiration, lack of trendiness, and a desire to demonstrate all things metallic and grim. Possessing a unique, reflective atmosphere, Surreality is one such death metal gem. A personal favorite, this album transports you to other realms while remaining brutal and thrashy.

When using the term thrashy, I simply mean you will bang your head here. Genre-wise, Surreality straddles the edge between old school death metal (OSDM) and brutal/technical death metal (BDM). While the riffwork and vocals are more in favor of the latter (lots of palm muting and deep vocals), this album does not possess the wall-of-sound quality of BDM like, say, Cryptopsy, nor does it have the hardcore edge of BDM like, say, Dying Fetus. This album maintains a doomy, trippy atmosphere with a focus on riff character, holding strong spiritually, if not physically, with the OSDM.

The production on this album is perfect. In fact, this may be my favorite death metal production of all time. As I mentioned earlier, this is not wall-of-sound metal. The dynamic separation here is flawless. I’m not a recording expert, and my ear is not always correct with regards to identifying triggered drums, but the drum sound on this album is as close to natural as I’ve heard. The bass drum sounds like it‘s supposed to, like a dull thud, not once does it sound like plastic or become annoying. Despite being tuned to C# (correct me if verified otherwise, please), the guitar is never too muddy, and always stands out very clearly. This allows the riffs to carry their message uninterrupted for the duration of the album.

The song and riff writing are what make this a favorite. Each song remains completely unique; this album is in no way repetitive, unless of course you count distorted guitar and pounding drums as repetitive, in which case you’re in the wrong genre. Some of the riffs on this album are simply 10/10 level riffs. Euphoric riffs. While the overall worth of an album also depends on riff consistency, riff synergy, and tension building (see Hell Awaits), possessing euphoric riffs is ultimately what makes you revisit an album over and over. This album is filled with dreary, grim, and surreal melodies in addition to the bludgeoning chugs. I won’t call out any standout tracks or riffs, as I often find myself disagreeing when others do so in their reviews. All I can say is any song or any one of the very many strong riffs on this album is worthy of someone’s top spot.

The musicians on this album are above competent without being virtuoso level. This allows intensity and creativity to dominate as opposed to over-technicality. The drumming is creative and addicting, maintaining complete freedom at all times. It never seems that the drums are holding a beat out of a sense of obligation, so when they do hold a steady beat (at least for a few measures), the feeling that it was done in free choice in that particular rhythmic moment makes the delivery sound that much more devastating. It gives the illusion (or reality) of great synergy between the guitar and drum intensity. Although playing in this free form style, the drumming remains interesting and pounding, and the constant shuffling of rhythms never becomes frustrating as it sometimes can.

I struggle to think of why I can’t score this higher, but if I have to think of a reason, there is not much tension building or overall intensity progression over the course of the album. Rather than building up and delivering periodic climaxes throughout, the euphoric riffs on this album tend to come from nowhere, eating your soul and disappearing once again to the Abyss. However, this sporadic arrangement of riffs helps give this album its unique psychedelic atmosphere, and so could also be considered a strength. Also, although this next reason has no effect on the numeric score, this album seems to have been recorded, or at least the CD was produced, at a very low volume. I have to turn my stereo up louder with this CD than with almost any other CD, Vinyl, or Cassette that I own. However, maybe the need to increase the volume so much when listening to this is related in some way to the amazing dynamic separation already discussed.

This album is unlike any other that I have discovered. Recommended if you like death metal and/or brutal death metal, progressive/psychedelic rock, jazz/fusion drumming, and like to hear the actual sound of the riffs.

Cannibal Corpse with melody - 75%

Reaper, August 14th, 2004

This band is like Cannibal Corpse without the prevalent repetition and lack of distinction between the songs. That’s the first thing that came to my mind when I heard this album. The low brutal growls are there, but the repetition is not. The fact that the instruments are distinct throughout the album is one of the characteristics that distinguish this band from Cannibal Corpse. In case you are wondering, I am using CC as a basis for my comparisons because almost everyone has heard them and understands that they are a repetitious band without much personality.

The vocals tend to sound repetitious in some cases. Although they do change a bit to lighter growls in certain parts of songs, they do remain monotonous during the majority of the album. The guitar solos are widespread throughout the album and add variety to the songs, as opposed to the same drilling and boring underground Death Metal sound.

Some of the songs have a slower almost Doom Metal trait to them, especially track four, “Dreading The Marrow,” which has less brutal vocals and slower tuned down guitars which came as a surprise to me. The melodious sound of track four is what distinguishes the songs from each other all through the album. Each song has a certain monotonous vocal sound to it and a melodious instrumental sound which works well with the vocals and creates a somewhat idiosyncratic atmosphere.

The negative portion of this album is that, even though there are distinctions between songs, they are not as grand as possible and therefore are inevitably lackluster in sound after a while. Some of the songs do stand out though. The fifth track, “Shell Of A Being,” does offer different vocals styles encompassed with the brutal repetitious vocal style of the previous tracks. The vocals at the beginning have an almost Black Metal trait to them as they are more raspy and forced out, as opposed to the vocals towards the end which are almost whispered and show a calmer side of the album. The track also offers some very killer guitar riffs and drum beats. High pitched guitar solos and drum solos all in between the three different types of vocal styles boost the replay value of this album.

The last track, which is an excellent conclusion to a decent album, is filled with guitar solos and has a more melodic feel to it, especially around 1:00 where the guitars pick up in speed and the vocals become higher in pitch. Variety is much appreciated in Death Metal and especially this kind of Death Metal, which can almost be called Brutal at times. Surreality is a decent album for those Death Metal heads that are tired with the repetitious sounding music of certain bands. Although it is repetitious to an extent, it’s no Cannibal Corpse.