Ten Thousand Ways to Die

Upon hearing the news of one of Florida's greatest death metal band releasing a live album with two new tracks had me jumping for joy. So it was no surprise that I pre ordered the album. Now the real prize of this maxi single or live album, is in fact the live tracks taken from a recent past tour. So in order to not waste time, I'll quickly summarize the two new tracks. First we have "Loathe", a straight up throwback to the band's past material, with slow dirty riffs and thick drums and Tom Tardy's signature vocals making the song a true to form sound for Obituary. Next is the title track, which features Obituary at their more quick paced, traditional Floridian death metal style. With a mood of anger and hostility and a hell of a solo, it is truly the better of the two tracks.

Now onto the real meat of this release, the live tracks. Taken from their recent North American tour, we truly get quite the offering of classic material live, with a few "hits" missing. Now I use the term hits loosely, mainly because a death metal band really is not supposed to have hits. However, some noticeable songs from their past albums. For example no songs from "The End Complete" or "World Demise" are showcased here. However, we get a good dose off the first two classic albums from their career, which is more than enough for this metalhead.

Now song selection is only half of what makes a great live album. The other half is of course, the production, which this release scores big points. The production is damn near perfect, but not in the traditional sense. There's no crystal clear guitar sound, or light clean sounding drums. What we do have is some downright dirty guitar tones, sludgy bass, and thunderous drums. But what about Tom's vocals? Do they hold up or do they fall just sort of greatness? Thankfully they kick ass. Tom really comes out and shows that old school can still kick like they did back in their heyday.

Now, even though this is a really good live album, the fact that some key songs are missing and that the flow feels too cut and dry. Meaning we really don't hear too much interaction between band and the fans. Which to me is an important part of the live experience. However, with all that said, this is still a really decent live album with two new studio tracks. A great release for hardcore fans, but maybe not for newcomers

The heyday for live albums was the 70's, now it seems they're only for the most die hard of fans.

If you're familiar with Obituary, you know they pretty much make the same album every time. That's nothing new in the world of metal, and with some bands it's expected. On "Ten Thousand Ways to Die" you get two new tracks death metal tracks of Celtic Frost guitars buzzin' slowly, but just fast enough to mosh to, or to imagine your favourite frightening horror movie scene. After that it's all live songs recorded at different venues. It's not all the hits you know and love, I know, I know, death metal bands aren't supposed to have singles, but in Obituary's case people are familiar with a lot of title songs and videos, which means "Don't Care" and "The End Complete" aren't here. The familiar guitar buzz isn't always present unless long chords are being held down, but the vocals and drums are album perfect.

What you typically want from a live album though is the sense of being there, which is difficult to get when it's not a single set with all the stage banter. You hear the audience before and after the songs, but the banter that's there is rare and isn't special, including the vocalist asking to have the lights turned down. It's easy to forget about something as uneventful as adjusting the lights when it's at a live show, but recorded on and album to remember forever?

In the end "Ten Thousand Ways to Die" is perfectly audible, and if you're a fan it might be nice to hear the old songs clearer, but the essence of the live environment isn't there because it's not a single set.

This review was originally posted at Cvlt Legion - https://www.facebook.com/1743373579244585/photos/a.1744821585766451.1073741828.1743373579244585/1749676858614257/?type=3