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Obituary - Obituary

End it Now - 85%

aidane154, February 23rd, 2022

Obituary had a very long stretch of mediocre material between Cause of Death and this album. Though I personally thought Xecutioner's Return was a step in the right direction, they backtracked immediately afterwards with two more so-so releases: Darkest Day and Inked in Blood. After 25+ years of phoning it in, Obituary hired lead guitarist Ken Andrews. Though he appeared on Inked in Blood, he didn't contribute songwriting ideas to that release. Everything changed with the 2017 self-titled, which showcases the band's revitalized spirit, probably due in part to Andrews's new ideas. With a new cook in the kitchen, Obituary serves up here a worthy successor to Cause of Death and Slowly We Rot.

One thing which makes this album great is that it just doesn't get boring, even on the slower deathgroove tracks. I don't find myself wanting to turn it off when tracks like the laid back waltzy romper A Lesson in Vengeance or the nearly happy-sounding Betrayed come on. On previous releases, songs like these would just go on and on without really developing or doing anything interesting, but not here! Of course, they offer up ​fast tracks and Celtic Frost-influenced tracks on here as well, ensuring that Obituary is a dynamic experience.

The lead guitar on this album isn't the most technical you'll ever hear, but every solo seems like it was clearly planned out to fit the songs. On other Obituary albums, they called in James Murphy and Ralph Santolla to lay down some solos; and, while their solos are good, it does seem at times that they're playing a solo just to have one, whereas Andrews plays them to service the structure of the song. Like an integrated quote in a college essay, the solos and leads tend to flow really nicely with the rest of their respective songs.

The production on here is really great, with Peres's signature Strat and RAT combo spewing out filthily mixed fat riffs. Donald Tardy's drums are nice and clear, and John Tardy's unique voice is mixed pretty much just perfect. His voice is showing its age a bit, but I don't mind, because the music is just so damn good! The mix isn't super loud either, though Obituary was never really a victim of the loudness war to begin with.

Somehow, Obituary finally woke up from their 25+ year slumber and actually brought forth some much-needed freshness and intensity. I can't stress this enough: this self-titled release is the clear winner for third best Obituary album by a large margin. This may be blasphemous, but at times, I even like it better than Cause of Death! This album has got basically everything an Obituary fan could want. It celebrates every era of the band, but this time it's got the songwriting power to really make it all work. It's hard to say whether they'll be able to outdo this with their next album, which is slated for release this year, but I hope they expand upon this formula because it's certainly a winning one.

Obituary - Obituary - 85%

Orbitball, September 21st, 2020
Written based on this version: 2017, CD, Relapse Records (Digipak)

This is a solid album, not monumental like 'Cause of Death', but still a great effort by these Floridian based death metal veterans. I can say that they're still making good music! The songs are a little bit more up tempo than a lot of their older releases. A lot of energy here, and deathly vocals by John Tardy. I don't know, I liked them with James Murphy on lead guitar but that was just for maybe one album (COD). Their new members are still kicking ass in the lead department though. And the riffs are heavy and thick. Good stuff! Songs are a little bit longer than the usual Obituary but still killing it!

I liked the production quality on here. It's well mixed as well. Tardy's vocals just spew out utter hatred. The riffs are a little groove-laden, but cool. I like the songs on here and the approach. Really good songwriting style on here. And they seem to never lose the intensity or vibe to the songs. It's totally them on here unlike I felt 'Inked In Blood' was a little shallow. Here the production has it more solid than that release I mentioned. Not every song on here is fast but still quality. I liked the whole album all the way through they kick serious butt. The riffs are catchy and heavy as all hell! Death is now!

As I talked about the production and the quality it has than with previous releases, it really did the band good. All the tracks on here are sickly. Behind the set Donald does a good job as well. Both of the Tardy brothers sure as hell rip it up on here. Cannot mistake the Tardy voice though it's one of a kind! I like the song structures how they make way towards total noise annihilation. There isn't a song on here that I disliked. They all were good. A lot of double bass by Donald right alongside that tremolo picking in the guitar department. These Florida veterans are still making good music!

Check this album out on YouTube or just buy the physical CD. The album is worth buying. You get a better sound (to me) on CD. But to each their own. If this review hasn't convinced you to contribute to metal and to the band, then I didn't do my job on here. I'm not sure if this is available to Spotify users but Bandcamp they should be on. Support this band! Their death metal is right on and 30 years in making albums this one is a step up from some mediocre ones. We'll see if you aren't reluctant to get the album if you do take a listen on YouTube to draw your own conclusion. Get it!

An Honest and Solid Effort - 73%

Arjunthebeast, September 4th, 2018

In my opinion, Obituary are one of the bands that you can’t criticize. At least not in the way you can with younger, more derivative bands formed well after the days when the music was alive. In short: our friends from Tampa Bay lived the shit and made the shit long before a nerd like me could pick it up with little effort. Yet something like the choice to title their reunion album, 2003’s “Frozen In Time,” shows that these champions of caveman metal are nevertheless resigned to their fate as dinosaurs. But even in death, they will continue to rot onwards into further realms of oblivion. And we as listeners will still have to weigh newer efforts against their landmark predecessors. With a humble respect of course.

Here, on the self-titled “Obituary,” we have some more putrefying asskickery that people will recognize immediately. It doesn’t come close to touching “Slowly We Rot” (an all time personal favorite) but it doesn’t slouch on the job either. Much like the template for much of their work, the underappreciated 1994 banger “World Demise,” “Obituary” will tap your veins with a seamless combination of death metal, thrash and hardcore. Here, the band is in top form, effortlessly “laying down ways to die” with a great production job that gives us all the instruments and John Tardy’s legendary vocals in simple clarity.

There isn’t a moment lose as ‘Brave’ demonstrates how album intros suck and then beats any local wimps into pulp in short order. And that urgency doesn’t wane much over the course of the album, even with a less memorable second half. Per usual, the band’s best stuff happens when they crunch out into one of their Celtic Frost inspired grooves (see ‘End it Now’ and the nasty ‘It Lives’). ‘A Lesson in Vengeance,’ is almost a dead ringer for Frost’s ‘Vision of Mortality’ in its lumbering central guitar pattern, which makes it a highlight for the Frost faithful. Lead single, ‘A Thousand Ways to Die,’ serves well as the “mission statement” track (make sure to catch the hilarious music video too) and has a memorable chorus that will likely get someone hurt at shows.

In the end though, it is too bad that we can never have the true gutter-hell that was their early music again, where both the vocals and the guitar tone got dangerously close to dark matter in musical form. Alas, all things must die, and matter must be transfigured into further matter. Ashes to ashes, rot to rot.

Originally Published in Metalegion Magazine

S/T 2017 - 80%

theuntitled1, June 18th, 2017

Since their reunion, I've never really given Obituary a solid chance. I play their classics Slowly We Rot, Cause of Death and The End Complete from time to time, but I was underwhelmed by Frozen In Time and Xecutioner's Return. I kind of let the band fall off my radar for a while. 2014's Inked In Blood grabbed my attention and I actually was anticipating their self titled release. Out of the gate I must say that this album offers you a heap of old school death metal riffs that are great but the record also has some songs with "death n' roll" elements, which in general are kind of hit or miss. The vocals are still as great as they ever were and while Obituary S/T isn't in the running for "Album of the Year" by any means, it is an above average release that old fans and new should enjoy.

John Tardy is one of the most recognizable vocalists in metal. His growls aren't as guttural as most death metal vocalists. Tardy uses a wider range of vocal inflections and howls that really make the music move. The lyrics don't just sit there, Tardy emotes and makes them come alive rather than merely grunting monotonously into the microphone as loud as possible (like Glen Benton does). Another of Tardy's signatures is the way he ends lines and verses. His howl expands on the final vowel sound in a way that is sort of reminiscent of a wild cat's roar. It's a vocal inflection that sets him apart from most death metal vocalists and has always been one of my favorite elements to the Obituary sound.

I've been kind of on the fence about the "death n' roll" approach. Sometimes it's okay, but most of the time it comes across as kind of toothless (listen to latter career Entombed albums if you don't know what I mean). On paper it looks like it could work. Fusing death metal elements into a more traditional hard rock framework? What could possibly go wrong? Well apparently it is harder to pull off than most realize. Most bands end up with either a boring death metal record, a somewhat decent alternative metal record (if such a thing exists), or something in between. They are albums that are a jack of all trades and a master of none. Obituary carefully dances around that line in certain songs. But there are moments that I feel like I'm listening to a second-rate Pantera circa 1992, which initially sounds like it wouldn't be that bad, but hear me out.. That particular sound has not exactly aged well and slipping in bouncy rock oriented and bluesy riffs that sound like they were lifted from the cutting room floor during the Vulgar Display of Power recording sessions makes some of these songs sound dated. Nothing against classic Pantera. But the year is 2017 and Obituary has had their own thing going for them for decades already. Retreading this particular style, that wasn't even theirs to begin with, was a mistake.

What Obituary does well and what makes this record stand out in my opinion is it's simplicity. A lot of death metal created these days tends to be on the technical side. Obituary just lays out their riffs and beats you over the head with them like a club. Cave man style. Obituary S/T is not a masturbatory wankfest thus illustrating that death metal can be brutal no matter how many notes you play or how little. These are mid paced, chest slapping, chugging guitars that are somewhat of a relief to hear in an era where break-neck fast bestial black metal and technical brutal death metal are ruling the underground scene (at least here in California they are). There are some glorious old school knuckle-dragging head banging riffs on here. Kenny Andrews has some fantastic leads on this record and Trevor Peres and Don Tardy are great laying down the groove as always. Essentially this is Obituary doing what Obituary does best. Not overly flashy songs. They are to the point and still brutal.

This album is not going to knock your socks off. It's a good record and fulfilled the minimum requirements: Not sucking and giving fans something that they will enjoy. But while it is proficient in this regard it lacks that special ingredient that would've made it an attention grabbing release. This is something to play in the background while you're talking in the yard with a beer and cigarette watching the grill. It isn't something you sit down, strap in and give your undivided attention to. This music doesn't command that. It could be playing or not playing. But should music always command that kind of space? Perhaps not. Not everything recorded has to be a magnum opus of pretentious pomp and Obituary was never really about that anyway. Obituary S/T isn't a garbage record, but I wouldn't consider it a masterpiece. It's just old school death metal played by one of the genre's legendary bands. Nothing more. But sometimes that is all I require in my life and I thank Obituary for delivering it. Certainly worth a purchase and a listen.

Favorite tracks: "End It Now" or "Turned To Stone". These are songs that could've easily been on Cause of Death or The End Complete. Chest thumping cave man greatness. Classic shit.

Least favorite: "A Lesson In Vengeance" and "Betrayed". The riffs are repetitive and have that bouncy death n roll feel. It doesn't sound like Obituary and I would've left them off the record.

Originally posted at http://jjtheuntitled1.blogspot.com

Obituary deliver their best work in over 25 years - 86%

HeavyMetalMeltdownReviews, May 17th, 2017
Written based on this version: 2017, CD, Relapse Records (Digipak)

There is a common link in the evolution of death metal, from Venom and Celtic Frost to Possessed, through to Death and onto Obituary. The West Coast of the USA held sway with thrash metal for much of the mid 80’s, but it was the East Coast’s turn to pick up the pace in the late 80’s with Florida’s favourite death metal band, Obituary. Obituary are a band as famous for John Tardy’s stalking growl as they are for their lyrics revolving around death, dissections and gore.

Late last year, we reviewed Obituary live on tour with Exodus with the 'Battle of the Bays' tour and their split live/studio album 'Ten Thousand Ways to Die' with a resounding sigh of ‘meh’. Both live and in the studio, Obituary felt as if they were grinding through the motions, live they felt distant, a million miles away and couldn’t wait to get off the stage, whilst the studio tracks of the 6 minute plod of 'Loathe' taking any enjoyment away from the title track. It was with a dubious caution that a new studio album from Obituary was approached.

Here we are though, in 2017 with Obituary’s latest self-titled album and where do you begin? Well, for a start, Obituary are back, kicking off with the brutality of 'Brave', it may not be 'Slowly We Rot' with a riff borrowed from the Slayer songbook, but it is a fantastic way to kick off 'Obituary'. 'Brave' announces that Obituary have returned, Tardy’s voice is on point and never mind the foot tapping that goes along with it, before too long you’ll notice that the head starts to bang too! Tardy has a distinct voice, that clawing shout to growl which make Obituary instantly recognisable and there perfect examples of this on 'Obituary' with 'Turned to Stone' and pleading of 'End It Now'; the latter of which and the closing track of 'Ten Thousand Ways to Die' may be some of the best tracks that Obituary have ever recorded.

'Obituary' never lets up, it clocks in at around 35 minutes making it short, sweet and difficult to lose your attention; all the hallmarks of a decent album. The ever present Trevor Peres’ guitar claws through the mix, chugging away like a chainsaw swallowing down its gasoline, helped along with the stuttering blast beats of Donald Tardy which make tracks such as 'A Lesson in Vengeance', the superb 'End It Now' and 'Straight to Hell' with their almost Autopsy style grind chorus so appealing; Obituary haven’t sounded this good in years. The lead guitar slot is still taken by new guy Kenny Andrews, even though Andrews has been a solid part of the line-up for 5 years now, it is 'Obituary' where Andrews comes into his own with some beautiful wah solos. In fact, the solo for 'Sentence Day' wouldn’t be out of place on 'Kill ‘Em All' and easily puts Kirk Hammett to shame.

When you think about it, Obituary have possibly recorded one of the best albums of 2017 and certainly it is their best work since 'Cause of Death' in 1990. After more than a few lacklustre years, Obituary are back and doing what they do best. After the disappointing live/studio album, 'Ten Thousand Ways to Die' and witnessing two disappointing shows, one with Exodus, the other with Carcass, it is time. Welcome back Obituary, all is forgiven.

The zombie's found brains after a 25 year search - 78%

Twin_guitar_attack, March 25th, 2017

The new self titled album is the tenth album from Floridian death metal legends Obi…wait hold on, tenth album? Really? I’ve heard of bands releasing some forgettable songs, but it seems they must have half a career of forgettable material – I honestly thought this was maybe their fifth or sixth despite their longevity – and I’ve heard them all. Now, there will be few death metal fans who don’t agree that Slowly We Rot and Cause of Death, as well as The End Complete if you’re generous, are absolute classics of filthy death metal with a killer groove and twisted vocals, but only the staunchest Obituary fans would praise anything that came after in the same manner – those three album names also seemed a presentiment of what was to come for them. Through the last twenty five years whenever the lid has been lifted off the coffin for the lumbering corpse that is Obituary to lumber around and terrorise the stage they’ve been consistently brilliant, but the zombie’s search for brains has yielded nothing in that time when they’ve hit the studio. So 29 years into their career their tenth album is a self titled one, but is it good enough to be the eponymous album on which their name rests? Surprisingly at this point, yes.

One can point to the remix of Bullituary as an experiment, but really Obituary haven’t changed their sound much through the years, it’s always been focused around Jon Tardy’s sick and twisted snarling vocals, simple heavy but grooving riffs and snappy drums. The difference was they sounded unmemorable, tired and uninspired of late but here they sound fresh and re-energised. The first riff and snarling vocals as the album opens up with Brave are absolutely killer, and the song has everything. Bouncy headbangable riffs, snappy drums, a vicious bass sound, killer lead guitars and great pacing all crammed into a short two minute package. Jon sounds killer throughout, sounding like he is into the music much more than he has been in a long time, the vocals have an extra viciousness to them. Sentence Day is even better, with chunky headbangable riffs and face melting duel solos that could’ve come straight out of the eighties.

Lesson In Vengeance is a slower, catchier track, having been a single, but despite more simplistic catchy riffs and lyrics the song bounces along nicely with a groove that even reminds of Black Sabbath’s Children of the Grave – and if that’s not a compliment, what is? Being slower gives the riffs space to breathe and it’s not as heavy as the rest giving a nice change of pace, but it all feels like it comes to an end too quickly, with a slower pace it could’ve done with being fleshed out longer than three minutes. The chunky but melodic riff on Betrayed bounces along with a sick groove, fleshed out with great wirey bass, lead guitars and more of the sick drawn out vocals we know and love from Jon.

End it Now is one of the weaker tracks lyrics and vocally, the constant emphasis on the last word “now” on practically every line gets old quite fast, and that riff under the chorus is one of the lazier attempts at a simple groove that plagued their recent albums. It’s an attempt at a catchy single that doesn’t work as well – but it’s still better than other efforts of this kind – despite the lyrics, the drawn out vocals are sick and the drums really snappy and the fast riff three minutes in barrels away excellently. Turned to Stone is another where they go for a catchier number that doesn’t really work so well either, but these are the two weakest tracks on the album.

The face-melting guitar solo from Sentence guitar makes you throw yourself round the room air-guitaring like a crazy bastard, the opening riff from Betrayed getting you grooving along, the sick filthy sound of It Lives pulling your face into a grimace, while Lesson in Vengeance has you headbanging along like crazy, and when was the last time Obituary elicited these kind of reactions? It’s been decades, and this is an album that’s going to bring huge smiles to the faces of fans of the classic material. And for that alone one can forgive some of the weaker moments when it’s their best album since the nineties. At thirty six minutes it seems really short where some of their other albums are a struggle to get through. It Lives!

Originally written for swirlsofnoise.com

What's in a name? Everything. - 75%

autothrall, March 18th, 2017
Written based on this version: 2017, Digital, Relapse Records (Bandcamp)

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.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

It Lives! - 74%

Larry6990, March 18th, 2017
Written based on this version: 2017, CD, Mazzar Records (Digipak)

I think it might be impossible for Obituary to attain a near-perfect score unless they make some drastic changes. After all, they have essentially been making the same album since 1994. That's not to say their brand of meat 'n' potatoes death metal doesn't carry its own charm - it's just that they fall into the category of 'reliable', rather than 'spectacular'. After 2014's incredibly disappointing Inked In Blood, it is time to make a statement again - so the Floridian pioneers return to the fold with their self-titled album. Annihilator did it in 2010, Flotsam & Jetsam did it in 2016, and they were both huge successes - so what are Obituary saying by making the bold step into 'self-titled' territory? Well not much obviously, but this is a big step up from the last effort, and as an old-school death metal junkie, manages to put a smile on my face.

The prime factor that makes this such a pleasing record, is the amount of energy that appears to have been injected into the band in the last few years. I'm not talking about speed (the majority of songs here are actually mid-tempo), but the vibrancy that flows through each piece. Certainly aided by a damn good production quality. Sure, the clicky kick drum is irritating, but the bass is always audible and the guitar tone has finally lost its muddiness! Obituary's trademark fuzzy tone reached unbearable heights around 2007's Xecutioners Return, to the point where any riff that wasn't composed of drawn out chords was obscured beyond belief. But I can see clearly now the mud has gone! Listen to the chugging throughout "Turned To Stone", satisfyingly crunchy but still retaining that characteristic murkiness.

This release shows all band members putting on fine performances. Donald Tardy's solid performance behind the kit acts like a pillar of reliability, whilst his brother John's immortal voice sounds healthy and menacing. Check him out two minutes into "Straight To Hell" - the vocal layering and sinister lyrics are just what old-school death metal is all about. Kenny and Trevor have brought a plentiful bag o' riffs to this recording that breathe life into the more groove-driven tracks (which, if we're honest, is the majority - but come on, who didn't love "Redneck Stomp?"). The thunderous grinding at the end of "Kneel Before Me" is real headbang-worthy material; and the main riff of "Betrayed" is the kind of hulking groove these lads shine with. The quintet have also mastered the art of the false ending - with no less than four tracks restarting just as you think they've come to a close. Tricksy metalheadses!

The only truly disappointing aspect of this album is that, despite how much I dig the stomping mid-tempo riffs, the frenetic speed is limited to the first two tracks. If "Brave" and "Sentence Day" were split up and inserted into different parts of the record, that would offer a more varied listening experience. At least the opening moment of the ironically-titled "End It Now" sounds like it could've come directly from Cause Of Death. Another thing to add is that the solo-work is now far more melodic and well thought-through, something I never would've thought possible. If you were looking for a spectacular game-changer, you should know better than to come to Obituary. But at least the death metal titans' self-titled album instills a newfound vigour to ensure they keep pounding along for years to come.

Originally written for www.metal-observer.com