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This band being one of my all-time favorite childhood death metal acts around, I can’t describe how happy I am that these fellows are still around and still kicking out some of the grooviest death metal on this planet. This is their second full length release on the Candlelight label.
Obituary is a band with an absolute unique sound and since their formation in 1985, they didn’t change their sound one bit. There are a lot of people that assume that Obituary is producing the same record every year. This band is in the same league as Bolt Thrower and Dismember. Those bands have found their own unique style of death metal and they just do what they do best, putting out records in that unique style, period! If you expect something else or an experimental album of these death metal veterans, you can stop reading right now.
This album continues the same path to the cemetery as they took on the Xecutioner’s Return. Again these Florida, Tampa death metal warriors prove us, that they are still capable to produce the most vile, mid-tempo groovy death metal, with hints of doom and perhaps even hardcore. Their style is a perfect mix of slow, mid-tempo Autopsy and Celtic Frost influenced groovy death-metal.
From the first song on called ‘List Of Dead’ the album kicks in like a sledgehammer. This is a fast song, with all the traditional Obituary elements. Blistering drums, groovy riffs, but most of all a voice that I will recognize out of thousands! When John Tardy kicks in with his screaming death grunt, it's goose bumps all over again. I personally think he is one of the best extreme metal vocalists there is. Another song that has all the ingredients that makes Obituary to a band that stands on their own is ‘Outside My Head’. The middle part of this song is just a minutes long groove-marathon with an incredible groovy riff that goes from slow to fast. The absolute highlight of the album is the song ‘Darkest Days’ which is just an incredible heavily Winter, Celtic Frost inspired doom/death-metal song. The howling guitar leads and the low, heavy as fuck feed backing doom riff and the eerie sounding growls of John Tardy; this is the song where the band shows us that they know how to write incredible songs.
Like any other album of Obituary, this is yet again a typical but amazing album of the grooviest death metal band on this planet. A must for every Obituary fan!
