And off we go with another heritage cash-in box set, another excavation through the archives, this one too has exhumated the ROADRUNNER sessions of SUFFOCATION, with the subtlety of an excavation into the lunacy of death metal in the 90's. This one comes in three CDs, twenty-six total tracks, ceaseless pounding by original personnel Guy Marchais (Guitar) and Josh Barohn (Bass) unsatisfied with the toll inflicted by CANNIBAL CORPSE.
[Editor: Why do I have a feeling Matt is about to GIVE Jesus a reason to weep?]
Disc 1: "Effigy Of The Forgotten" (1991)
This is the album that every alleged death metal aficionado said they bought at time of release (If they did, it would’ve certainly cracked the top ten?) Recorded with the iconic Morrisound sound in Florida—it was basically the 'Abbey Road' of death metal but with a whiff of stale beer and a whole lot of blast beats.
The band of Suffocation had a producer named Scott Burns who was utterly powerless against making a bad sound in 1991, but that was certainly a real boon for the band. Not surprisingly, this lives up to its expectations in every way, at least in terms of sound, that lists nine lousy tracks but sounds like a concrete mixer undergoing some sort of identity crisis. It launches with "Liege Of Inveracity" that came at a level of subtlety akin to that of a colonoscopy, but the self-named track certainly indicated that these were some heavy metal enthusiasts aware that metal was more than enough for a club fight, but were not mere bludgeoners of any sort. There were the fabled breakdowns that were crushing akin to a city bus, but required all the necessary speed changes that were needed for a whole bunch of mental cases with home computers, to become utterly shell-shocked over it, but got the swift epiphany of 'wait a minute, we can. .. . uh. .. .'
Disc 2: "Breeding The Spawn" (1993)
"The second album is synonymous with 'Pillow Fight Production Value Done Underwater Edie.' Even this specific music group has admitted that this CD was somehow cheated in terms of the mix. This means the record label fucked us. But the music is in there somewhere.
"Beginning Of Sorrow", "Marital Decimation" (Because nothing says "Death metal" like adult spousal abuse spelled out in detail)—but you’ll never be able to listen to it past the warm fuzz of cotton batting.
The Empire Strikes Back as a Suffocation CD would be as if it’d been shot through frosted glass!
However, for the die-hard fan & masochist, obviously for the purposes of comprehending what the hullabaloo is about in respect of everyone going round the bend because this new release finally, you know, contains some music.
Disc 3: "Pierced From Within" (1995)
Suffocation returned to Scott Burns and Morrisound with the flair of a prodigal son, and Burns remembered how to turn the dials. "Pierced From Within", "Thrones Of Blood", "Depths Of Depravity" and even the titles of the songs tend to lean towards the particularly grim Renaissance landscape. The album is a kiss-off, and the band has even gone the distance and retreated the "Breeding The Spawn"; that is one way to rectify the problem of the first bloke who spoiled the stew.
Speaking of this band, METAL HAMMER wrote ”Effectively ground zero for the entire “brutal death metal genre", which is a statement that is simultaneously true and hilarious, like describing a baseball bat as reductionist. This collection shows the importance of Suffocation. The death metal groups all over the world, each as a member of the brutality death metal band since 1991, owe gratitude to the band for the realization that extreme metal music could be made heavier by becoming heavier with rhythmic violence.
Do you need this if you own these albums? Only if you’re a die-hard fan of interviews by David Gehlke or if you need to feel the validation of having the “Official” re-releases.
This would definitely be a great introduction for someone who is a newcomer to this type of music and has a desire to learn as to why this band and this type of music is ‘ground-breaking’ and ‘seminal’. Moreover, any type of band that has a career spanning several decades with periods being broken up and reuniting, that has managed to gain a certain level of respect from people likely did a few things correctly either as a skill set that made their speakers suffer. Words: Matt Denny.
Score: 6/10 (Lost points for the lack of bonus tracks)
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