Severed Survival

Autopsy are one of the undisputed kings of gore that manage to match their filthy lyrics with a sound that is just as repugnant. Few bands can come close to creating an experience like Autopsy. This album will suffocate you with blood and horrors as it buries you in a shallow grave of twisted riffs and monstrous vocals. Occasionally it will let you gasp for air but not for long as it does not let up until the 38:47 are over. And it will only leave you wanting more.

The first thing one will notice is the production and how murky it sounds. Murky in the sense that its bass heavy but completely discernible with respect to the guitars, bass, drums and vocals. The guitars have enough crunch on them to make not overly distorted or intense and the bass is audible with a bright sound that goes well with the way everything sounds. The bass really adds a lot of depth but doesn't over power anything. It gives the album that unique feel to it. Everything feels natural including the drums and vocals which Chris Reifert does both. This signature sound is what works so well for Autopsy as it is what they were known for; dingy, rotten death metal.

The emphasis as far as the actual music goes with Autopsy is never on speed or technicality but where the songs traverse and the atmosphere they create. They have fast early thrash metal parts (no blast beats to be found here), slow doom sections and plenty of chug filled mid-paced rompers. You can hear the Hellhammer/Celtic Frost influence in songs like Ridden with Disease, Gasping for Air and Disembowel. There are definitely sections influenced by doom metal like the intro to Embalmed and Critical Madness but not in a traditional sense but twisted into a unique way that sounds like a demented Sabbath. Steve DiGorgio's bass playing really adds to the slow sections since his bass is very audible. He tends to play away from the guitars sometimes adding little licks like in Disembowel. The solo's and lead guitar parts are very tight, using a bit of technical ability, some melody and being frantic and crazed when needed. It never feels forced in to make a song longer.

The thing that really wraps this album up is the vocals. Chris Reifert displays some of the most rotten sounding vocal styles in death metal while drumming which is extremely unique. He sounds like a man choking on his blood and guts with his low gruff growls and a madman with his screams. Some may mock them saying they are sloppy but when you match them with the lyrics it matches extremely well. The chorus for Ridden with Disease is a prime example.

Skin begins to rot
Deaden and peel away
Bones collapse
From advanced decay

The way he pronounces and enunciates certain parts makes him sound like a victim of biological warfare. The lyrics on this album range from murder (Disembowel, Impending Dread) to death (Service for a Vacant Coffin, Embalmed) to strange situations like Severed Survival where someone is stuck on an island and is forced to butcher them self for food to stay alive. Seemingly typical death metal lyrics for that time but spun in a horror movie sense as Chris usually speaks through the perspective of a victim.

The one thing someone might not appreciate and the reason why this doesn't get a higher score is how inadvertently sloppy it seems to be. Not sloppy in a way that they messed up and were too lazy to bother taking it out but more along the lines of it's not air tight precise like death metal bands today are. The faster drum fills are a tiny bit off, and some of the riffs are a bit odd using a lot of triplet feel. The vocal will probably get on some peoples nerves but it's something that may need to grow on a listener. For someone like me, I enjoy my death metal a teeny bit more polished but overall the sound is still tight as opposed to an album such as Pleasure to Kill or Seven Churches.

Autopsy are legends, taking death metal and making death metal more twisted then what it was . The music is also ahead of its time since the band focuses more on groove and atmosphere rather then being overtly brutal or fast. It's earned them a place as one of the better and notable old school death metal bands and created a frenzy around their recent reunion. Recommended for most old school death metal fans.