Blood Oath

Upon first listen to this album I was overwhelmed by a feeling of admiration and at the same time, dissapointment of the new suffocation. Before I delve any deeper I am first going to mention the fact that I am mostly familiar with the older works of the band. In other words, the review is coming from the perspective of one mainly comparing this album to the say the Human waste-Pierced from WIthin era of suffocation. To begin, I will discuss the aspects of the albumt that I was pleased with.

I was impressed by the fact that their already seemed to be new elements at play in suffocation's sound. The first track (Blood Oath), bombards you with a slow, and heavy attack of triplets and dark melodies. The pacing here is very reminiscent of Morbid Angel's Gateways to Annihilation. The second track continues on with the very mid-level pacing. The remaining tracks again follow suit. At this point it Seems that Suffocation has opted for a more methodic approach to brutal death metal. The tempo is definitely a huge (albeit interesting) change from early suffocation... I believe this was an aspect often mentioned about the newer Suffocation material.

Another aspect that strikes me is how the album is mixed. All of this is really pristine. Frank Mullen has never sounded more coherent than he does in this album. Mike Smith's drum work is crystal clear, The lead and rythm guitars definitely hold their own here. The bass is even audible (you just need to be aware that root notes are the name of the game here), and adds to the attack of the sound. The mixing is definitely another plus, and that's where my list of kudos meanders off.

The musicianship, like always is good. The riffs can get pretty complex and offer a wide range of technique (tremolo picking, pinch harmonics, fingertapped soloing etc.). The drumming is definitely varied and offers unique fills, triplet blast beats, and suffo-blasts of course. The bass is audible and adds a much needed low end to the overall sound of the album. Frank mullent sounds almost as ferocious as he did in is early days (definitely not leaning towards the gutturals as much as he used to).

Despite the production values and new changes to the Suffocation sound, there seems to be something missing. After several listens to this album - in various violence provoking locations (work, the gym, general public etc.), I realized that this album lacked the one thing that these New York abominations often touted in their early works... intensity. Despite listening to this album in several adrenaline worthy situations it just seemed to have a bit of a sedative effect on my mentality. It utterly astounds me that an album by these guys could do that to me.

I think a couple factors contribute to the flaccid sound. First of all...the speed. Yes I know, I said it was interesting earlier, but when the whole album sounds like it was written while on downers, it tends to have drone effect. In fact, when the go into one of their classic "breakdowns" this just seems to all go to molasses. You're essentially listening to an album that ranges from turtle to snail pace. Hopefully they can address this on a future release.

My next complaint would have to be the songwriting. No interesting drawn out clean intros (like the one in Torn into Enthrallment), and no complex song structures. The formula for the songs seems to persst throughout the whole album. Begin with a riff, continue until Terrence does a solo, and then continue said riff with a little bit of variation. Honestly, remember when their songs would seemingly have thousands of riffs...all of which were really badass.

This album definitely sounds a little more reserved compared to the band's earlier works. At the same time is definitely a step of from what I've heard from the mid era suffocation material (Despise the Sun, Suffocation etc.); which was why I had such divided opinion on this album. They have definitely tried to make the riffs a little more interesting and complex than their more recent material. They also included more their classic style breaks (I must reiterate the these are not hardcore breakdowns) that are so damn pit worthy. It all just seems to be marred by a lack of drive. Overall it, seems like they may be again treading the waters of complex brutality, which is why I bothered with giving a halfway decent score. To get a good picture of this album just envision this: The badass tank form the cover of Effigy of the Forgotten getting stuck a little mud (basically suffocation hitting a little bit of writers block). After said rough experience all should be right, and we may see Suffocation return to full form next album. I would suggest giving a little bit of listen before purchasing.