Blood Oath

Suffocation is a remarkable band because they have never really released a bad album. The first thing I’m thinking of after hearing this album and reading the review below is “what did they listen to?” I’m serious! Did they even listen to the same album as me? Because what I heard was a solid brutal death metal album with technical riffs and deep growled vocals. Not a breakdown infested album with “hardcore” vocals.

The album starts off with title track which is the slowest track on the album. Now, just because a song is slow it does not make it a breakdown! A breakdown is when you get that chug-chug-chug riffing the entire song. This album has a heavy guitar sound but the riffs (yes, plural, a breakdown would only have one) are technical and interesting as well as being brutal. The best riffs on this album are in the beginnings of songs (as the previous reviewer mentioned) but they are also featured throughout the songs. In fact I am confident to say that there are no bad riffs on this album. Since we’re talking about guitars I’ll have to mention that the solos aren’t the best they’ve ever done. But they come close, especially with the solo at 2:00 of Provoking the Disturbed. My personal favourite Suffocation solos are in the song Liege of Inveracity. There’s no guitar virtuosity like that here but that’s not to say that the solos are bad. The solos here are shorter and scarcer than usual but they are still really good and not “a jumble of random notes”. The solo at about 1:30 of Pray for Forgiveness is awesome. It’s a whole 30 seconds long and doesn’t get boring. Terrance Hobbs doesn’t fail to please. And the solo at 2:00 in Provoking the Disturbed rules

The drumming is really consistent in this album. One of Mike Smith’s best drum performances yet. There are really good and interesting fills. Just take the song Images of Purgatory to prove that! The drum solo used in the intro to Pray for Forgiveness is really cool as well. It sure proves that Mike Smith is still the badass drummer he was on previous released. The drumming isn’t really fast as it has been but it keeps the songs together and of course, it’s brutal.

The vocals are decent but not as good as previous releases. Though I don’t agree that the vocals are “hardcore shouts” I do agree that Frank’s vocals have pitched up just a touch. That’s ok though because they still go with the music. Imagine just how sick this would be if he did the vocals he did on Pierced from Within! I wish he’d do his screams again as well. Like on Effigy of the forgotten where his vocals were so low that the screams were like normal pitched growls!

The bass is completely inaudible. I actually cannot hear the bass being played at all so I can’t really say when it stands out or anything like that.

Overall this is another solid release to add to Suffocation’s ever-expanding discography. It’s a touch better than 2006’s self-titled album and it’s almost on par with Souls to Deny. I’ll take off 5% for the vocals and 10% for the bass.

Highlights
- The solos in Pray for Forgiveness and Provoking the Disturbed
- The amazing drum solo/intro to Pray for Forgiveness