Live in North America

Now I get it. Like the first time I broke the barrier through Altars Of Madness insanity. Like the first time I heard the riffs amongst all the noise in those black metal songs. When I first picked up those riffs on Slayer or Vektor amongst so much chaos. I feel like when I first got into metal, enjoying the simplest Pantera and Metallica tracks, finally being able to perceive that heaviness which before, was nothing but a wall of indistinguishable noise.

I tried several times to get into Suffocation, through Effigy, Breeding, and mainly Pierced from within, I just couldn't. The muddy production made it impossible for my brain to take away any riffs from that chaotic experience, and no matter how much I tried to like it and come back to it, with the furious drumming and the recurrent change-ups which I love, it still felt like a big mass of noise to me. But with this release, I get to appreciate it. Even though the drums on this live setting sound less than ideal, thanks to a very different guitar tone from the one on the studio recordings, the riffs are finally recognizable, and the bass has that percussive effect, so even if you can't hear the actual notes with a lot of definition when the guitar is over it, you definitely feel the slap, and it adds all I needed. The bass presence being so boosted gives the riffs less of a "caveman" feel and more of a "tasty" feel. For a better example of what didn't allow me to enjoy Suffocation's music before, I totally dig Infecting the crypts on the "Human Waste" album, but the guitar tone on the version on "Effigy" makes it unenjoyable. Until now, I needed some release with a more accessible production to finally enjoy Suffocation.

So this is a total win for me, I'm addicted to Effigy, Thrones, Pierced, Jesus wept, Liege of inveracity, Breeding the spawn... how many bangers do these guys have? I know a lot of these songs were written back in the '90s, but it feels so fresh to me, the songwriting perfect. Every riff is repeated just the right amount, and the music manages to remain straight brutal death metal but with enough variations to get you engaged through 4 - 5 minutes non-stop, never knowing for certain what can hit you next. You know it's gonna be death metal, either a breakdown, classic tremolo riffs with blasts, or a more techy section, but every single time something new comes up it is exciting. I think I cant say this for a lot of bands, having this deep barrier that doesn't allow you to fully appreciate the music, due to so much chaos, there are things you can't simply grasp on a casual listen, so to then overcome it and be blown away only makes it better. Only Deathspell Omega and Emperor come to mind when thinking of bands that were so hard to get into for me.

I'm so glad they released this so more people like me can finally enjoy their riffs. These tracks feel classic, original, and are really intense while still memorable enough that I want to come back to them daily.

Some highlights: the last half of Effigy of the forgotten; that 1:03 in Liege of inveracity; Breeding the spawn showing me how all these death metal cliches I've heard awfully done are truly done; Pierced from within, which after 100 listens stills has me guessing where it's gonna go with those first riffs; Then Jesus Wept... after so much heaviness the music still feels dynamic and it never feels repetitive. All hail Suffocation.