{"id":18153,"date":"2014-03-27T00:01:03","date_gmt":"2014-03-27T00:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=18153"},"modified":"2014-06-05T15:23:50","modified_gmt":"2014-06-05T15:23:50","slug":"album-review-autopsy-tourniquets-hacksaws-and-graves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-autopsy-tourniquets-hacksaws-and-graves\/","title":{"rendered":"AUTOPSY – Tourniquets, Hacksaws And Graves (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUTOPSY
Tourniquets, Hacksaws And Graves<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nPeaceville (2014)<\/span>
Rating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Clearly chomping at the bit like some flesh-eating bacteria, death metal legends Autopsy have barely cleaned up the ooze left from 2013\u2019s The Headless Ritual<\/em><\/a> and yet have now returned with another infected chunk of grisly metal. It\u2019s no shock horror when one slaps on the latest slab from this gore-obsessed quartet, but in a sense, I\u2019m rather sad to say that. Although the California band\u2019s last two efforts were downbeat, dirty and blood-spattered, they were still a world away from the magical debut Severed Survival<\/em> (1989) and its ghastly follow-up Mental Funeral<\/em> (1991). Tourniquets, Hacksaws And Graves<\/em> is still a manky, decomposing and of course violently festering act of the unspeakable, however. <\/p>\n

The creepy combo are more than happy to lumber along like some drooling zombie, and when these guys get it right they are a severed head and shredded shoulder above the rest. This is apparent on the gurgling bloodbath that is the hideous title track, which hammers the bones like a wrecking ball made for human destruction. There are some fantastic shifts in tempo and unusual structures as the sombre guitars drone out from the grave, and provide ample soundtrack to those chesty vocals. <\/p>\n

My only issue with this record is that at times it does become a tad predictable, being the seventh studio platter, but still it plies its grisly trade like a grave robber under the cloak of night. With soiled hands Eric Cutler and Danny Coralles deliver those juicy licks and labouring riffs of mould \u2013 again, I refer to the title track, which is a feast for the ears in its variety. Elsewhere, the band puke out a mix of phlegm-ridden brutality in the form of opener \u2018Savagery\u2019 mixed with soggier melancholy, as with \u2018King Of Flesh Ripped\u2019 where Chris Reifert\u2019s drums clamber and clatter like a thousand skeletons pouring from a musty vault.<\/p>\n

Other choice cuts include the hissing decomposition of \u2018The Howling Dead\u2019, probably the clammiest track on the album with its bestial vocal drool and caveman thump of the drums. \u2018After The Cutting\u2019 is Autopsy at their speediest, meanwhile, combining a rampant, frothing bass and cavernous drum with spitting vocals and truly hostile guitars.<\/p>\n

So, while the band are often so genial in their gruesome technicality, there are a few moments when the album becomes an Autopsy-by-numbers choke, with the likes of \u2018Forever Hungry\u2019 becoming rather standard death metal offerings. But that\u2019s not to say that this 12-track affair boasts fillers \u2013 far from it. With the lifeless instrumental \u2018All Shall Bleed\u2019 and the pummelling yet ordinary closing \u2018Autopsy\u2019, however, there is proof that even the greatest bands can suffer a dull moment. But hey, this is more than made up for with the likes of \u2018Deep Crimson Dreaming\u2019 and the doom-laden perversion of \u2018Burial\u2019 with its straining chug and blood-soaked vocals.<\/p>\n

When Tourniquets, Hacksaws And Graves<\/em> does kick in like a hideous infection, it soon becomes clear that this is another murky mess in the Autopsy catalogue. Despite the occasional yet rare drift into the predictable, it\u2019s a pus-filled composition that matches the last two studio releases Macabre Eternal<\/em><\/a> (2011) and The Headless Ritual<\/em>. Autopsy have become a consistent and prolific monster; a monster we just can\u2019t live without.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AUTOPSYTourniquets, Hacksaws And Graves Peaceville (2014)Rating: 8.5\/10 Clearly chomping at the bit like some flesh-eating bacteria, death metal legends Autopsy have barely cleaned up the ooze left from 2013\u2019s The Headless Ritual and yet have now returned with another infected chunk of grisly metal. It\u2019s no shock horror when one slaps on the latest slab […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[135],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-autopsy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18153"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18732,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18153\/revisions\/18732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}