{"id":56715,"date":"2017-03-17T00:00:40","date_gmt":"2017-03-17T00:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=56715"},"modified":"2017-06-04T16:33:59","modified_gmt":"2017-06-04T16:33:59","slug":"album-review-obituary-obituary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-obituary-obituary\/","title":{"rendered":"OBITUARY – Obituary (2017) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

OBITUARY
Obituary<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nRelapse (2017)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Don\u2019t you just hate it when music fans are keen to tell you that the latest record from one of their favourite, long-standing bands is a \u201creturn to form\u201d and then when you hear it you realise it isn\u2019t?<\/p>\n

This was certainly the case with me with Obituary fans over previous outings. I adored Obituary during the halcyon days of death metal (up until about 1994), and while I remained faithful, with each album thereafter I found myself hearing a band bereft of its edge, attempting to re-create the sounds of the past. I stuck by this feeling right up until the generic strains of 2014\u2019s Inked In Blood<\/em><\/a>, but remained aware of the fact that those joyous, summery days of Floridian death metal just couldn\u2019t be replicated. But even so, I still expected more.<\/p>\n

And so we come to this self-titled platter; album number ten from the death metal stalwarts, and a record which I\u2019ve been reliably informed by many is a \u201creturn to form\u201d. And y\u2019know what? To some extent, it is. Of course, we still know what we\u2019re gonna get \u2013 John Tardy\u2019s grizzly vocal snipes, Trevor Peres\u2019 gnarled rhythm guitar, complemented by Kenny Andrews scorching leads, and behind that the distinctive wall of Terry Butler\u2019s infectious mouldy basslines and Donald Tardy\u2019s ravenous percussion. But this time there seems to be an edge about proceedings, and there\u2019s a less of a watered down, tired and generic feel.<\/p>\n

From the off we\u2019re scalped by the horrific strains of \u2018Brave\u2019 and then \u2018Sentence Day\u2019, the duo being the shortest tracks on the opus, but boy, what a way to start \u2013 both being bone-crunching, searing hot waves of anguish and ghastly horror only punctuated by Peres\u2019 nasty swamp grooves and Andrews\u2019 knifing solo swirls. John Tardy is still barking out the fluff, but again there\u2019s an extra whip to his voice, although the band still tend to create more of a thrashier, rather than deathlier gurgle.<\/p>\n

However, just when you begin to feel concern that Obituary is going to puke out a set of forgettable whippersnappers, we get the mid-tempo glug of \u2018A Lesson In Vengeance\u2019; a sordid stomp of epic proportions reliant on Donald Tardy\u2019s spearing nods and that distinctive Peres fuzz. Sure, it\u2019s not \u2018Slowly We Rot\u2019 or even \u2018World Demise\u2019, but there\u2019s a real stench of melody with this one as Andrews supplies another classy solo and John Tardy\u2019s far-reaching yawns of ghastly horror offend the ears.<\/p>\n

\u2018End It Now\u2019 brings another full-pelt fetid barrage; this is one of the album\u2019s most instant moments, again featuring a pulverising groove. it also offers that rich, full-bodied sound that Obituary made their own all those years ago. The same could also be said for \u2018Betrayed\u2019, with its catchy chug, and \u2018Turned To Stone\u2019, another favourite, particularly with its ghoulish riffage. Elsewhere we find ourselves splattered by trudging \u2018It Lives\u2019, the twisted, decaying guffaw of \u2018Ten Thousand Ways To Die\u2019, and the infected bludgeoning of \u2018No Hope\u2019. The latter a bonus track on the deluxe edition of the album. <\/p>\n

So, a \u201creturn to form\u201d then? Well, not quite, because the cadaverous days of Slowly We Rot<\/em> (1989), Cause Of Death<\/em> (1990) etc. will never be matched. But for those thinking that Obituary\u2019s new opus is just another chore, think again. This is in fact a return to the band giving us what we want; something vibrant, edgy, punchy, and above all not lacklustre. With its variety of tempos, moods and grooves, this self-titled opus should regain all that festering faith we had that made us such fervent followers in the first place.<\/p>\n

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

OBITUARYObituary Relapse (2017)Rating: 8\/10 Don\u2019t you just hate it when music fans are keen to tell you that the latest record from one of their favourite, long-standing bands is a \u201creturn to form\u201d and then when you hear it you realise it isn\u2019t? This was certainly the case with me with Obituary fans over previous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1492],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-obituary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56715","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=56715"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56718,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56715\/revisions\/56718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}