Obituary (2017) A Review

Obituary (2017) A Review

By: Ghost Writer

As I have said before, self-titled records are sort of a point to start all over again for groups, ironic, but for Florida Death Metal legends Obituary, their 2017 self-titled record is not an "obituary" but a fabulous return of a monster that ferociously refuses to die, and one that finally allows itself to create a powerful record in step with its strongest recordings, Obituary is the kind of record the band wanted to do in past years, but for some reason where unable to, opener Brave quickly put things in perspective, the band playing as if their lives depended on it, sounding more rabid than many DM bands of the day, this is a band of seasoned veterans whose debut record, Slowly We Rot, was issued three decades ago, but here, the Floridian extreme metal act are able to sound just as rabid as in their early years, perhaps even more, here Obituary focuses on the basics, blinding guitar solos, Hellhammer like grinding riffs, hardcore frenzied drum beats, Death like sense of the morbid and monstrous growls from singer John Tardy.

 

Sentence Day is exactly what you would expect to hear on a DM song the guitars by Trevor Peres and Kenny Andrews are simply superb unstoppable chainsaws grinding to whatever tries to opposed them with indomitable conviction, taking the spotlight at every second, perhaps what makes this song so great is the fact tgat Obituary doesn't sound obsessed with making the best Obituary record as possible, but in making a great DM album, which they totally successful at, just check out the monumental A Lesson in Vengeance, with Obituary taking those basic Celtic Frost riffs and taking them to unimaginable height in a very solid piece of extreme metal so addictive as nothing else Obituary has done.

But the impressive onslaught doesn't stop there, as we are quickly blow away by another ambitious piece named End It Now, which ends up precisely becoming one of the catchiest DM I have heard, while Kneel Before Me is an exercise more directed towards nostalgia with those high tension riffs and almost antigravity drumming, a great return to the good old days, just as in the more mid-tempo attack of It Lives, but the band returns to outstanding songwriting with Betrayed, another great song with great musical interplay by the band.

The band leans a bit towards experimentalism at the end of the record with songs like Straight to Hell, Ten Thousands Ways to Die or No Hope, but at this point, after the merciless discharge of the rest of the record is a welcomed change of pace, in this self-titled recording Obituary has finally achieved what many bands could only hope for, paradoxically inject new life into their career and coming up with a record that easily ranks among the best records of their discography and undoubtedly one of the best metal releases of the year.