(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)
Obituary were central figures in the Florida death-metal scene. Their album Slowly We Rot (Roadrunner, 1989) presented them as “the heaviest band in the world.” John Tardy is certainly a masterful death-metal vocalist, his deep, guttural register embodying the voice of a corpse returned from the beyond. The record represents the quintessence of grindcore and death metal, for better or worse. Among the barrage of machine-gun and jackhammer-like riffs, the title track is the only one to retain a semblance of musical restraint. After a while, the formula of Intoxication and the other sonic assaults becomes repetitive: supersonic-speed intro, slow-motion growl, long instrumental bridge, galactic guitar solo, catastrophic outro. The main attraction remains Tardy, who seems to replicate the immersive ceremonial performance reminiscent of Lon Chaney’s cinema.
James Murphy’s guitar work (formerly of Death) enriches the second album, Cause Of Death (Roadrunner, 1990), which is slower and more calculated, lacking much of the raw appeal of its predecessor. Tardy and Murphy nonetheless deliver some of the most sinister odes of the genre (Infected, Chopped in Half, Find the Arise). The album is better played and produced than the first, but it raises the question of whether death metal needs greater technical finesse and production rather than infernal energy.
The End Complete (1992), featuring the classic guitar duo of Allen West and Trevor Peres, improves the riffs and vocals but further dilutes the original sound.
With World Demise (1994), an album experimenting with sampling and tempo changes, the band attempted to rejuvenate a sound that was becoming rigid. Still, the best moments remain in the brutal tracks, such as Don’t Care.
Murphy would later form Disincarnate and record Dreams Of The Carrion Kind with them, delivering pure death metal accentuated by his bleak and desolate solos.
Obituary returned with Back From The Dead (Roadrunner, 1997).
(Original English text by Piero Scaruffi)
Frozen In Time (Roadrunner, 2005), their first studio record in eight years, delivers the goods with no frills, referencing their past work but in a
somewhat more professional manner.
On the Floor and Blindsided sound like songs from their first
album re-recorded in high fidelity.
Xecutioner's Return (2007), instead, made a 180-degree U-turn, back to
old-school death-metal, but with Ralph Santolla on guitar, and his contribution
is evident in songs such as Evil Ways.
Santolla is, in fact, the main reason to listen to
Darkest Day (2009), which otherwise is as derivative and monotonous
as the genre can get.
Inked in Blood (2014) was the first album with a new lineup, having replaced
Ralph Santolla with Kenny Andrews and longtime bassist Frank Watkins with
Terry Butler (Death, Massacre, Six Feet Under).
The live album Ten Thousand Ways to Die (2016) also contains
two new songs,
Loathe and Ten Thousand Ways to Die.
Obituary (2017) gave a more prominent role to bassist Terry Butler and guitarist Kenny Andrews, and the result was a better revival of old-school
Obituary.
