It's 1998 and Obituary is "Back From The Dead"... Not to
say that Obituary was ever dead. After being in a hiatus for
almost three years, the world's heaviest band lashes out
with yet another classic death metal album.
Obituary have been stalwarts in the death metal scene since
their first album, Slowly We Rot, was released in 1989. They
solidified their status in the genre with three more albums -
1990s Cause Of Death, 1992s The End Complete, and
1994s World Demise. Few have survived this style of music
that has almost no commercial radio support and survives by
the passion encrusted in their seedy fans. Unlike other
death metal bands, Obituary avoid the Satanic and religious
imagery and keep it spooky and gruesome. On, Back From
The Dead, Obituary continue to carry the torch of death
metal into the unpromised land. They are still the world's
heaviest band. This record shall stand as testament. The
album can be best described to any Obituary fan as a flash
back to their earlier days. Defined by Allen West's and
Trevor Peres' grinding guitars and the incredibly guttural
vocals of John Tardy, Back From The Dead offers the death
metal world eleven of the most aggressive and brutal songs
written by Obituary to date. Record number five isn't a
rehash of the first, but rather a foray into the future of death
metal. A new studio (Criteria Recording Studios in Miami,
FL) and a different producer (Jamie Locke) allowed the band
to feel that they were progressing as a musical outfit. While
many other bands try to follow new trends, Obituary
continue to expand on the realm of the genre while breaking
down preconceived boundaries.
The key to Obituary's success is their marriage of catchy
metal riffs and crunchy multi-tempo chord changes. Others
have a tendency to obsess on the breakneck speed and
hammer-ons only to find it all getting buried in one
homogenous mess, but not Obituary. "It's a heavy record but
still has riffs you can hum" explains Trevor of the new album.
A fact that sheds light on the band's European success,
where they have been in Billboard's Top 40 both in Germany
and Finland. But stateside, the fans aren't as numerous yet.
"All those college kids," quips Trevor, "that go see a band
like No Doubt and thrash about in a pit, need to go see
Obituary." Indeed they do, because another formula to their
long-standing success is their live show. But how does one
bottle all that energy? Trevor sheds some light on their
secret. "You really need a lot of stamina to play this style of
music. I mean you have to practice a lot just to keep in
shape."
Today's musicians, says Trevor, make fashionable music
and this disgusts him. The band was toying with the idea of
just having a generic white cover but this would "upset a lot
of the fans who really dig our album artwork." So in keeping
with that, the cover you have in your hands was drawn by
acclaimed artist Berni Wrightson who is responsible for
giving birth to the classic creep Swamp Thing.
From the slow grind of the title track "Back From The Dead"
to the maddening riffage of "Platonic Disease," you'll find
that the band is anything but dead and far from penning their
own obituary. The band will be blowing up concert halls and
festival stages around the world in the next year. By year's
end, they'll be in plenty good shape. So, while many other
metal bands try to follow new trends, Obituary continues to
lead the scene as one of the forefathers and creators of
death metal.
