In the sultry bottomlands of Florida, soaring temps and stifling humidity ensure that below the bustling flora, there is always rot. Nature's cycle yields life, but only atop the foundation of festering decay going on underneath. The music scene there could be said to follow the same path. As speed metal swept the nation during the 1980's, a murky scene of death began to take hold in the Sunshine state. Out of all the legendary bands to emerge, few may be as married to the concept of life's demise as Obituary. These days taking shape around founding brothers John and Don Tardy (vocals and drums), bassist Terry Butler (Six Feet Under, Massacre, Death), virtually lifelong guitarist Trevor Peres, and newcomer axeman Kenny Andrews, Obituary is releasing their latest moldering chunk of sonic grave-soil via Relapse Records. Entitled Inked in Blood, the new one began officially embalming Eustachian tubes on October 28th, 2014. As with any veteran band – and Obituary began way back in 1984 under the moniker Executioner – there will always be a degree of worry that current output will not be able to conjure the legendary magic of yore.
Over the substantial span of their career, Obituary can be said to have shown us a fair degree of consistency within their sound. Following a six year hiatus between 1997 and 2003, their return albums Frozen in Time and Xecutioner's Return maintained the general vibe they went out on with 1997's Back From The Dead, sans any hip-hop remixes of songs. Apart from being highly dedicated to their fan base, Obituary pretty much trademarked their own unique downtuned guitar sound and combined it with a penchant for writing really slow, hella heavy riffs to go with the usual hyper-fast death metal standard time signatures. If it ain't broke . . .
And so we arrive at Inked in Blood. At first listen John Tardy's voice sounds a bit less inhuman and dare I say a bit more hardcore in style. 'Centuries of Lies' blasts the album off fast, coming off much more typical speedy death metal and less like classics 'I'm in Pain' or 'Chopped in Half.' But Obituary has done this before, such as with the excellent 'Threatening Skies' from Back From The Dead. This latest opener, however, lacks the death metal chomp 'Skies' had, instead showcasing a more punk/hardcore vibe from the Floridians' versatile repertoire. Things quickly begin to resemble the gut-wrenching down-tuned misery we love from Obituary, as 'Violent By Nature' and 'Pain Inside' ooze from the speakers. 'Visions In My Head' is way more on the catchy side than some fans may be comfortable with, but rest assured the pits will churn when this one gets aired out live. People will get hurt. Don Tardy's drums on the new album are produced a little clearer than back in the day, and its possible to hear all the nuances going on quite distinctly.
'Back on Top' has some strong leads but is structured a bit too much as some kind of hardcore song. It becomes very difficult to equate this kind of material with timeless classics like 'Slowly We Rot,' and in moments like this long-time fans may find themselves wishing for a little more coffin and a little less windmilling. 'Violence' picks the album right back up, though, as the speedy freight train of a song features that guitar riffing so prevalent on the aforementioned 'Slowly We Rot.' The leads kick ass as well. Again, there is a catchy aspect to the music that not everyone into pure death metal may welcome. Obituary is pretty convincing in their delivery, however, as 'Violence' certainly gets the blood pumping faster.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/CG9whyJ6Hvo[/youtube]
The title track has a higher pitch to the riffs, a slower pace, and some of John Tardy's more wretched and deadly screams. The main foundation of the song, however, feels like some riffs they've played a thousand, thousand times already. One might wish for a bit more creativity from the boys with this one. Luckily, 'Within a Dying Breed' is right around the corner to reinvigorate the album. This song, though it too shares a degree of its nature with past works, does so in a far more convincing and masterful way. Obituary got it right on this one. You'll want to flip desks and kick holes in things when the interchange of double-kick and nasty riffage fills up your cranium with all its glory. 'Minds of the World' stays strong with some nice tempo changes, and features some amazing drumming from Don Tardy underpinning those massive straight-from-the-casket-bottom riffs of Peres. 'Out of Blood' has that Obituary guitar phrasing that starts to feel redundant, but 'Paralyzed With Fear' has a certain redneck stomp, if you will, that ensures the album ends on a high note. The guitar leads are, simply put, pure Floridian death metal. The deluxe edition of Inked In Blood features two reworkings of classics 'Intoxicated' and 'Blood Soaked' from 1989's Slowly We Rot. Purists will frown, but the songs sound deep and invigorated, if far more modern than they used to.
There are some positively shining moments on Inked In Blood – a decent amount of them actually. Unfortunately there are moments where it feels like Obituary are not challenging themselves and simply writing some riffs that feel a bit recycled. The breakneck abandon of Slowly We Rot is long gone, but overall they are still kicking copious amounts of ass, and if down-tuned death metal is your thing, you'll be able to overlook their more pedestrian moments to see the morbid stench of good old Florida death metal at the heart of Obituary's latest album.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/WvxHqUrikhE[/youtube]
