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Obituary has a shirt that says, “20 years of Florida death metal.” Perhaps it should read, “15 years of boring riffs.” The band’s last great record was arguably 1994’s World Demise. (Some would cite 1992’s The End Complete, or even 1990’s Cause of Death.) Obituary since then has tread water. Faceless riffs, flat songs, and a stasis reflected even in album titles (Back from the Dead, Frozen in Time, Xecutioner’s Return) have made the band name all too apt.
Darkest Day (Candlelight, 2009), then, is a surprise. Some commentators say that it just another Obituary record. In a sense, it is. Like the others, it has meat-and-potatoes riffs, bits of thrash, and John Tardy’s agonized screams. But much like how Motörhead and AC/DC, likewise paragons of predictability, occasionally have highlights well past their prime (1916 and The Razors Edge, respectively), Darkest Day is a decided uptick.
The main reason is riffs. Now one can actually remember them. Instead of droning on and on, they are mindful of space. Donald Tardy prevents simple riffs from becoming simplistic by subtly switching beats underneath. Not only does he eschew blastbeats, he rides the back of the beat. The result is big, fat grooves.
Obituary has changed a great deal over time. The death-obsessed kids who made Slowly We Rot would never have titled a song “Redneck Stomp” (from 2005’s Frozen in Time). Darkest Day’s production is so dry as to be devoid of atmosphere. This stands in contrast to the swampy reverb of Slowly We Rot. John Tardy’s vocals have hardly changed, but now they seem hardly extreme. Ironically, this is because he helped push the envelope. Now his voice is an institution. This record is almost comforting. Perhaps that’s not what death metal should be, but fondness beats boredom any day.
FALSE, FALSE, FALSE!!!
Fucking "Back From the Dead" CRUSHES "World Demise" on every level, and is one of the band's best albums. Admittedly I originally lost interest in Obituary after "World Demise" (and haven't really checked them out much since "Frozen in Time"), but several years ago I was exposed to one song off "Back From the Dead" and it made me go buy it immediately. There are some raging tunes on that fucker. "Threatening Skies" alone is quite possibly the band's best song ever! It's almost got a hardcore thing goin' on, too!?
Shit, I don't even have "World Demise" anymore, I've been too lazy to re-buy it. But I damn sure spin "Back From the Dead" just as often as the early classics.
I really love Obituary. Cosmo hit it in his review – simple death metal. No bloody crosses or entrails ripped from anyone's cunt. I have liked and enjoyed every one of their albums. I saw them once again in Sept. 2007 and they were really tight. Donald even did a drum solo – the old school kind where the rest of the band was off stage. How fucking awesome is that? I haven't personally seen a metal drum solo since Randy Castillo did it live when I saw Ozzy in 1992.
On this new one – the first full on with Ralph Santolla, I thought it was going to be too concentrated on boring solos, but perhaps Trevor Peres said, nope. This is our sound. And they stayed true.
Also, true story: I bought this new Obit CD through the band's online site about 30 minutes before reading your review. I buy physical CDs of bands I really like – despite the fact that I downloaded this album about 3 weeks before it was released.
The only complaint I have of this album is the cover art. It has to be sort of an inside joke for them. I mean, swords and dragons? Come on.
I thought Xecutioner's Return was phenomenal and Frozen In Time was better than BFTD. Actually, the 2 fan faves, COD and BFTD, are probably my least fave Obie albums. Ill have to check this out either way.
indeed — World Demise is many notches above their other works. in fact, World Demise is a masterpiece of death metal. (even love the video for "Don't Care")
I'll be checking this new one out pretty soon. Thanks for the review.
Yeah, I like Xecutioner's Return quite a bit too. I thought Ralph Santolla brought an interesting element to the band. It was kind of like the time a restaurant served me turtle soup with cloves in it. I was like "whoa! cloves don't belong in my turtle soup!" And then I realized that it worked, and somehow that small thing made the dish seem new to me.
perhaps it's okay to be bored once in a while
Hahaha, Aversion – Back from the Dead has its moments, but that rap song at the end absolutely kills it for me. It's one of the worst things ever recorded.
To me this is the cure to over-processed deathcore. OG, simple as Black Sabbath death metal has its rightful place and will always be a thousand times more interesting than tweedily-deedily note masturbation groups.
@ Kielbasage -I think the cover thematically continues with the swordsman from Xecutioner's Return. But I agree that it's not Andreas Marschall's best work.
The artwork sort of makes me wonder if they're trying to go for a full-bore thrash mascot. If so, they should switch up the situations that he's in, (have him threatening some sleazy corporate execs in a boardroom, shmoozing with corrupt world leaders, drinking a mai thai on the beach while radiation burned women sun themselves in the background, etc) instead of just having him fight those goofy dragon things all the time. I know the quasi medieval armor he's wearing might look silly in a contemporary setting, but why the hell not? I'm dumb enough to buy it. And even though there's been a resurgence of Ed Repka (or Repka-inspired) covers for thrash revival bands, for some reason none of those bands has their own mascot… It would make me pretty happy if somebody revived that tradition, especially somebody as deserving as Obituary (who always had kind of a thrash aesthetic to their cover art, actually).
I agree with Cosmo. "World Demise" is a great album. I must admit that I like the last three albums, as well, and "Darkest Day" is the strongest of the three. However, I think that Obituary should really think about calling it a day, though.