UMUR "All Tomorrow's Funerals" is a compilation album by US, California based death metal act Autopsy. The compilation was released in February 2012 through Peaceville Records and bridges the gap between the band´s 2011 comeback album "Macabre Eternal" (May 2011, Peaceville Records) and "The Headless Ritual" (June 2013, Peaceville Records), which are their fifth and sixth full-length studio albums. "All Tomorrow's Funerals" compiles all previously released material from EPs and singles, rarity tracks, and four new original compositions. The previosly released material are culled from the 1991 "Retribution for the Dead" EP, the 1992 "Fiend for Blood" EP, the 2009 "Horrific Obsession" single, and from the 2010 "The Tomb Within" EP. There´s also a rarity track which was originally released as a one-track flexi-disc and given away with Decibel Magazine no. 88, Feb. 2012., and one track from the 1992 "Peaceville Volume 4" compilation album.

There´s no demo material featured on the compilation, although both "Human Genocide" and "Mauled to Death" were originally featured on the December 1987 "1987 Demo". Here they both appear in the re-recorded versions which Autopsy opted to do and which they included on the "The Tomb Within" EP (in the case of the former) and in the case of the latter as the above mentioned give-away single-track flexi-disc with Decibel Magazine no. 88, Feb. 2012.

You get 22 tracks and a total playing time of 72:46 minutes, so there´s a lot of quantity here, but fortunately also a lot of quality. Autopsy were always a pretty unique sounding old school death metal act. Sure enough and naturally too Autopsy´s debut album "Severed Survival" (April 1989, Peaceville Records) did have a few similar traits to Death´s "Scream Bloody Gore" (May 1987, Combat Records), as Autopsy lead vocalist/drummer Chris Reifert performs on both albums. Autopsy however soon found their own more gory and doomy death metal style with hardcore punk elements and especially Reifert´s deranged growling style and organic drumming have always made them stand out.

"All Tomorrow's Funerals" is a consistent quality release with no real low points, although the material from the early releases is maybe slightly more unique considering the time of release. The sound production of the various releases which the tracks are culled from differs sligthly, but all tracks have been remastered by the band themselves, which makes "All Tomorrow's Funerals" a relatively homogene release. Upon conclusion this is of course a mandatory listen if you´re a fan of the band and old school death metal in general, although it´s honestly more of the same if you already own the major (album) releases by Autopsy. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Critical Madness" is the second demo release by US, California based death metal act Autopsy. The demo was independently released in July 1988. It´s the successor to "1987 demo" from December 1987 and there´s been a couple of lineup changes since the first demo as bassist Eric Eigard has been replaced by Ken Sorvari and Danny Coralles has been added as a second guitarist making Autopsy a quartet on "Critical Madness".

The demo features three tracks and a total playing time of 12:42 minutes. All tracks would be re-recorded and included on Autopsy´s debut full-length studio album "Severed Survival" (April 1989, Peaceville Records). The demo versions of the songs were later made available on the 2000 "Ridden with Disease" (Necroharmonic Productions) compilation album and the 2010 "Awakened by Gore" (Nuclear War Now! Productions) compilation album.

Stylistically the material continues in the same old school death metal style initiated on "1987 demo", but this time a bit more brutal and doomy and less thrash metal oriented. "Ridden With Disease" is a real peach, but "Charred Remains" and "Critical Madness" are also high quality old school death metal tracks. Drummer/lead vocalist Chris Reifert´s vocals have become slightly deeper growling, although they still have a higher pitched screaming quality to them, which makes him sound deranged and the whole demo has a nasty vile atmosphere to it, that only some of the earliest death metal releases were able to deliver. The raw and brutal sounding production job further enhances that feeling, and it´s definitely one of the best sound productions on a mid/late-80s extreme metal demo that I have ever encountered. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "1987 demo" is the first demo release by US, California based death metal act Autopsy. The demo was independently released in December 1987. Autopsy was formed in August 1987 after drummer/lead vocalist Chris Reifert left Death and teamed up with guitarist Eric Cutler and bassist Eric Eigard. After recording Death´s debut album "Scream Bloody Gore" (May 1987, Combat Records), Chuck Schuldiner wanted to move back to his native Florida, but Reifert was reluctant to move from California to Florida. He had done it once when Death unsucessfully recorded the first version of "Scream Bloody Gore" and he felt uncomfortable in the humid Florida heat. Hence Reifert´s departure from Death and the birth of Autopsy.

"1987 demo" features four tracks and a total playing time of 13:16 minutes. "Embalmed" and "Stillborn" would be re-recorded and included on Autopsy´s debut full-length studio album "Severed Survival" (April 1989, Peaceville Records), while "Human Genocide" and "Mauled to Death" were at the time exclusive to this release. The former would however be re-recorded and included on the 2010 "The Tomb Within" EP while the latter would be re-recorded and released as a flexi-disc single and given away with Decibel Magazine no. 88, Feb. 2012. Both were subsequently included on the February 2012 "All Tomorrow's Funerals" (Peaceville Records) compilation album. Before that the original demo versions were made available on the 2000 "Ridden with Disease" (Necroharmonic Productions) compilation album and the 2010 "Awakened by Gore" (Nuclear War Now! Productions) compilation album.

Stylistically the material is old school thrash oriented death metal to the bone and listeners who enjoy "Scream Bloody Gore" should find a lot to like here. While the tracks are pretty simple, they are both catchy, brutal, powerful, and effective old school death metal. Reifert´s vocals are slightly higher pitched than they would become just a year or two down the line, but they are still pretty sick and deranged growling/screaming. The tracks are relatively varied and features both fast sections, mid-paced heavy sections, and slow and doomy sections.

The demo is well produced featuring a raw, but still detailed and powerful sounding production job. Considering that this is a late 1987 extreme metal demo, I´d say it´s exceptionally well produced. Autopsy had only existed for five months at the time of recording this demo and I assure you it doesn´t sound like it. This is quite the brilliant demo and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Kev Rowland I can’t be the only one who thought we would never see another Autopsy album, given it had been eight years since the release of ‘Tourniquets, Hacksaws and Graves’, but they are back, boy are they back. They may have lost bassist Joe Allen, who has been replaced by Greg Wilkinson (who plays with Chris in Static Abyss) but guitarists Eric Cutler and Danny Coralles are there, as they were more than 30 years ago, while at the drumming and vocal helm is the legend who is Chris Reifert. Reifert has rarely put a foot wrong since appearing on Death’s ‘Scream Bloody Gore’, but there are some releases which are more important that others, for multiple reasons, and this is one of those.

The band have stopped and started a few times, and they have periods of intense activity before taking another break, so let us hope that this is the dawn of a new era for the band as this is brutal death with nods to both doom and grind, with hardcore aggression thrown in there for good measure. The guys may not be getting any younger but with this release they are yet again stamping their presence on the throats of the death metal genre and making a huge statement. Reifert is a demon on the drums, yet also provides plenty of finesse, Wilkinson is locked in as he is used to playing with Chris, and then we have Eric and Danny bringing the storm as they have ever since first becoming a partnership back in 1988. On the top of that we have the growls and aggression, yet the band also move into areas which at times are almost black metal as they bring in emotion and atmosphere which means that when they ram it down again the contrast makes the sound even more dynamic.

Autopsy are back with an album which shows they mean business, and let us hope we do not have to wait eight years for the next one!

Necrotica Death metal trends may come and go, but Chris Reifert is one of those special musicians you can (almost) always rely on to keep the flame of the old guard alive; after all, we’re talking about the same guy who performed on Death’s classic Scream Bloody Gore and helped spearhead the first wave of the genre. Through thick and thin, Autopsy’s vile brand of death/doom riffery has remained largely unchanged (excepting Shitfun, but let’s not talk about that). If it ain’t broke, why fix it? Just give me some disgusting gutturals, brutal riffs, and stank-face breakdowns, and I’ll be happy. Still, even in the context of Autopsy’s recent string of successes, I get the sense that the boys felt they had a bit more to prove on 2022’s Morbidity Triumphant.

To put it plainly, this is the most energized and inspired the band have sounded in years. The core ingredients of their sound are still as present as ever, but – and I know it sounds a bit trivial – the riffs are just better this time around. Take “Stab the Brain” for instance: the synthesis of brutality and groove here is just undeniable, as the opening salvo of speedy riffage gives way to an infectious doomy swing. And much like any great Autopsy record, there’s just a certain filth and rot to the music that’s palpable through the speakers. The slow, murky intro to “Final Frost” immediately conjures images of decaying zombies rising from the crypt at night, only reinforced by the sickening growls of Reifert and guitarist Eric Cutler. Of course, this doesn’t last too long, as eventually the track transforms into a furious affair with rapid-fire drumwork and nimble fretwork. And this leads me to one of the best aspects of Morbidity Triumphant: how well each disparate section connects with each other.

The band’s “death/doom” tag can be taken quite literally, as some parts are pure old-school death metal and some sections are pure doom metal. However, the connective tissue between these distinct tempo changes is generally butter-smooth. “Born in Blood” is a perfect example of this, as the atmosphere and feel of the song never changes, no matter what pace the band are playing at. You’ve got your funereal opening crawl, a thrashy midsection, and a return to the doom metal at the end; still, the same agonized vocals, grimy guitar tone, and overall adaptability of the musicians prevent each transition from sounding forced or awkward. And while we’re on the subject of the talent on display here, each band member gets plenty of time to shine. Obviously Reifert is still the star of the show, but the dynamic guitar duo of Cutler and Danny Coralles remains highly potent here. Whether it’s the groovy Sabbath-esque riffage of “The Voracious One”, the creepy melodic harmonies on “Flesh Strewn Temple”, or the fierce thrash-laden carnage of “Knife Slice, Axe Chop”, they know how to rise to any occasion or mood the music calls for. Combine that with the solid chemistry in the rhythm section of Reifert and bass newcomer Greg Wilkinson, and these songs are in some damn fine hands.

With all of that said, it’s not like Morbidity Triumphant innovates in any major way. If you didn’t like previous Autopsy records – or old school death metal in general – this will absolutely not change your mind. But with that kind of album cover, were you really expecting there to be any major stylistic changes here from their previous stuff? This is just a brutal, grimy, fun death metal record – simple as that. And while a bit more variety would certainly be welcome on the next album, Autopsy’s familiar formula hasn’t been executed this well in quite some time.

REWINDING ALL THE FUCKING GORE HORROR FLICKS STREWN ON THE FLOOR; KNIFE SLICE, AXE CHOP STREAMS OF BLOOD THAT NEVER STOP!!!