UMUR "The Tomb Within" is an EP release by US death metal act Autopsy. The EP was released in September 2010 by Peaceville Records and marks the comeback for Autopsy after they disbanded in 1995. The EP features three original members in Chris Reifert (Vocals, Drums), Danny Coralles (Guitars) and Eric Cutler (Guitars). New bassist is Joe Trevisano who Chris Reifert and Danny Coralles brought with them from Abscess.

The 5 track, 20 minutes long EP is not surprisingly in the old school and filthy death metal style that Autopsy were known for playing in the early nineties. So don´t expect any surprises, this is unmistakably the sound of Autopsy. The gore themed lyrics are in place, the organic playing, the haunting harmony leads, the doomy riffs and of course Chris Reifert rotten growling. The quality of the 5 tracks is high throughout and "The Tomb Within" come off as a high quality release to these ears. Especially "Seven Skulls" made me smile and shout out one hell yeah!!!

Fans of Autopsy should be more than pleased with "The Tomb Within". Stylistically I´d say it´s closest in style to the shorter tracks on "Mental Funeral (1991)" rather than the more punked death metal sound of "Shitfun (1995)", which was the band´s last release before they split. While the punk influence can be charming, I personally much prefer Autopsy when they are filthy and doomy. A 4 star rating is deserved.

UMUR "Macabre Eternal" is the 5th full-length studio album by US death metal act Autopsy. "Macabre Eternal" was released in May 2011 by Peaceville Records. It´s the first album release by the band since "Shitfun" from 1995. "Shitfun" saw Autopsy go out on a punked death metal note. A musical direction guitarist Danny Coralles and lead vocalist/ drummer Chris Reifert would further explore in their Abscess project. Despite releasing several studio albums and other releases Abscess has never reached the success that Autopsy had in the early nineties, and they´ve remained an underground act that is probably unknown to most. Autopsy officially reunited in July 2009, but they had already briefly reunited in September 2008 to record two new tracks, which were to appear on the re-release edition of their 1989 debut full-length studio album "Severed Survival". Maybe as a consequence of the reunited Autopsy and the focus on that band, Abscess folded in June 2010.

Autopsy are one of the pioneers of the filthy, raw and gore themed US death metal genre along side acts like Deceased and Necrophagia, so a comeback album after 16 years (they did release "The Tomb Within" EP in 2010 though) is not a small deal in death metal circles.

...and fans of the band probably won´t be disappointed by the result. "Macabre Eternal" is every bit as vile, gory and filthy as the early releases by the band. Autopsy still has a dark and organic sound, that sits far from the clinical productions that grace many contemporary releases. The band also add an organic touch to their playing, so you are never in doubt that it´s actually humans playing the parts. Chris Reifert´s drumming is as always one of the assets in the band´s sound. He is no technical wizard, but he understands what makes the songs on the album move forward in the most effective way. His vocal delivery is varied and powerful ranging from deep growls, to desperate, insane sounding ditto (apparently guitarist Eric Cutler sings on a couple of tracks too, but you could have fooled me). If you stand too close to him there´s a chance you´ll be able to smell rotten flesh on his breath. The lyrics are vile and gory as usual, which is obvious when you read songtitles like "Dirty Gore Whore", "Born Undead", "Bludgeoned and Brained" and "Sadistic Gratification".

The punk infuced death metal years with Abscess and the "Shitfun" album haven´t gone completely unnoticed, and while most of tracks on the album are slow- to mid paced death metal with some filthy doomy touches (there are faster paced parts on the album too but no blasting), the punk influence is still there. This time it´s better incorporated into the band´s sound than ever, but it doesn´t always work wonders with the simple punk touch IMO.

If you ask me 12 tracks distributed over 65:27 minutes are couple of tracks too much for a death metal release like this one. Granted the 11:33 minutes long doomy highlight of the album "Sadistic Gratification" does take up quite a few minutes of the playing time, but with more focus on fewer tracks I think the album would have been a little more intense. There are moments of monotony that could have been prevented.

With that said "Macabre Eternal" is still a very good comeback album by Autopsy. The filthy doomy death metal sound, the morbid sounding lead and harmony guitars, the brutal and insane sounding growls, the punk elements and the gory and vile lyrics. It´s all there. Autopsy are in the fortunate position that they don´t need to reinvent the wheel or push boundaries with this album to satisfy their fans. They been there and done that. I think Autopsy have done just what they should with this album and that´s meet the expectations of their fans. Bearing that in mind "Macabre Eternal" is an almost 100% succesful album that deserves a 3.5 - 4 star rating.

UMUR Retribution for the Dead is an EP released by US death metal act Autopsy. The EP was released in 1990 by Peaceville Records. The original release is probably hard to get a hold of today, but all three tracks from Retribution for the Dead are included on the 1993, 2003 and the 2009 Peaceville Records re-releases of Severed Survival (1989), so the tracks are readily available if you purchase one of those releases. The title track is also available on most re-releases of Mental Funeral (1991).

The music on the album is somber and doomy old school death metal. I say doomy but the 3 tracks on the 12:31 minute long EP have many tempo changes, so the music is not classifiable as doom/ death metal. What you get on this EP is filthy and earthy sounding death metal with brutal growling vocals, soaring lead guitar work and simple yet catchy and brutal quality riffing. I used to find Chris Reifert´s drumming style sloppy but listening to the EP today I´ve changed my mind about that. Now I find his style quite unique and his playing gives the music an extra human touch that is often sadly missing from more polished death metal releases. All 3 tracks on the EP are really strong and memorable IMO. Even though both Destined to Fester and In the Grip of Winter are featured on Mental Funeral, both songs appear here in slighty different versions.

The production is raw and if you´re looking for polish you´re looking in the wrong place. The sound is not lo-fi though, just really raw and earthy.

Retribution for the Dead is a big step forward from Severed Survival and a clear signal of what was to come on Mental Funeral. The band had developed their style towards something very unique in only a matter of a year. That´s pretty impressive. A 4 star rating is fully deserved.

UMUR Severed Survival is the debut full-length studio album by American death metal act Autopsy. The album was released in April 1989 by Peaceville Records. Severed Survival has seen various re-issues. The one from 1993 included the Retribution for the Dead (1991) EP tracks as bonus material.

Drummer/ vocalist Chris Reifert formed Autopsy after leaving Death. Chris Reifert played the drums on the now legendary Scream Bloody Gore (1987) debut album by Death. In addition to Chris Reifert on drums and vocals, Eric Cutler and Danny Coralles on guitars the album also features bass by the omnipresent Steve DiGiorgio ( Sadus, Death, Iced Earth, Testament...etc.).

The music on the album is the epitome of old school death metal. If you´re looking for the most authentic old school death metal release, look no further. The vocals are brutal yet decipherable and delightfully aggressive. The pace is mosty mid- to slow with the occasional faster part. But there is no blasting on the album. The riffing is brutal and heavy but pretty simple. It´s safe to say that this is not the most precise playing that I´ve ever heard, but there´s a primitive charm to the proceedings that you won´t find on most modern and more clinical sounding death metal albums. The album is filthy and raw sounding. A suiting production for this kind of music. Song titles like Service for a Vacant Coffin, Disembowel and Ridden With Disease pretty much give away the horror/ gore lyrical theme of the album. Another old school death metal feature.

While Autopsy would further develop their style on subsequent albums, Severed Survival is a great album in its own right. Maybe a bit too one-dimensional in the end and the quality of the songs also drop a notch toward the end of the album, but overall a great release. Personally I think this is one of the best old school death metal releases I´ve heard ( pre-nineties). It´s been many years since I´ve listened to Severed Survival the last time, but this is one of those albums that still makes my blood boil when I bring it out on a rare occasion. A 3.5 star rating is deserved.

nihq This album is almost two decades old, and it still mops the floor with all other death metal released in the succeeding years. While this is partially an indication of the sorry state of modern death metal, it is also a testament to the immense, lasting power that Mental Funeral carries. From the crushing opening of Twisted Mass of Burnt Decay to the slowly dripping clean notes of the final track, the music stands in a league of its own; this is one of those albums that you will never find boring.

Drummer Chris Reifert has stated his songwriting motivations in rather simple terms – to make “the sickest shit imaginable” or some such banality. But that phrase describes precisely what Mental Funeral is: lopsided, intentionally out-of-balance song structures; mischievously deranged riffs, very often spiced with multilayering for added harmonic effect; atonal guitar solos that appear out of nowhere, later to give way to yet another set of bizarre riffs; rhythms that bounce from rabid gallops to torturous crawls and everything in between.

Far from a textbook example of death metal, the album is a magnificent work from a band that did what it wanted even if it never won them any popularity contests in their active days. This was neither the fastest nor the most technical band in existence then, and it would be even farther from that status in today’s world where Niles and Cryptopsies reign. What sets Autopsy apart from the crowd is that Reifert & Co. never concentrated on one gimmick (technicality, “brutality”, speed, lack thereof, or what have you) but directed all of their energies into solid songwriting, employing whatever elements they thought proper. The end result is a mixture of vastly different bits and pieces well forged together: for example, the 35-second guitar-only interlude Fleshcrawl is a perfect way to both deliver a little pause from the brutality that preceded it and also lead into the next piece of dismal suffering.

There is a multitude of little rhythmic tricks that initially go unnoticed, but as one realizes how seamlessly the odd time signatures and other such surprises are set in the bigger picture, it heightens the listening experience even further; an underlying complexity permeates an album created by some guys who just wanted to record “brutal shit”. In contrast, when a modern death metal band goes into 7/8 time, you’ll be certain to hear them hailed as “progressive”, “inventive” and “different”. The difference, of course, is that for new bands it is a gimmick, while for Autopsy it was merely a way to drive a song forward with a little twist. Feel free to mail me about the exceptions in today’s world, for I am too sick of contemporary death metal to actively keep following it any more. In the meantime, I’ll cherish this classic like a Mongol cherishes his horse.