OBITUARY — Slowly We Rot (review)

OBITUARY — Slowly We Rot album cover Album · 1989 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
Time Signature
Deadly intentions...

Genre: death metal

In the year of 1989, Obituary introduced the world to their heavy, dirty and brutal Hellhammer/Frost-inspired brand of death metal, a style that they still stick to. Most of the riffage is quite simple, and regardless whether the song in question is slow, midtempo, or uptempo, it is brutal as hell.

I really like the no-nonsense full on style of this album, which was really unheard of at the time. Modern listeners will find that the album lacks many elements that characterize modern death metal, such as blastbeats and a million riffs stuffed into one song. "Slowly We Rot" is a lesson in less is more, and carry on the Hellhammer/Celtic Frost ethic of sticking to a few simple, but crushing, riffs per song and then just letting it rip. John Tardy's sewer-like oozing growled vocals are totally awesome on this album and suit the heavy, dirty sound like a glove.

This is a strong and genre-defining debut release. It may not be as good as subsequent albums, like "The End Complete" or "Cause of Death" - and the songs may be a bit samey - but it is still one hell of a death metal release.
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