voila_la_scorie I knew "Severed Survival" was probably the Autopsy album to get but I had recently found that many "classic" and "influencial" albums were also the most expensive. Also, the sound quality of more recent albums was often better than the old school classics. So, in the case of Autopsy, I decided to sample listen to a few albums and pick the one that sounded best and that was also not too expensive. It's no surprise then that the album I ordered was also an EP, explaining why it was cheaper than others.

Thus, "Skull Grinder", the band's most recent release to date from what I can see on MMA, became my introduction to this death metal band that also skirt the edges of death / doom.

Things I like: Chris Reifert's merciless and unappologetic gravel-throated vocals, which are not entirely unitelligible; the guitar sound and some of the monster heavy riffs; the mad drumming by Chris Reifert; and the speed changes within songs.

A lot of death metal bands are about blasting through at high speeds with little time to slow down and stomp on your feet and boot your hiney a few times. Autopsy easily blast you with speed and aggression and then pull back and paddle you silly.

There are two short tracks on this release: "Sanity Bleeds" and "Return to Dead". The first is slower with a simple guitar melody and no drums. Reifert bellows like some diabolical warlord and then we get lots of crazy guitar effects. I can't say that this is one worth stand-alone play. "Return to Dead" comes on sounding like a horror movie theme song done by a metal band. It's got this eerie, demented-sounding melody. More wailing, crazy guitar effects enhance the aura of madness. Again, not a fav but interesting.

The other five tracks, though, sound awesome. Just straightforward Autopsy-style death metal. I might be mistaken but I think they have used some wah-wah on a couple of tracks which almost gives the guitar a retro feel. A possible favourite is "Waiting for the Screams" because it has one of those spine-chilling, doom metal riffs.

My only disappointment is that the album is just an EP. I would have loved a full album of songs like the five that are over three minutes. Now I have two Autopsy albums and I'll surely be checking out a third sometime in the not too distant future.

UMUR "Skull Grinder" is an EP release by US death metal act Autopsy. The EP was released through Peaceville Records in November 2015. It´s the successor release to the band´s 7th full-length studio album "Tourniquets, Hacksaws and Graves" from 2014. The material from the EP also appears on the "After the Cutting (2015)" special limited edition compilation album.

If you´re familiar with Autopsy´s sound from previous releases, it´ll be no surprise to learn that the 7 tracks featured on the 28:28 minutes long EP continue down the same old school death metal path that the band have more or less played since day one. It´s filthy and gory, and played with a strong organic touch, which provides the music with great authenticity. Autopsy as always incorporate both mid-paced brutal grooves, faster-paced punked rhythms, and slow doomy playing. There´s an omnipresence of guitar solos and themes that provides the music with a sort of bizarre phychadelic atmosphere. Bizarre is of course also the right word to use when describing Chris Reifert´s (drums, vocals) vocal performance. There´s something demented about the way he delivers his growling vocals, that makes him stand out among the legions of growling vocalists on the scene. He sounds evil, filled with despair, and positively mad, at the same time. And he sounds like he means it, which to my ears makes all the difference between a good and bad vocalist.

"Skull Grinder" features one of the most well sounding productions to yet grace an Autopsy release. It manages to sound both powerful and raw but also clear and detailed, which is always a difficult balance to strike. With old school death metal you don´t want it to be so lo-fi and filthy that you´re missing details, but at the same time it´s usually also an issue if the sound production is too polished.

Upon conclusion "Skull Grinder" is yet another high quality release by one of the seminal acts on the US old school death metal scene, and there´s no sign of these guys becoming softer with age or slowing down. They do what they do, and they do it well. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.