UMUR "World Demise" is the 4th full-length studio album by US, Florida based death metal act Obituary. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in September 1994. It´s the successor to "The End Complete" from 1992, which was the most commercially successful release in Obituary´s career, selling around 250.000 copies worldwide. While "World Demise" didn´t quite reach those sales numbers, it was still a successful release for the band, and they continued to tour and conquer the world during this period. Like the three preceding albums by the band, "World Demise" was also recorded at Morrisound Studios and produced by Scott Burns and Obituary.

"World Demise" is the odd one out though when taking a look at the five albums Obituary released in their original run until they disbanded (went on a longer hiatus) in 1998. The odd one out status is mainly a consequence of the change from horror/gore themed lyrics to lyrics about environmental issues (also obvious from the cover artwork), politics and social issues, although there are still some lyrics featured on the album about death, horror, and gore. Stylistically this is brick heavy and groove oriented death metal featuring heavy riffs and rhythms, screaming guitar solos (although they are fewer here than they were on the albums preceding this one), and John Tardy´s distinct sounding brutal growling vocals in front.

Although this is in no way a groove metal album, Obituary definitely flirt with that genre during the album, but on the other hand, they´ve always been groove oriented, so nothing groundbreaking is happening here in that respect. The addition of a few samples and industrial effects/influences on a couple of tracks (and the tribal percussion on a couple of tracks), don´t make this album sound much differnt from what came before. To my ears the material are slightly more formulaic in nature/structure compared to the more adventurous and unpredictable structures of the tracks on "The End Complete (1992)", and it´s not a positive feature if you ask me. Highlights include tracks like "Don't Care", "Redefine", "Burned In", "Final Thoughts" and "Kill for Me" (at least until it ends with a couple of minutes of unnecessary silence and samples), but "World Demise" is overall a very consistent quality release.

The sound production is clear, detailed, and heavy, and it brings out the brutality of the music well. I could have done with a slightly less polished production approach though, and I think the material would have prospered from a more raw and stripped down sound. All things considered "World Demise" is still a high quality death metal release by Obituary, but it´s a step down in the songwriting department from it´s direct predecessor. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

Unitron "I REAAAALY DON'T CAAAREEE"

Pure unhinged brutality. No other band has captured the pummeling force, aggression, and punchy hooks of death metal like Obituary. It's all about the groove, and Obituary grooves every time. Opener Don't Care might be my all time favorite death metal song, it characterizes the sound so well. John Tardy's powerful guttural vocals sprawl along with the monstrous grooves. The title track, Redefine, Final Thoughts, and Kill for Me are a few more notable favorites. The latter includes some great tribal drumming towards the end, perhaps some influence from Sepultura. One of the best productions on a death metal album too, it encloses the listener into the music. Gives a new meaning to "surround sound".

Albums like Consuming Impulse and Piece of Time are close seconds, but World Demise has always been the definitive death metal album for my tastes. It's a hook-filled party of rage.

voila_la_scorie So what do you do when you decide to pick up a first-time album by an established band with a decent-sized catalogue? Do you buy the debut or the most recent album? Do you buy the classic album or sift around on YouTube and buy the album you think sounds best? For Obituary, I decided on the fourth option, and based on sound alone, I decided that "World Demise" would be my first acquisition even though I knew the first three albums were generally held in higher regard.

My first two impressions were, "Man, there are a lot of blatant signs of Celtic Frost influence here," and "Why does John Tardy's vocal style remind me of an angry wrestler crying like a little boy?"

The first is easy to address. Obituary are influenced heavily by Celtic Frost and they don't hide it. The album is chock full of slow and medium-tempo ultra heavy riffs. The guitar sound too is heavy enough to sink wide holes into the pavement. It's this sound (let's credit the drums and bass for the music, too) that makes the album worth-while having, in my opinion. It's just consistent, brain-mulching, bone-crunching music.

But how about those vocals? I get where he's taking the vocals. They're rough and angry and slightly maniacal. However, I find a similarity to how Tardy delivers the words in many songs. It's like the second and fourth syllable have to be emphasized but in a way that really resembles an angry little boy but vocalizing like a WWF wrestler. Some variety would surely help this album, at least in the vocal department. "the woAARRlld deMIIIEEZZ..."

Though most of the songs follow a similar sound and style, honourable mention must go to "Redefine", which breaks the trend by having a radio broadcast, funky tune which gets treated over by the drums and bass. This gives the song a unique feel on the album. The other is the final track, "Kill for Me" because it includes sounds and music sampled from an album of African music. It doesn't mean that the song is freaking awesome but there is that different thing about it.

I'd say this is a pretty solid album. Even as a casual fan of the band, this album delivers a very satisfactory sonic atmosphere. I find I can listen this album without paying total attention. It just has a great sound to it from front to back. And those riffs!

I might have thought I don't need any more Obituary albums but I have now opened up the option to get "Cause of Death" or "The End Complete".

Vim Fuego Obituary were victims of their own success. With the stunning combination of a legendary debut, a follow up album which many rate better than the first, and a third album which was the highest selling Death Metal album of all time to that point, it was bound to come a little unstuck on the fourth album. There is nothing obviously wrong with 'World Demise'. It takes the raw brutality of 'Slowly We Rot', the Celtic Frost worship of 'Cause Of Death', and the clinical precision of 'The End Complete' to a new level. Everything Obituary made their name with is here - thunderous guitars, assault and battery of the drum kit and of course Donald Tardy's trademark vomitory death grunt. Obituary developed a very tight sound, which first became evident on 'The End Complete', and became fully operational here. A lot of the fuzzier, less distinct parts of Trevor Peres' rhythm guitar were sharpened up. Some of the charm of early Obituary was the fact it was recorded primitively, giving it a warm "feel". Crisper production and improvements in playing technique took a lot of that feel and character away from the band's sound. In its place is a more precise, colder, almost robotic feel, more synthetic than natural. Everything seems exact, deliberate, planned, and faultless. Many former fans were put off. What better than a mechanical sound for decrying pollution and industrialisation though? Opener ‘Don't Care’ and ‘Solid State’ particularly demand instant respect for exacting execution. Like an automated Orwellian nightmare, they stamp on your conscious mind remorselessly. Escaping the nightmare, ‘Final Thoughts’ explores the last flickers of neurons through the brain before you pull the trigger. Death Metal can be a very restrictive genre to work within. A lot of fans expect things to be exactly right, with little room for deviation. Obituary tried something a little different here. There are vocal samples mumbling away under a lot of the tracks. Who knows what they are saying, but the almost subliminal effect on the sound is engaging. Also, on final track ‘Kill for Me’, there are African tribal percussion samples. The loop adds an interesting percussive effect. It is unfortunate the band did not explore this avenue further. Time hasn't been terribly kind to this album. The first three are fondly remembered by most fans, but not this for some reason. It is really a continuation of and the obvious successor to 'The End Complete'. Perhaps death metal had finally progressed and caught up with where Obituary had been five years earlier.