Slowly We Rot

by

Obituary

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When this came out in 1989 Obituary had quite a few demos under their sleeves. They were releasing demos under the name Xecutioner as far back as 1986. There was also something else Obituary had going for them -no one else sounded like them. As far as early Death Metal goes, and I have tons of demo tapes from this period, this album exemplifies everything a good band should have.

Shortly before releasing the great "Slowly we Rot" Xecutioner changed their name to Obituary, I suppose because they didn't want to get confused with the Thrash band (a good one at that) from Boston with the same name.

The guitar duo of Peres and West go from the slugdy slow heavy as all hell riffs to the lighting fast (in comparison to the verses) wild solos. The drumming ala Don Tardy is also very simple and goes from a mid-tempo to a slow thrashing of the high-hats, to hitting the crash cymbals to the breaking point. All of this is connected by the vocalist John Tardy's undeciferable signing and gutteral noises that make the music all that much more threatening sounding. I really hate most of the cliche Death Metal "cookie monster" vocals (as best exampled by Cannibal Corpse) but Tardy I could always admire. He just did it so well. It was the sound of decay coming forth from his throat.

The lesson of Obituary is a very good one. They could play fast if they wanted to but...They proved that to play really heavy music it was better if you played really slowly in order to emphasize the heaviness of it. Just like Black Sabbath had done a generation earlier, Obituary made into a science. They took the wild solos from mid 80s Slayer, the ferocity of S.F.'s Possessed, and the lessons from Black Sabbath, as well as their own stylings to create a totally original sound.

I'd say Death Metal started (and maybe ended) with Obituary, but most people ceed the title of king of Death Metal to Death mainman Chuck Schuldiner. But if he wasn't around in '89, Obituary would've been the undisputed kings. Take it from me, when this came there was nothing like it. The remastering is pretty good too. A must own.

Like the Elizabeth Fraser of death metal, Obituary vocalist John Tardy belches lyrics made of inhuman growls rather than words. His vokills are one of the few original elements of the first side of Slowly We Rot, which for the most part is primitive, Slayeresque thrash. The band begins to pick up momentum, and by the second side the songs become more interesting and complex; "Suffocation" and "Intoxication" show a variety of speed changes and interesting riffage. The albums closer "Stinkupuss", is an example of how good death metal can be when it clicks: starting on a memorable mid-tempo riff, the song suddenly gets fast, then much faster, finally settling into a mosh tempo groove with Tardy howling on top of the whole thing. My main gripe about this album is the way the songs either abruptly stop out of nowhere, or suddenly do a bad studio fade. There are certainly some example of dubious production here, but overall Obituary display a heaviness and a thrash-overkill sound that is often thrilling. Highly recommended for fans of the genre.