Saturday, May 9, 2009

Killing Machine

See that totally voracious robot monster thing just crushing and ripping apart anything stupid or slow enough to get in its path? Like this machine, depicted by Dan Seagrave on Effigy of the Forgotten, Suffocation just rip, and stomp, and bludgeon because they can. Suffocation are a brutish killing machine, an emotionless automaton bent on catastrophic violence. This album spawned a million copycat brutal tech-tard bands, but none of them captured the soulless, trenchant bully rape of the originators.

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18 comments:

  1. BarrwolfMay 9, 2009 at 12:52 AM

    Thanks for this! I've been digging through tons of old metal cd's of mine and this band's spot seems to have been vacated. Love the cover art.

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  2. AnonymousMay 9, 2009 at 2:47 AM

    The greatest album in American Death Metal is this one here.

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  3. e normousMay 9, 2009 at 7:58 AM

    Yeah, very nice cover, but I have to disagree with you. This has probably been my most played album of recent times, and every single time the main thing in my head is "I wish this were a bit more aggressive". I really like the sound, but to me there's just not enough viciousness to it.

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  4. Gore.MetalMay 9, 2009 at 8:19 AM

    It's all about Frank Mullen and the blast chop! Went and saw them a few months back and more people were throwing up his goofy hand chop motion than the horns, shit was hilarious.

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  5. JWWMay 9, 2009 at 9:07 AM

    One of the best death metal albums EVER!

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  6. chrisMay 9, 2009 at 9:17 AM

    yes! another classic i'm missing. thanks

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  7. Shelby CobrasMay 9, 2009 at 12:10 PM

    foetalruin-

    it's nice to see someone giving a little lip service to the metal hand chop, suffocation's greatest gift to the world of metal.

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  8. StevenMay 9, 2009 at 7:12 PM

    I gotta disagree about this being a 'soulless' record. EotF absolutely reeks with soul and humanity. It sounds like it was performed by living, breathing people before the age of Pro-Tools. I mean, listen to that stark-raving-mad, screw-a-bunch-of-scalar-theory, 94-second long guitar solo in 'Seeds of the Suffering". Or Mike's maniacal, yet not-computer-assisted foot and stickwork, it borders on the comedic in places. Definitely performed by wild-eyed, chemically imbalanced, self-actuating meatbags. Modern mechanically precise tech-death bands are the ones with no soul. Phooey to them.

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  9. ToddMay 9, 2009 at 8:07 PM

    Soulless? Man I disagree quite strongly; take the soul out of Suffocation and then you get those tech-tard copycat bands.

    Suffocation themselves are actually quite melodic (the riff one minute into Liege of Inveracity gets stuck in my head all the time), and their song structuring intuition is very emotionally evocative.

    Not to say they aren't absolutely punishing. Note the kick drum flams during the beatdown also in Liege of Inveracity. I love imagining the thought process: "how can we make this even more retardedly heavy..."

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  10. ToddMay 9, 2009 at 8:08 PM

    Jinx, Steven. Jinx jinx personal jinx.

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  11. AesopMay 9, 2009 at 8:14 PM

    I find this to be the more mechanical side of death metal compared to say, the Swedish and Florida bands. I understand that Suffocation occasionally hits a groove, but this was my first exposure to the old washing machine on spin cycle type of blast beat, makes me think of machines, angry machines, and then they go and put one on the cover. Mike Smith rules, BTW.

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  12. rocktober bloodMay 10, 2009 at 9:41 AM

    i think 'soulless' is a compliment in this case. to have "living, breathing" people perform music on "real" instruments that sounds like a cold soulless alien death machine...is quite an accomplishment

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  13. ToddMay 10, 2009 at 10:03 AM

    Aesop, I think I see what you're saying. The super-percussive element of Suffocation's music is extremely machine-like in its lack of dynamics; every beat is absolutely bludgeoned full-force, whether it be during a d-beat, blast beat, or beat down. You can basically be like "jud jud jud jud jud jud jud jud" over the entire album!

    I view this as an almost ambient framework over which the rest of the music exists, similar to what happens on a Darkthrone record, for example.

    Also, Habitual Infamy is a very funny song title, especially in this post-Dave Chappelle world.

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  14. StevenMay 10, 2009 at 3:09 PM

    Mike Smith is a Bad-Ass of the highest caliber. I agree.

    "How can we make this even more retardedly heavy?" That's exactly right. And they still managed to make every track catchy. Terrence Hobbs is also a Bad-Ass.

    'Reincremation' is also a fantastic song title. Nice Napalm Death quote at the beginning, too.

    Now I'm gonna go get that basement blow funk.

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  15. JimboMay 11, 2009 at 1:04 AM

    Yeah a fantastic death metal album - almost as heavy as anything by Heinous Killings...

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  16. UnknownMay 15, 2009 at 8:51 AM

    Thank You.... have heard about this record but have not had the chance to hear until now.

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  17. AnonymousOctober 28, 2009 at 7:50 PM

    This is sick, it captures that deep crunchy sound so wonderfully.

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  18. DeschainMarch 13, 2012 at 8:18 PM

    Easily one of the most copied styles in extreme music.

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