It's rare to find a band that breaks up, and then causes ripples of madness within the Metal world when the dead project is resurrected once more. Autopsy disbanded back in 1995, reformed in 2008 to record two songs for a special edition of their debut album, Severed Survival. Shortly after that, Death Metal act Abscess was laid to rest, but in it's wake, Autopsy reformed to much delight for the fans. It's sad to see Abscess go, but at the same time it's great to have Autopsy back as an active group. The Tomb Within marks the first recording since this official return, a five song EP that sticks really close to the band's original material, and doesn't quite let down.
Musically, it's basically the same old old-school Death Metal Autopsy. The vocals to the album are more of a forced, back of the throat groan style then the traditional gutteral approach, similar to the band's older material, and, for those not too familiar with the band, it may take a little to get adjusted to with how off they sound against the music. For the most part, however, the music of this EP is simply crushing and fast paced, sometimes coming off a little technical, such as during "Seven Skulls", which is a fantastic song that hits the listener hard and has plenty of moments that build the tension nicely throughout it.< Of course, "My Corpse Shall Rise" is just a straight forward heavy as hell old-school Death Metal romp that comes at you with a blistering pace, and fantastic intensity, really standing out on this release as one of the more superior tracks to cement the fact that Autopsy has definitely not lost any steam since they disbanded.
The only downfall to this EP happens to be the song "Mutant Village". It's another song that is good, but in the long run can become boring. It appears to be driven by the vocals more then anything, featuring a fantastic vocal performance that comes off like the ramblings of a truly twisted madman. The music itself is also rather empty. The slow pace of the song, and the held guitar chords against a cymbol crashes that can house a few seconds of silence from the drummer is enough to drive someone man. "The Tomb Within" shares some traits with the other song, except this one focuses more on being slower then the slowed down elements of "The Tomb Within" through most of the song. Again, for what this song is designed to do, it's a solid track that gives off a perfectly matching atmosphere to the performance.is actually a strong track for what it is. However, the song eventually becomes repetitive with the only saving grace moments being the random spasms of faster music that offer a little variety to the mix.
Thre Tomb Within marks a great return for Autopsy, and proves they still have what it takes to create chaotic and menacing Death Metal, even after all this time. Of course, the EP doesn't sound exactly like where the band left off, but the music on here, for the most part, is some solid Death Metal that captures a unique horror atmosphere that some bands just simply cannot do. Sure, there's some faults, but look at these new recordings as the band shaking the cobwebs out of the belfry, because if some of these tracks are what the future has in store for the fans, then this reforming will be one of the most welcome ones in Metal history.
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Digital review copy of this release provided by:
Peaceville Records
via Fresno Media. |
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