Peaceville Records are celebrating a 20-year anniversary by re-issuing the legendary 1989 debut album from Autopsy. Anyone who has the slightest inkling for Death Metal should know all about this album. This time, it is beautifully packaged in a 2CD digipak with the surgical artwork included on the front cover. The original recording included future legends; Chris Reifert - vocals, drums (Abscess), Eric Cutler – guitar, Danny Coralles – guitar (Abscess) and Steve DiGiorgio – bass (Sadus/Death). This album is a blueprint for most of the later death metal that would be released. Certainly Dismember, Unleashed and Entombed played an Autopsy tune or two back in the day.
The production does not appear to have been remastered at all; the original recording is intact, thanks for not buggering around with the original gritty, raw, and heavy as hell sound Peaceville! I am always dubious about remastering and re-recording; they often lose the feeling of the original releases. ‘Charred Remains’, ‘Disembowel’ and ‘Ridden with Disease’ still have a perfect brutality about them 20 years down the line. It is heart-warming when you can still listen to vintage recordings that sound fresh and relevant in today’s market. Little did they know back in 1989, or did they? Lots of great bands sight Autopsy as a major influence on their style. I feel it would be futile to try and re-review this classic disc, but thankfully, there is more to come.
The additional CD forms 2 new tracks (also available as a limited as hell 7-inch record) and various live and demo tracks. Of the new tracks, ‘Horrific Obsession’ and ‘Feast of the Graveworm’ are also on par with the classics of old. There is an exciting element to these recordings, a bit more groove, but nothing is lost in the execution of their classic sounding metal assault. Most of the other tracks included on the second disc are recorded in a shoebox or someone’s pocket for live shows, but then, it is true and raw, you can feel like you are a part of those recordings. ‘Christ Denied’ is a track that you cannot argue with the crushing heaviness even if it is just an instrumental, as the lyrics were never finished, but this alone makes the track unique. Other tracks feature from the bands never released rehearsal tapes or those hard to find tapes that are bought for ridiculous amounts of cash on eBay. For this reason, it’s truly a value for money re-package. Other tracks that stick in your mind include (from their rehearsal tapes) ‘Human Genocide’ and ‘Mauled to Death’.
In Summary, this is a worthy re-issue and the quality of the re-packaging and extensive liner notes is definitely worth the money. If you like your down to earth, dirty as hell death metal, you need to buy this if you don’t buy another death metal album all year!
http://www.peaceville.com/artist.php?aid=7
http://www.myspace.com/autopsyfansite
