Suffocation - Blood Oath Review

Anyone familiar with Suffocation? You should be; the New York based band have been putting out some of the most prolific material for almost two decades! How can anyone forget the sheer brutality of Effigy of the Forgotten? Over fifteen years later the band released their self titled which was proven to be a serious accomplishment in what the band has to offer. Now with the release of Blood Oath, the pressure is on, because the quetion remained, could it live up to its previous release? possibly live up to such classics as Pierced From Within? Lets just say the offering of the album left me tattered and torn from start to finish.

My first inital listen left me stunned with satisfaction, the album was an instant click and had me at the edge of my seat beginning to end. Lets just say this was inital shock. A couple more listens it was still great but as the shock wore off there was no doubt that this was still a solid release. It does have alot of great moments but to me still stands as the album you put on if your in desperate need of a head bashing. Which leads me to the instrumentation, any fan of Suffocation knows that they never fail to hit you hard with blistering riffs and crushing technicality....full text Along with a very select few others, Suffocation are card-carrying members of an exclusive club -- one which has tattooed its influence across multiple generations of sonic terrorists, yet whose own output continues to be as menacing, acerbic and relevant as it was a decade ago. Arguably the definitive New York death metal hit squad, Suffocation's announcement that they were to be reunited was met with the sort of zeal typically reserved for tent revival meetings, and the band have not failed to deliver since. _Souls to Deny_ and its self-titled successor were bone-jarring marathons in masterfully executed musical barbarism, showing off Suffocation as band who had not lost a step in spite of their self-imposed sabbatical.

Yet these efforts both fell short of equalling the malignant majesty of their finest hour in the form of _Pierced From Within_ -- an album so soaked in atmosphere and character that it left anyone crossing its path gasping for air. _Blood Oath_ is no different in this regard. They may have packed their bags and set sail for the pillowy bosom of Nuclear Blast and employed the highly competent services of production hotshot Joe Cincotta, but even that doesn't help them scale what would admittedly be daunting heights for any band. And that's just fine. Comparing _Blood Oath_ to _Pierced From Within_ is like expecting Slayer to deliver another _Reign in Blood_. It's never going happen....full text Currently co-headlining the North American portion of the Summer Slaughter tour, Suffocation have been giving fans a live sneak peak of what to expect from their upcoming release Blood Oath. This album is a great follow-up to their 2006 self-titled release, as they shed the melodic aspects of the previous while maintaining the brutal technicality that they have honed over the last 20 years. Although not a groundbreaking album for the band, Blood Oath is a worthy addition to their discography; that alone secures it as a stand-out contribution to the pile of 2009 death metal releases.

The self-titled track kicks off the album. Featuring a death-metal, swing-style (you mean big band swing? - Ed) main riff which immediately highlights drummer Mike Smith’s insane precision and control, this track gets your attention right from the start. Although utilizing a relatively slow tempo, this song compensates for the lack of speed with the guitars’ colossal sounding main riff and Smith’s relentless double-kicks. Following “Blood Oath” is “Dismal Dream”, arguably one of the best songs on the album. Frank Mullen wastes no time in foreshadowing the chorus within the verse, but holds back just enough so that when the actual chorus kicks in both his vocals and the instruments sound absolutely diabolical. Why this song hasn’t been chosen as the single is beyond me....full text