DM Roundtable: OBITUARY - Cause of Death

[JayKeeley]

1990, Roadrunner, Scott Burns production, James Murphy on lead....all the stars were aligned.

Mid-paced to slow pummeling, and surely features one of the greatest metal riffs of all time in "Body Bag".

I like it. A lot. Do you?

 

[skeptik]

Yes, but oddly enough most of GMD hates it because of the vocals, so I'm assuming it must be good no matter what. Great old school fucking Death Metal, almost as good as Autopsy.

 

[JayKeeley]

The GMD is entirely irrelevant. Always has been.

 

[skeptik]

Mmkay. Well a lot of other people bitch and moan about the vocals too, but I have no problem with it.

 

[lurch70]

at least there were lyrics on this second release ... the first one allegedly had just random growling that sounded good when mixed together on most tracks ... kind of like Def Leppard throwing random sexual innuendos together in their lyrics because they make the song sound catchy

its a classic for sure ...

on that note:
YouTube - Obituary - On The Floor (live)

 

[EVERLOSTINDEADETERNITY]

I love Obituary. Chopped In Half, Threatening Skies, and Dying are my favorites. Of course I will say that I only have the Anthology best of. Sorry. I use to have al the double album reissues. I let a buddy of mine borrow them and they came back in much worse shape than what i gave them to him in.

 

[Necromunchkin]

I think this is a seminal release for Obituary. And though I would say it is actually a better album than Slowly We Rot, I always prefer that one just because of the rawness of it. The Celtic Frost influence is so evident in their music, and the sludge mixed in with the Floridian death metal style really sets this album apart from its contemporaries. And in regards to the vocals, I love 'em. It's rare when a vocalist actually sounds like he's losing stomach lining in the process of delivering a lyric.

 

[swizzlenuts]

There is something about Obituary that just bugs the hell out of me. They seem so mediocre and uninspiring. I usually can get past poor vocals.

I will spin it today to see my thoughts after 6 months of not listening to it.

 

[Carbonized]

Cause of Death is easily my favorite album by them. It may have been the one i first heard actually back in 1990 i guess it was. Dying, Cause of Death, Turned Inside Out, Chopped in Half, Circle of the Tyrants... arg... so good.

John Tardy's vocals are definitely an acquired taste though.

 

[JayKeeley]

So what's the problem with the vocals?

 

[skeptik]

They're too fitting and non-standard?

 

[J.]

couldnt get into the band a few years ago. probably could today if i tried.

honestly, a lot of the classic bands: entombed, unleashed, grave, suffo, immolation, deicide....i couldn't get into. dunno why.

that being said, Asphyx, Carcass, old EoS, old Amorphis and Morbid Angel rule

 

[swizzlenuts]

I listened last night again, and I still couldn't get into it. The vocals didnt' bother me and some songs were good, but I just got tired of it both times through.

 

[JayKeeley]

He sounds like he's getting tortured -- I actually think the vocals are a highpoint. Each bark starts with a scream, morphs into a guttural growl, and ends with a scream again...and yet you can make out what he's saying. It's unique to say the least.

Thing is, death metal vocals should sound 'uncomfortable'. Regular growls on regular death metal = complete redundancy. That's just crap thrash if you ask me. Then again, the more extreme vocals can be useless too a la Mortician. I only keep Zombie Apocalypse because I like the Lucio Fulci movie samples.

 

[Papa Josh]

He sounds like he's getting tortured -- I actually think the vocals are a highpoint. Each bark starts with a scream, morphs into a guttural growl, and ends with a scream again...and yet you can make out what he's saying. It's unique to say the least.

Thing is, death metal vocals should sound 'uncomfortable'. Regular growls on regular death metal = complete redundancy. That's just crap thrash if you ask me. Then again, the more extreme vocals can be useless too a la Mortician. I only keep Zombie Apocalypse because I like the Lucio Fulci movie samples.

Perfectly said!

And to who said there were lyrics to this one. Nope. First cd where he actually wrote lyrics was World Demise.

 

[Demilich]

So what are the lyrics listed on Darklyrics for the first few albums? Did someone just pull those out of their ass? Pretty funny if they did

 

[Papa Josh]

So what are the lyrics listed on Darklyrics for the first few albums? Did someone just pull those out of their ass? Pretty funny if they did