In case CowboyNumbers feels like making another protest thread, I am well aware that a certain metal singer and TV "star" with a notable metal festival named after him fits into this letter, but fuck him.
Obituary is considered one of the Big Four of Florida Death metal, along with Death, Deicide and Morbid Angel, who have already been covered in previous threads. On my personal list, they're in my Top 11 all-time favorites, and my second favorite death metal band (behind Death).
Formed in 1985 as Xecutioner, they recorded a couple demo songs which were published on label compilations before recording a full length album, at which point they changed their name to Obituary. Slowly We Rot came out in 1989, showcasing their version of death metal (which was gaining a foothold thanks to Death's first two releases prior to this, as well as Morbid Angel's debut which came out at the same time) built around a good mix of both fast and slow songs, plus John Tardy's unique growling vocal ability. Though not as good as their future releases IMO, it's still a worthwhile album to check out for death metal fans.
(Internal Bleeding) - from Slowly We Rot
(Til Death) - ibid
(Slowly We Rot) - ibid
One year later the band would release Cause of Death, a classic in the truest sense of the word, cited along with Leprosy and Altars of Madness for setting the foundation of all death metal to come. The hardest part about this one was deciding which three songs to pick as a representative sample.
(Chopped in Half) - from Cause of Death
(Cause of Death) - ibid
(Turned Inside Out) - ibid
1992 would see Obituary continue producing their greatness with the release of The End Complete. Nielsen Soundscan ratings place this as the fourth-best selling death metal album ever. While the Soundscan ratings aren't entirely reliable (DM albums are more likely to be sold outside of big chain stores that track for NSS) or representative (NSS only accounts for American and Canadian sales), that's still an impressive feat.
(Im in Pain) - from The End Complete
(Back to One) - ibid
(Sickness) - ibid
Two years later Obituary would adopt a mild groove influence into their work and release World Demise, accompanied by a video for the song "Don't Care" which helped garner them extra attention with a couple airings during HBB's twilight year.
(Dont Care) - from World Demise
(Solid State) - ibid
(Final Thoughts) - ibid
By this point internal struggles were beginning to show in the band. They were able to manage one final release, 1997's Back from the Dead, before the turmoil caused the band to separate.
(Threatening Skies) - from Back from the Dead
(By the Light) - ibid
After BFTD, Obituary disbanded and their members went on to other projects: Allen West, who had already been working on the side in Six Feet Under, would go concentrate on that band, Don Tardy would play as a session/touring drummer for Andrew WK, Trevor Peres would form another band called Catastrophic, and John Tardy would get a job in computer networking.
After a seven year hiatus, Obituary reformed in 2004 and released Frozen in Time the next year, a decent album that received lukewarm reception from metal fans. After FIT, Allen West's alcoholic problems, a recurring issue over the years, resulting in him leaving the band, rejoining the band, and finally getting the ax from the band after being arrested and sentenced to prison for a DUI. On the music side, the rest of the band appeared to have handled that quite well, as they would release Xecutioner's Return, a return to form that IMO easily fits in with their earlier work.
(Evil Ways) - from Xecutioner's Return
(Drop Dead) - ibid
(Contrast the Dead) - ibid
Darkest Day, their most recent release, came out last month. A slight step down from XR, but a recommended pickup nonetheless.
(Blood to Give) - from Darkest Day
(Lost Inside) - ibid
Obituary is considered one of the Big Four of Florida Death metal, along with Death, Deicide and Morbid Angel, who have already been covered in previous threads. On my personal list, they're in my Top 11 all-time favorites, and my second favorite death metal band (behind Death).
Formed in 1985 as Xecutioner, they recorded a couple demo songs which were published on label compilations before recording a full length album, at which point they changed their name to Obituary. Slowly We Rot came out in 1989, showcasing their version of death metal (which was gaining a foothold thanks to Death's first two releases prior to this, as well as Morbid Angel's debut which came out at the same time) built around a good mix of both fast and slow songs, plus John Tardy's unique growling vocal ability. Though not as good as their future releases IMO, it's still a worthwhile album to check out for death metal fans.
(Internal Bleeding) - from Slowly We Rot
(Til Death) - ibid
(Slowly We Rot) - ibid
One year later the band would release Cause of Death, a classic in the truest sense of the word, cited along with Leprosy and Altars of Madness for setting the foundation of all death metal to come. The hardest part about this one was deciding which three songs to pick as a representative sample.
(Chopped in Half) - from Cause of Death
(Cause of Death) - ibid
(Turned Inside Out) - ibid
1992 would see Obituary continue producing their greatness with the release of The End Complete. Nielsen Soundscan ratings place this as the fourth-best selling death metal album ever. While the Soundscan ratings aren't entirely reliable (DM albums are more likely to be sold outside of big chain stores that track for NSS) or representative (NSS only accounts for American and Canadian sales), that's still an impressive feat.
(Im in Pain) - from The End Complete
(Back to One) - ibid
(Sickness) - ibid
Two years later Obituary would adopt a mild groove influence into their work and release World Demise, accompanied by a video for the song "Don't Care" which helped garner them extra attention with a couple airings during HBB's twilight year.
(Dont Care) - from World Demise
(Solid State) - ibid
(Final Thoughts) - ibid
By this point internal struggles were beginning to show in the band. They were able to manage one final release, 1997's Back from the Dead, before the turmoil caused the band to separate.
(Threatening Skies) - from Back from the Dead
(By the Light) - ibid
After BFTD, Obituary disbanded and their members went on to other projects: Allen West, who had already been working on the side in Six Feet Under, would go concentrate on that band, Don Tardy would play as a session/touring drummer for Andrew WK, Trevor Peres would form another band called Catastrophic, and John Tardy would get a job in computer networking.
After a seven year hiatus, Obituary reformed in 2004 and released Frozen in Time the next year, a decent album that received lukewarm reception from metal fans. After FIT, Allen West's alcoholic problems, a recurring issue over the years, resulting in him leaving the band, rejoining the band, and finally getting the ax from the band after being arrested and sentenced to prison for a DUI. On the music side, the rest of the band appeared to have handled that quite well, as they would release Xecutioner's Return, a return to form that IMO easily fits in with their earlier work.
(Evil Ways) - from Xecutioner's Return
(Drop Dead) - ibid
(Contrast the Dead) - ibid
Darkest Day, their most recent release, came out last month. A slight step down from XR, but a recommended pickup nonetheless.
(Blood to Give) - from Darkest Day
(Lost Inside) - ibid
