AUTOPSY – “THE TOMB WITHIN E.P”
PEACEVILLE (2010)
When asked whether there would ever be an Autopsy reunion back in May 2004, guitarist and founding member Danny Coralles provided a fairly negative response. Among the reasons for not re-activating the legendary Californian Death Metal combo was a lack of interest on the part of the people and the music industry, as well as Chris Reifert’s (drums/vocals) decision to further invest in his hardcore punk influenced Death Metal quartet Abscess. Six years after these comments were made, Abscess are now defunct and Autopsy have finally released their first effort in eighteen years – a five track EP entitled “The Tomb Within”.
I have to be honest with you, I have such a love for this band that I actually pre-ordered this EP without having listened to a single note in advance. I mean, Autopsy are not like Dream Theater or Queensryche – bands that are capable of changing musical direction between each album faster than you can blink your eyes, still I was fairly nervous when I finally held the promo copy of this EP for the first time in my hands. Has the band managed to retain its unique sound and style – a style that has been as much influenced by Slayer as by Celtic Frost? Well, ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you one very important thing; Autopsy’s is NOT the typical reunion whose sole purpose it to help them make some fast cash and then quickly fall back into obscurity! These guys are back with a vengeance and there are many examples to prove my argument throughout this five track release!
The first track , namely, “The Tomb Within”, is a typical Autopsy composition, in the sense that it combines simple, fast-paced punk-sounding riffs with brutal throaty vocals, featuring numerous Slayeric guitar solos, similar to those which helped the band’s debut “Severed Survival” acquire the cult status it has been enjoying these last twenty two years! My favourite track of this album is without any shadow of a doubt “ My Corpse Shall Rise” – a four minute rhythmical beast which displays some of Reifert’s most brutal vocals to date. The riffs here are amongst the most simplistic and memorable ever recorded by this band and the refrain is not only skull crushingly heavy but also highly addictive. In “Seven Skulls”, you have another mid-tempo rhythmical beast, simply crafted and depending much on Danny Coralles’s leads for effect and atmosphere, competing in speed and aggression with its predecessor “Human Genocide” – another fine gem! My hopes of this release including a slow and heavy composition were answered by “Mutant Village” – a five minute opus which operates on a mournful Celtic Frost-influenced Doom riff, enabling Reifert to provide the listener with one of his most impressive performances in recent years and this EP with an overwhelmingly impressive ending!
When I first started listening to this impressive EP, the first thought that came to mind was why the hell did Autopsy decide to call it a day in the first place, but the answer to that is pretty much known through the various interviews given by the members of the band over the last eighteen or so years. Maybe the metal community was not ready to embrace a band whose musical affiliations to Thrash were as strong and important as those to Punk and Death Metal. Is now the right time for these four Californians? I certainly hope so, as I, for one, wish to hear more releases from these legends, the first being their scheduled for 2011 studio album “Macabre Eternal” – an album that cannot come out soon enough!
John Stefanis
Rating: ****1/2 (4.5/5.0)
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