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OBITUARY
Dying Of Everything

Relapse (2023)
Rating: 8/10

It’s hard to believe that the last Obituary slab hit us on the head way back in 2017, and just like their line-up, the Floridian death metal monsters has remained stable although not dazzling with its last batch of releases.

Even so, the drop of a new Obituary album always gets the butterflies swishing around the innards, probably more as a nostalgia thing. After all, I still get a buzz when I look at my vinyl copies of Slowly We Rot (1989) and Cause Of Death (1990). It’s difficult to explain just how much of a jolt to the system these albums caused when they originally emerged and those feelings will never be replicated, but as is always the case another Obituary release is welcomed.

Dying Of Everything comes armed with ten tracks, all of which are solid enough numbers driven by those chunky, buzz-laden riffs. At the helm of this ship of swamp ghouls, John Tardy remains inimitable in his style as his gravelled, throat-shredding gasps squirm between pulverising percussive hammers.

After a handful of listens it is the title track which clogs the arteries most, the band almost adopting an aggressive thrash tone with their remarkable dynamics where solos infiltrate those fleshy rolling riffs which often, and effortlessly, resort to a slower, doomier slog through those swollen, fetid mires.

Us die-hard fans know that those early albums are matchless, unrivalled heaps of juggernaut death metal, but the guys have remained consistent with their battering and they must be respected for such tasks of terror. Opener ‘Barely Alive’ scrapes us with its semi-thrash stylings, ‘War’ – complete with disturbing sound effects – is raucous and ravaging, while ‘The Wrong Time’ builds to a slower dread. But what really strikes home here is the simplicity of it all; a devastating, crushing power that consumes the listener by way of those buzzing riffs.

Forget technicality, Obituary were never here for such showmanship, instead they construct flesh monoliths of swamp blubber and fat in order to maintain the upkeep of what are essentially groove-based compositions. Bassist Terry Butler remains an immense presence throughout the record, and his bone-cracking style enables tracks such as ‘My Will To Live’ and ‘By The Dawn’ to flow like oozing streams of congealed goo.

You can pick any track out of this imposing record and you’ll find much to savour, and as the rubble is cleared away from another apocalyptic attack, Obituary remains alongside the algae and the insects as a mainstay and constant reminder of their prehistoric value.

Dying Of Everything is another Obituary album that does exactly what you’d expect and you’ve just got to still love them for it.

Neil Arnold

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