One of the founding fathers of the death metal sound and genre with Death, Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, and Morbid Angel, Obituary released five albums between 1989-1997, and five more (with this self titled) since reforming in 2005. John (vocals) and his brother Donald Tardy (drums (1984–1997, 2003–present), with rhythm guitarist Trevor Peres are the core remaining from the classic trilogy of “Slowly We Rot” (1989), “Cause of Death” (1990), and “The End Complete” (1992) records.

With this new album in 2017, Obituary stick to what they do, and do it well. Within the ten tracks, the slower plod they excel in is present , but they also kick up the pace with bone-crushing precision and punch as in opener ‘Brave’ and ‘Sentence Day’ only clock in just over 2 minutes each. Still, attention to delivery and sonic massiveness, well placed lead work, all fit well within such a compact timeframe.
Third track in, ‘Lesson In Vengeance’ is a classic Obituary romp, John’s discernable vocal and tone sit atop the well balanced mix of the guitars, bass, and drums, allowing space for all instrumentation to be heard and for maximum impact. ‘End It Now’ is a great hybrid of both slower and fast Obituary songwriting as John really punctuates that chorus sounding brutal and wicked, as he does. ‘Kneel Before Me’ is, again, more classic Florida Death Metal (ala. Cannibal Corpse-ish); swirling riffing, tempo change to the chugging, accenting lead work, harmonizing leads, and double bass drums. This, is a masterclass in crushing death metal!
With ten tracks (only one exceeding a little over 4 minutes), and given genre it does become repetitive as it’s rare/chosen not to have variety. Yet, if not a fan of death metal but like your thrash, you can go through and pick a good half of them to enjoy. I know I do like death metal in small doses from time to time.