Obituary
Obituary

"The 10th studio album from the death metal legends is as heavy, uncompromising and infectious as anything in their historic 30 year career!"

That's what is written on the Floridian band's website; for one of the works I most eagerly anticipated in terms of good old (un)healthy Death Metal.

The Obituary, along with Death and Morbid Angel, were the founding fathers of a musical genre; they are the only ones who have managed to hold the line. Death has not existed for about fifteen years, while Morbid Angel... let's not even go there given the absolute atrocity of their last album from 2011.

But today I want to talk solely and exclusively about the "Funeral Obituary" and their tenth work, published last Friday, March 17th, and already in my possession.

Wonderful cover in its raw repulsiveness.

I put the CD into the stereo and press the Play button.

I am literally hit by the initial pairing of "Brave" and "Sentence Day"; a thrill that strikes the heart because they really sound like two tracks from their glorious past, the "The End Complete" period of 1992. John's slobbering bark holds its own against the frantic execution speed of these two authentic gunshots. Primordial Death Metal without any search: locked into their deep, dark sounds. With the continuous screams of the vocalist that damage my already battered auditory system. An explosive start that confirms for the umpteenth time the demonic skill of the band.

The damned journey continues with a series of songs of granite heaviness; they set aside speed and approach it on a physical level. Cadenced mid-tempos, that wrap you in deadly spirals as it happens in "Turned to Stone." Four infernal minutes, with the sound of the two guitars so "underground" as to instill pure and simple terror. Infinite minutes, that seem never-ending due to the suffocating presence; until the nuclear explosion at the end when all the instruments unite to create a destructive wall of sound.

I read a couple of reviews online that made me smile because they point the finger at Obituary and their musical stagnancy: "They are always the same, they never tried to change their sound, blah blah blah". I wonder why they should "change" after thirty years of a glorious career; what would be the point? I still find them a true force of nature and when it comes to blind violence, together with Napalm Death, they are unsurpassable masters...Ten Thousand Ways to Die...

Ad Maiora.