Suffocation
Despise The Sun

THE REVIEW

This EP is the embodiment of musical perfection... imagine a band made up of five likeable fellows who debuted way back in 1991 with the good but not too well-known "Human Waste." In the same year, the group became pioneers with the seminal "Effigy The Forgotten" of a more brutal and technical Death Metal, the so-called Brutal Death Metal.

Our five fellows later tried to make the genre born from their first two albums more intricate and complex with "Breeding The Spawn" and "Pierced From Within." In 1998, our five friends released this EP, unfortunately the band's last production until the recent "Souls To Deny," a nice album but in my opinion it doesn't reach the glory of the past, remaining a simply good album, not a masterpiece like our Suffocation had accustomed us to.

The band now plays perfectly, with Frank Mullen's deep and gritty growl being remarkable, and the guitar work from the duo Doug Cerrito-Terrance Hobbs being perfect, offering an intricate yet furious riffing capable of making genre fans headbang for years. In the last track "Catatonia," we also find what I believe is one of the best solos of the genre, a lightning-fast guitar slash. Bassist Chris Richards delivers an excellent performance, following the inhuman speeds of the guitarists and alternating brutal outbursts with splendid bass breaks (Funeral Inception), while drummer Dave Culross (who also wreaks havoc in "Masticate To Dominate" by Gorgasm) offers perfect drumming, a lightning-fast blastbeat alternating with slower parts (take that with a grain of salt since we're talking about Suffocation).

The EP opens with "Funeral Inception," one of the band’s best songs in my opinion, a storm of brutality interspersed with beautiful bass breaks. It continues with "Devoid Of Truth," another amazing song. The title track is a perfect definition of a kick in the ass, and in "Bloodchurn" we find a relentless wall of sound where the work of all four musicians can be heard thanks to the EP's good and powerful production. "Catatonia" closes this work, a frightening song featuring the solo already described above.

I wonder what Suffocation could have done if they hadn't disbanded, probably another masterpiece. In the meantime, this EP is perfect and deserves the highest marks...

*I apologize if I've redone a review that’s already been made, but the allure of describing this EP was too strong.