When you consider the glut of amazing metal releases that appeared in 2022, it seems fitting that 2023 should start with an absolute monster from Tampa Bay stalwarts Obituary. It’s been six long years since the band’s impressively focused eponymous effort and, although members have been teasing this release for some time (alluding to it in interviews as far back as 2021), patience has been the watchword. It has been worth the wait, however. One of death metal’s most consistent acts, with Dying Of Everything Obituary have carved out ten hulking great slabs of metal, and while there are few surprises on offer, it’s a hell of an album with which to start the year.
From the moment that the surprisingly sprightly Barely Alive explodes from the speakers, with not even a moment’s preamble, you can tell that Obituary are on form. With John Tardy’s distinctive vocals to the fore, the band unleash a tsunami of primitive riffing that summons the spirit of Slayer, Sepultura and the band’s own esteemed debut. As album openers go, it’s an impressively forthright entrance, grabbing the listener by the shoulders and screaming straight into their upturned face. The Wrong Time makes good on this initial promise, the band simply bowing their heads and unleashing a mid-paced chugathon to which it is impossible not to headbang. More effective still is Without Conscience, a track that adopts a considerable groove, steamrolling over everything in its path with ruthless efficiency. As titles go, War is rather direct and the track itself is no less so, although it’s Ken Andrews’ dizzying leads that really stand out here. Then we’re into the buzzsaw brutality of Dying Of Everything, a gruelling masterclass in primal death metal, delivered with grotesque glee by a band clearly having a blast in the studio.
With the first half of the album having simply flattened the opposition, Obituary are on a roll as they plough into the mid-tempo nightmare that is My Will To Live. As with Without Conscience, the band hit one hell of a groove and, for all its weight, the track feels surprisingly catchy as a result. The band bring everything to a halt with the doom laden By The Dawn, which sees the introductory riffs hang quivering in the air, only for another scything riff to cut through the atmosphere and drive the album forward once more. There’s no such build up with Weaponize The Hate, an unstoppable onslaught that rips from the speakers, the band occasionally slowing the pace, simply to allow an even heavier riff to come into play. They follow it with another belter – Torn Apart, which maintains the momentum and offers even fewer concessions to those worried about the state of their neck muscles. A swirling collection of ever-more-brutal riffs, it’s a mini masterclass in death metal. It leaves Be Warned to round things out. Soaked in a dank, horrific atmosphere, it’s a slow-paced finale which veers into sludge territory, the oppressive riffs proving suffocating as the oxygen slowly bleeds from the room. It’s a stunningly visceral conclusion to an album that steadfastly refuses to let up, and it leaves the listener in no doubt as to who are the masters when it comes to primal death metal.
With Obituary, you pretty much know what you’re going to get. The band have never let their fans down, largely because they’re still the same goofy kids who recorded Slowly We Rot back in 1989. It’s that enthusiasm, as much as anything else, that keeps listeners coming back and, in Dying Of Everything, the band have produced a compellingly heavy album that makes for a suitably sinus-cleansing start to the year. 9/10
