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Obituary - Frozen In Time


*
=Staff's pick

Redneck Stomp
On The Floor*
Insane*
Blindsided
Back Inside*
Mindset
Stand Alone*
Slow Death
Denied
Lockjaw


Genre Death Metal
John Tardy
Vocals
Tracks 10
Trevor Peres
Guitar
Runningtime 34 Min.
Allen West
Guitar
Label Roudrunner Records
Frank Watkins
Bass
Release 11 July 2005
Donald Tardy
Drums
Country USA
-
Keyboards
Similar artists ---

Death metal legends Obituary are finally back with the highly anticipated new album after the reunion that took place sometime in the beginning of 2004. The last album they released was Back From The Dead (1997). On beforehand I would not have put down a big bet on that they should have changed much since the 90's and it turned out to be a wise choice. This sounds exactly like it always have done.

After the instrumental opener Redneck Stomp, which I think sounds a bit lame, they release upon us a classic sounding, uptempo song which sounds very familiar from the first second and the tone for the album is set. The guitars, drums and the vocals sound like something in between the debut Slowly We Rot (1989) and The End Complete (1992), and the built of the songs are the same as we have got to know them: razor sharp and grinding, and very catchy with an extremely good flow. If you stand still to this on one of their live concerts you are not of the right metal breed, my friend.

The two first songs are really great and definitly among the better from the band in quite some while. The album continues in a good tempo occasionally disturbed by a few slower songs, which this time are a bit pale and non-saying. The riffs in those songs does not really bite and to be honest, I think Obituary are a bit boring when they decrease the tempo, and this time more than usual. Blindsided and Slow Death are examples of this. But for the rest, it's good old Obituary and it's a work very well done. Not much to say, really - good and catchy riffs, great flow and one of the better vocals in the scene.

The sound in general, and the guitars in particular, has a very strong Slowly We Rot and The End Complete vibe over it. The album is self-produced by the band, with Mark Prator and Scott Burns engineering, and was mastered by Tom Morris at Morrisound. It sounds familiar, as it usually does with bands that start recording in Morrisound and stick to that studio for the rest of their career.

I like their sound in general, but it could benefit from being a bit more juicy and fat and less "dry". John Tardy's vocals are really good and the guitar work is, if not brilliant, very good. Some of the stuff are really back to the roots and others are a tiny bit out of what they previously have done. It would be interesting to hear what would become if they took just a few steps outside of their beaten path for once.

Nothing breathtaking and it does not reach up to The End Complete, but it's a pretty solid album from Obituary and a justified comeback to the scene.

See also review of: Obituary , Inked In Blood

Production
Vocals
Compositions

7

8

6

 
Summary



6 chalices of 10 - Tommy

Related links:

www.obituary.cc