Slowly We Rot

Obituary are considered to be one of the pioneers of the death metal genre (along with Death, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and Deicide), and also one of the greatest death metal bands ever as well. Their debut release from 1989, entitled "Slowly We Rot" is a pure, original vintage death metal classic. I mean, seriously, what can be said about this album? I just absolutely love it. This was one of those albums that I would just listen to constantly almost on a every day basis when I first bought it back in 2003 when I was first getting into Obituary, and it's been one of my favorite death metal albums in my collection ever since. On "Slowly We Rot", Obituary relentlessly lays down a mixture of aggressive thrash and thunderous death metal brutality on twelve relentlessly brutal and evil, morbidly sounding, gore-soaked tracks filled with sick, deadly, torturing, demonic and inhuman vocals, furiously grinding, snarling, blistering riffs and vicious, chaotic solos, nasty, pounding, thundering drums and a very raw and mean-as-hell sound and production topping it all off. The band takes influences ranging from Celtic Frost, Slayer, Venom, Possessed, early Metallica, Bathory, Hellhammer, and Scream Bloody Gore-era Death and blend them all in to make their own original sound. Speaking of vocals, the vocals of mainman John Tardy are certainly some of the most sickest and demonic sounding that I've ever heard. With a mixture of harsh, thrash-esque screaming and yells and sickened, guttural death roars and sounds, and horrified-like sounding shrieks, John's vocals are absolutely evil and scary enough to scare an emo kid almost half to death. This guy is easily one of the best vocalists in death metal, no questions asked. Meanwhile, you have the guitar combo of Trevor Peres and Allen West whom both can go from heavy, slow and sludgy sounding riffing to blisteringly fast thrash picking, and not to also mention, Allen is an excellent lead shredder who rips out plenty of lightning quick, chaotic, shredding and ripping solos as well. I must have to say that the band's guitar sound and the riffs on this album here are most definitely influenced by Celtic Frost, and the soloing here are influenced by Slayer and early Metallica as well. The drumming courtesy of Donald Tardy (John's brother BTW) also stands out here too as he just relentlessly pounds his way with his thundering and pulse pounding beats, killer fills, blistering double bass patterns, crushing cymbals and everything else in between.First up, we have the classic opener, "Internal Bleeding" which first starts off with a cool, creepy, doomish intro, and then Donald Tardy's drums immediately slam in, and then John Tardy's evil and torturous vocals come into play, "EEEEUUUURRGGHHHHHH"! Absolutely killer to the max! The riff work of Allen West and Trevor Peres is also very killer throughout as well too, pretty much mid-paced for the most part, but it does tend to speed up in spots too, and Allen also tacks on a wicked, killer shredding solo for good measure as well. Definitely one of my favorites on here. Track two, "Godly Beings" is a short and sweet number (clocking in at 1 minute and 55 seconds) but still packs a fast and furious punch with blistering fast, grinding and blazing riffing, fuzzy bass and nasty, violent, pounding thuds and some disturbingly sick and awesome vocals from John, plus there's another awesome, shredding solo by Allen also being featured here as well too. Following that, we have "'Til Death" which begins with an awesome, doom-ish intro with John's hellish vocals soon kicking in, and then Peres and West both kick it in high gear with their blazing fast and thrashy, grinding, seething riffs, and Donald beats away with his raw, nasty, pounding skins up until around the 1:20 mark when the song segues into a more slower, mid/paced territory with more slower, sludgy and filthy, crushing riffage, and there's also another sweet, wicked cool solo being thrown in, and John's vocals are just absolutely wicked sick throughout this song as well. Another great song here. The album's title track, "Slowly We Rot" is my personal favorite track here that starts with another awesome doom-ish sounding riff with a sound of a church bell being included before thrusting into a straight ahead, blazing, punishing assault of pounding, stomping, headbanging-worthy drumming (with some great double bass included), heavy, fast, snarling riffage and wailing, shredding soloing, and maniacally angry screams and yells throughout to boot.Track five, "Immortal Visions" meanwhile is another excellent shredder that boasts some brilliantly executed time changes, along with more excellent riffing and mean, raw, thundering double bass drums and rumbling bass lines throughout, plus West also tacks on yet another wicked, killer, ripping solo for good measure, and elsewhere, we have track six, "Gates to Hell" which is yet another brutal and maniacally fast speedster that doesn't hardly let up with it's sick and ruthless assault of fast, blistering, snarling, grinding, thrash-induced riffing and chaotic, ripping, blazing soloing, plus plenty of savagely energetic, thumping and pounding double bass drumming from Donald, and John's beastly screams and yells not to also mention are just savage and aggressive throughout this song too. Just absolutely insane. Next, we have "Words of Evil" which is another nice, short little speedster that is anchored by more fast, blazing, grinding, thrash picking and chaotic lead work, and insanely pounding, headbanging skins being peppered throughout, and there's also a killer little outro as well, meanwhile, the eighth cut, "Suffocation" is also yet another killer song here that is highlighted by great, catchy vocal lines from John especially in the beginning of the song, plus this song is also filled with more excellent riffing and drumming throughout, as well as more of Allen's killer, blazing, shredding solo work to boot as well. Following that, we have "Intoxicated" which is another one of my favorites that kicks off with a drumroll and then the guitars and drums come blazing in with more deadly, blistering riffing and pounding drums abound, and there's also a real killer breakdown with a really wicked cool groove riff also being included, plus Allen continues to display his awesome lead shredding skills with more of his awesomely killer, ripping and shredding soloing here, and I also love the riffs near the end of the song as well.Moving forward, track ten, "Deadly Intentions" is highlighted by some really wicked cool belts and creepy screams and roars from John throughout, along with more awesome riff work (including a great, catchy opening riff in the beginning), and yet another creepy, blazing, speaker-shredding solo from Allen as well, and elsewhere, the album's final two cuts, "Bloodsoaked" and "Stinkupuss" both end the original track line-up with more of the same quality material that is present here on the album. The former mentioned cut, "Bloodsoaked" is just filled with a slew of slowly evil, brutal and heavy riffing (Be sure to check out that sick main riff as well too) and sick, chilling, morbid, demonic vocals throughout, plus another great solo is also tacked on for good measure, and then, the latter track, "Stinkupuss" features yet more amazing riffing and killer soloing, great drumming and awesome, killer vocal deliveries all around throughout. Great stuff. For an added bonus, we're treated to two bonus demo tracks, "Find the Arise" and "Like the Dead" both which are very well produced and super awesome tracks that are definitely worth the listen I might add as well.All in all, "Slowly We Rot" is an excellent example of what a classic old school death metal album is. It is harsh, brutal, heavy, nail biting, and it just tears right into you like a sharp knife through butter, and on top of all that, it sounds really cool. And yes, even though Obituary would go on to top this album with their classic 1990 sophomore effort, "Cause of Death" (the band's best effort to date), but this album is no doubt still a winner in my book. You won't hear nothing but pure, heavy, original old school death metal on this album, and I strongly recommend "Slowly We Rot" to any fan of old school classic death metal and Obituary fans alike. For other classic old school death metal bands, I also recommend checking out Autopsy, Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Pestilence, Cancer, early Death and early Gorguts. HORNS UP!!! \m/ \m/Jeremy

Arrived in perfect condition. Cover art has a slight blur to it but otherwise nice packaging.The pressing is outstanding. Record is flat, has great dynamics and zero pops or clicks.I've only had this on cassette and cd so can't compare to other vinyl pressings but I think this would be hard to beat sound wise.Highly recommended!

A classic album, was looking to own it for a long time and finally did, should be on any death metal fan collection.Album is heavy and brutal, not anyone will like Tardy's vocals type but i do.Album gives the atmosphere of a rotten, stink and dirty sound, and it is what you need for a headbang journey.Artwork is amazing, gives the atmosphere of what becoming next when you play the album, no mercy.One of the best old school death metal albums, any extreme fan should own it.

Haven’t heard this one in decades. Classic death metal. Decent sound quality. I was glad to be able to get this on vinyl.

if you love metal and haven't heard this, change that instantly

Slowly We Rot is an all time classic. Some folks take issue with it because of the vocals. To them I say at least he's unique. The dude doesn't sound like Cookie Monster. He isn't trying to be Frank Mullen. Sure, he sounds a bit like Grover but "Near and Far" rocks. Plus, musically the album is damned solid. It's one of the few I regret owning on vinyl though. That's because it has the worst cover art of anything I own, including Vanilla Ice albums.

After over 15 years since I last heard their music, I decided to pick up this CD. It is the ultimate in true death metal. I don't even listen to this type of music any more, but I listen to this CD. For anyone new to the genre; don't start here... you will be dissapointed in anything else you listen to in the genre from here on out.

Are sounding press! A must have !!