What Do You Want On Your Tombstone?!

AUTOPSY – “The Tomb Within” CD EP’10 (Peaceville, US) – We all grow. I mean, we start as babies, then become children, evolve into teenagers (although some may blanch at teenagers being any sort of evolution!), arrive at adulthood, etc. I suppose this is a process that applies to musical genres as well as people. And, as with all of these styles and niches, death metal is something that grew over time. We saw the infant puke all over everybody when Chuck & Kam set their 2-man assault crew loose on unsuspecting dive bars in Florida during the ‘80’s. And somehow, time passed…the infant grew up and eventually ended up in a suit and tie, swishing a dry wine around in it’s mouth at a dinner party as Opeth became a prog rock band. Only an occasional hoarse vocal indicated this visitor had lineage on the other side of the tracks and…well, to be honest, it kinda made me sad. Oh, there have been some decent attempts to take out the family photo album and remember that unruly kid but today I’m a happy man because the prodigal has finally come home. One of the true originals, California’s AUTOPSY has crashed the party and my, oh my are the rich folk gonna have some cleanin’ up to do! Let me explain something to you: “The Tomb Within” is not gonna be confused with anything progressive. It’s not gonna be mistaken for anything polished and it ain’t gonna be invited back anywhere that polite company is expected. This is 5 songs of pure, unadulterated violently heavy death metal that absolutely crushes everything in it’s path. Guitarists Danny Coralles and Eric Cutler put on blood-splattered clinic here, unleashing meat hook riffs that leave bodies splayed and gutted in every direction and leads that speak of a serial-killer level of insanity. From hardcore-fast to doom-thud, every speed is accounted for as Chris Reifert (drums/vocals) and Joe Trevisano (bass) hammer out rhythms designed not to impress but to kill. See, these guys (as they did on “Severed Survival,” way back in 1989) don’t seek to impress the musos as much as they aim to make sure no one is left alive by the end to tell the tale. From the title cut straight through to “Mutant Village,” this is 20 minutes that says everything you need to know about music that is right to the edge of being nearly too heavy and vile, something Reifert’s agonized growls make perfect every time he opens his virulent pipes on this puppy. While nowhere near as long in duration as some of 2010’s other notable releases, this one may be it’s most lethal. Only Death Is Real Ray Dorsey

http://www.autopsydeathmetal.com/