---

If you talk about technical fast brutal U.S. Death Metal, you probably will start mentioning Morbid Angel, Death and Cannibal Corpse, but another band that you can't neglect is Suffocation.

Their first full length 'Effigy of the Forgotten' is still a classic in this genre. Technically high skilled, very aggressive and very fast. A formula the band still sticks to, but with more variety and more slower pieces. To me that is the biggest progress and that makes this new record interesting. Not only the fast parts, but especially the slower parts make this new album worth listening to. The riffs are very strong and the guitar soli of a devastating high tempo. The drums are perfect and sometimes so fast you wonder how he does it. Frank Mullen still has the perfect growling voice, which a death metal band needs, he is still an icon in this genre.

The best song to me is "My Demise", a groovy track with chopping riffs and variety in tempo. The production on the album is heavy, but very open too, you hear every instrument very clear. I think that this is their best album since their first two. Sure this will not have the same impact because everything has been done already, but due to more variety in tempo and some groovy riffs, this is an album every technical death metal freak should own.

Suffocation shows that it is still possible to produce one of your best albums without changing your style drastically (I hope Morbid Angel will realize that too).

---