I still remember that I never was a big fan of the band Obituary in their early
years when they delivered albums like 'Slowly We Rot' and 'Cause of Death'. I
found it a bit too simple and with too many repetitions. Last Summer I went to
the Stonehenge festival in Steenwijk and the headliner was Obituary. After that
great performance they convinced me that rather simple repeating music can be
just what is needed. I will never be a fan of AC/DC, Motorhead or Status Quo,
bands that in my view all have been playing the same songs only with other lyrics for a
century, but Obituary is something else.
The groove, the almost addicted influence of the refrains, the drums that always
seem to be just a tenth of a second too late and on top of that the low tuned
guitar riffs make this band charming. The vocals of John Tardy perhaps sound a
little less low, but are still very convincing and aggressive. The first song "Centuries
of Lies" is a very fast one for a band like Obituary, which are known for
the slower and mid tempo riffing. "Violent by Nature" is more mid-tempo and
indeed with the typical groove and low riffs in Celtic Frost style. On the
entire album the double bass drums of Donald Tardy have a rather prominent role
and that keeps the songs going. "Pain Inside" is one of the slowest tracks and
due to the slow tempo for me the weakest one on the album. The next track "Visions
in My Head" is my favorite track, it has a nice riff, a contagious drum pattern
and for an Obituary song quite some variation. "Violence" is a rather short
up-tempo song, which I also like very much. After that slower and faster songs
alternate eachother and show that they haven't changed a lot since their 'Slowly
We Rot' release. Maybe it is my age, but their early albums didn't do anything
with me, but this new album has me hooked so perhaps I will start listening to
their first albums also, just to find out whether or not they can convince me after all
of those
years.
Fans of the band know wat to do!
