Classic death metal No. 1 - Obituary: Cause of death

buck65

Every few weeks or when the notion hits me I would like to highlight an album that to me was a seminal work in death metal.
First off Cause of death by Obituary. Slowly we Rot was a great record but it was only with this release that Obituary truly stood out as something unique. Maybe it was the addition of James Murphy on guitar? John Tardy's vocals are simply stunning and sound like the devil chewing a wasp! The production has been criticised in some reviews but to me the guitars positively shred.
The music itself ranges from slow doom like tempos to breakneck thrashing with great variation throughout. The albums high point is the opener "Infected", "Chopped in Half" and the Celtic Frost cover "Circle of the Tyrants".
At once brutal but somehow accessible Cause of Death is an essential album and a must have from the canon of death metal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFQzs3Dfdzs&feature=related

what d'yall think?

Schism

I'm not a huge follower of death metal myself but I'm looking to get into it, this thread could be a good place to start.

buck65 wrote:

John Tardy's vocals are simply stunning and sound like the devil chewig a wasp!

Love that description :pac:

fobster

Haven't given it a listen in awhile but I think the demo version of Find the Arise is better than the version on Cause of Death, the rain and thunder intro on the demo works better than using it as an outro which is done on the album version.

But yea good record.

GhostInTheRuins

I have to admit I was never a fan of John Tardy's vocals but Cause of Death is a great album none the less.

Doctor J

Great, great album. Murphy's melodic playing really shone against the brutality of the riffing. Best thing they ever did.

finbarr

Great album and I do indeed reckon that James Murphy being there played a big part in that... That fella is one of the greatest metal guitarists of all time.

I also have a soft spot for The End Complete by Obituary too. Don't really pay too much attention to their newer stuff though.

ShawnRaven

Love this album, but for some reason, i had preference to Slowly We Rot at the time.
Must compare them later and see how well they aged.

superdog

Hi folks,

I've been a lurker on this forum for a wee while!

Cause of Death - absolutely brilliant album, love it.
Loved slowly we rot too, and the end complete is good.

Didn't take to Obituary's later stuff!

endasmail

love obituary ,early stuff brilliant ,i think new album is excellent ,nearly as good as the end complete

Prezatch

One of my favourite all time albums too, john tardy is the man.

sub-x

Question here is the OP saying it is the number 1 death metal album,or just number 1 in a list ???

Doctor J

This is part one of a series.

zenmonk

Great record where is part 2?

Vim Fuego

Cranked this out yesterday thanks to this thread. You're right, it is an absolute belter. 'The Celtic Frost cover always gets me going. Have a long drive tonight so I'll be spinning it again soon I suspect.

nacho libre

Doctor J wrote: »

Great, great album. Murphy's melodic playing really shone against the brutality of the riffing. Best thing they ever did.

Agreed. I love his playing on Death's Spiritual Healing album too.