Obituary - Cause Of Death
1990 Roadrunner

Track Listing:
1.  Infected
2.  Body Bag
3.  Chopped In Half
4.  Circle Of The Tyrants
5.  Dying
6.  Find The Arise
7.  Cause Of Death
8.  Memories Remain
9.  Turned Inside Out

Line-Up:
Vocals:  John Tardy
Guitars:  Trevor Peres, James Murphy
Bass:  Frank Watkins
Drums:  Donald Tardy

Website:  www.obituary.tk

Horatio's Rating:  B
Average Rating:  B

Also be sure to read:
Obituary - Back From The Dead by Horatio
Cancer - Death Shall Rise by Shev (James Murphy)
Death - Spiritual Healing by Horatio (James Murphy)
Death Metal's Greatest Hits by Horatio

Horatio's Review:
Before the unabashed boredom of 'World Demise' and 'Back From The Dead', Obituary certainly were one of the guiding lights of the Florida death metal scene, a scene so rude that fourteen years later it seems too good to be true.  1989 and '90 saw the breaking out of Obituary, Morbid Angel, Deicide and Cannibal Corpse, the one time 'big four' of the death metal circuit, into the metal mainstream, popularizing Scott Burns and Morrisound Studios into the metal world's consciousness, a tight knit community of four.  Obituary's debut 'Slowly We Rot' apparently rose above the general glut of death metal losers, I say 'apparently' as I haven't heard the album since 1997, minus the title cut which appears on a CD I own called 'Death Metal's Greatest Hits'.  Come to think of it, I haven't heard this since 1997 either.

Obituary had a knack for being incredibly slow, mainly in their later albums, this competently fast on average.  Tardy had one of the genre's most recognizable vocal styles, even more ludicrous than Glenn Benton or Chris Barnes.  This was also Watkins' and Murphy's debut, replacing Allen West and Davis Tucker.  As a comparison it's amazing how close this sounds to Napalm Death's 'Harmony Corruption', which of course was produced by Scott Burns also.  This has stood the test of time, 'Chopped In Half' in particular, a bona fide classic.  An abundance of meaty riffs and crude drumming are contained within, even the cover of Celtic Frost's 'Circle Of The Tyrants' is well handled.  As classic as this is in death metal circles it's more noteworthy to me for the images it brings to mind.  Namely the back cover.  Five young guys with long hair, tight blue jeans and obligatory metal shirts looking tough, but failing miserably.  That means Frank Watkins.  It reminds me of the stiffs who used to feature in the demo section of Metal Forces.  Mind you, I looked just as tragic in 1995 when I was digging this, five years after the fact.  As an aside Max Cavalera claimed Obituary ripped off the cover work for 'Arise' and used it for themselves on 'Cause'.  No harm done, both covers are terrific garbage.

Song summaries include...

1. Infected - Opening with some industrial noises, it could be Ministry or Godflesh, the latter whom Watkins proudly sports on his long sleeved black shirt.  Maybe that's Peres, who knows.  Takes off at the 2.15 mark, a solid wall of noise.  Effective death metal, far ahead of the amateurs who populated the scene.  Strange how you can separate the good from the bad so easily in death metal.  B+
2. Body Bag - Without a lyric sheet it could be said John Tardy is improvising the lyrics as he goes, saying 'dead' every now and then as well as the chorus.  Another relevant thrasher anyway.  I wonder what John does for a living these days. Investment banker?  I suspect a decent sum of ex-death metal band members can easily be located at the unemployment offices in Brandon, FL.  You go down there to sign up, see a dude, late thirties, early forties, balding, tight black jeans and white trainers and laugh at him only to realize you've bumped into Trey Azagthoth.  B
3. Chopped In Half - Tight riffing abounds in stop/start fashion, with a hook that's as melodic as any big league thrash band from the time.  That's why Obituary succeeded, they could mix melody and death metal heaviness the same way Slayer and Megadeth did with traditional thrash.  Outsiders would scoff, like this geek Martin Strong who wrote the metal encyclopedia I'm using for track listing purposes.  B+
4. Circle Of The Tyrants - One thing every band did in this period was thank two thousand people in the liner notes, Obituary no exception.  Thus familiar and stale names are spotted, like hanger on's Borijov Krigin, Phil Alexander, Don Kaye and Paul Elliot.  Then every notable thrash and death metal act is thanked, the reproduction of which here would be senseless.  B
5. Dying - Takes a while to find its momentum, basically an instrumental with Tardy sneering 'Dying' every now and again.  C
6. Find The Arise - I often sit back and wonder what finding the arise consists of.  Maybe Sepultura's art cover?  An inside jab?  Max and Sepultura are first on the thanks list.  What else do you want me to say man?  Another seamless piece of death metal expertise?  B
7. Cause Of Death - Bargain basement graveyard riffs to start, the type of which were heard in arcade classic 'Ghosts 'N' Goblins'.  This one drags heavily until a burst of speed with ten seconds left.  C
8. Memories Remain - That's a rather thoughtful and insightful title is it not?  Obituary go the ballad direction.  Tardy reminds me of one of those depressed youths who might have attempted suicide like the Judas Priest freak who blew his face off.  C
9. Turned Inside Out - I rarely listen to death metal anymore, only for purposes like this.  Back in '95 I was an addict, blaring this day in and out, annoying people in college lectures sitting in front of me with the volume turned up as loud as possible.  This was good for something then.  B

Horatio's Rating:  B

Discography (last updated 12.7.05):
Slowly We Rot - 1989
Cause Of Death - 1990
The End Complete - 1992
Don't Care EP - 1994
World Demise - 1994
Back From The Dead - 1997
Dead - 1998
Anthology - 2001
Frozen In Time - 2005