Autopsy - The Headless Ritual
It's hard to believe that, despite releasing their first album 24 years ago, Death Metal pioneers Autopsy are only now releasing their 6th full-length.
Autopsy drummer/vocalist Chris Reifert warns us in the press release for The Headless Ritual "Expect nothing less than the monstrous brutality that Autopsy has been known to offer. Laurels will not be rested upon, trends will not be followed and mercy will not be shown....", and it's clear from the outset that they mean business, and their business is mean.
Opener Slaughter At Beast House is vicious, old school death metal, reminiscent of the Autopsy of old; gutteral, phlegmy vocals with musical hints of Reifert's old band Death and their debut Scream Bloody Gore. Mangled Far Below is a surprisingly jaunty number while She Is A Funeral is a doomy 7 ½ minute death rattle-filled epic. Coffin Crawlers begins with an eerie dual guitar riff which conjures wriggly things eating your flesh, takes a left-turn into Unsane territory, then morphs into the scream-filled Autopsy we know and love. When Hammer Meets Bone begins with what sounds like Yoda being choked to death then kicks off at a reasonable pace, /i>Thorns And Ashes is a slower and more twisted melodic doom track, and Flesh Turns To Dust is a menacing dirge. Penultimate track Running From The Goathead is fast and furious and, as with the rest of the album features some tasty solos, and title track and album closer The Headless Ritual is an instrumental outro full of impending doom.
It's clear from The Headless Ritual that Autopsy couldn't give a shit about keeping up with the latest trend, what they do is brutal, old school death metal with dribbly-chopped, gutteral vocals. And they do it exceedingly well.