AUTOPSY - Skull Grinder
December 9, 2015, 8 years ago
(Peaceville)
I love me some late-career Autopsy, as this band has come back hard and heavy, releasing a spree of quality material in the past handful of years. Here's seven more new tunes because why not, opener “Strung Up And Gutted” setting the tone in a typical Autopsy way: punk-y, near grind, but resolutely death metal, raw and underground, unapologetically so. And on it goes, tunes like the excellent “Children Of The Filth” getting into the hysterical, sludge-paced rants that the best Autopsy harnesses. “Sanity Bleeds” is more an interlude than a song, but even it rules (and 99 percent of the time, “interlude” is just code for “this sucks”, but not in Autopsy's awesome world), and moody closer “Return To Dead” does moody death metal like only this band can.
Seriously, how do I give this less than a 9.0? At 29 minutes, I can call this a full-length, not an EP, and be content with that, and these seven songs, all of which rule, all have the total unabashed spirit of pure death metal, grimy and gross, running through them, and there is just absolutely nothing to complain about, here Autopsy sounding like a bunch of 15-year-old dudes out to prove themselves to the world while also sounding totally confident and comfortable in their own disgusting, horrible, grotesque skin. And, again: amazing cover art. These dudes are on a roll. All hail Autopsy.
