Think back to that first terrifying moment... that first moment that truly defined what it is to experience real fear, discomfort, and terror. Whatever it is that you conjure up from the deepest, darkest recesses of your mind, it's more than likely intrinsically linked to a traumatic experience. In fact, the amount that can be recalled about a specific experience is directly proportionate to the intensity of the event itself. If asked, the average person might recall their first truly scary movie, or perhaps that first horrific visit to the mall to sit on creepy Santa's lap. Other (less fortunate) people might recall minutiae details of a particular nasty accident or act of violence - and then there are us metalheads. As a breed wholly different from the norm, we might recall the haunting intros and prologues to favorite songs such as Black Sabbath's "Black Sabbath", Deep Purple's "Child In Time", Slayer's "South Of Heaven", anything by Mortician, and, last but not least, Obituary's classic "Slowly We Rot". The latter was certainly the first song that permeated my very soul with its eerie, skulking chord progressions. Even to this day, the song never fails to make the finest of hairs on the back of my neck stand erect like the horns a top Satan's regal head. It's quite astounding, from both a psychological and physiological perspective, that I can recall those very same emotions experienced some twenty five years ago. If 'Slowly We Rot' wasn't enough to scare the beejezus out of you too, well, Obituary are back to give it a good ol' death metal try with their ninth, and latest, studio album, entitled Inked In Blood. Perhaps not quite as frightening as the Slowly We Rot namesake, but certainly scary in its own right. What it lacks in those ominous chord progressions it more than makes up for in pulverizing, violent, cranium-bludgeoning old school death metal riffing; and, that in itself can be more horrifying than the spookiest of spine-chillers to have ever hit the big screen. For those that have followed the vexing, contorted musical path of these legendary Floridians, you would be forgiven if you assessed this latest tour de force as being straight outta the early 90's. This could have been, and perhaps should have been, the logical follow-up to 1992's The End Complete. Songs such as "Visions In My Head", "Deny You", and "Out Of Blood" would shuffle comfortably alongside "Back To One", "Killing Time", and "Rotting Ways".  Just as the entire world watched in horror as a lone man stood in front of a column of unrelenting tanks in Tiananmen Square on the morning of June 4th, 1989, Inked In Blood will surely instill similar, terrifying memories.