BIOGRAPHY
Possessed and Death may have brought death metal to life, but Obituary brought it to fruition. After releasing some demos as Xecutioner as far back as 1986, the five-man band debuted as Obituary on Roadrunner Records in 1989 with Slowly We Rot, and in a word, the album was landmark. The previous forays into what would quickly become tagged as death metal — primarily by the above-mentioned bands, Possessed and Death, along with grindcore innovators Repulsion and Napalm Death — were exercises in relentlessness. These bands took the breakneck abandon of Slayer's Reign in Blood one step further, to the point of sheer, sometimes even ridiculous musical abandon. Obituary, on the other hand, varied their tempo considerably — and did so at the absolute height of speed metal nonetheless. Yes, the band could play at breakneck speed, but within the same song, guitarists Allen West and Trevor Peres could slow the tempo down to dirge-like levels in a moment's notice, all the while keeping the music as heavy as hell thanks to down-tuned guitars and the snarling vocals of John Tardy. As a result, Slowly We Rot made quite a splash back in 1989, influencing an entire legion of death metal bands in Florida: Morbid Angel, Deicide, Malevolent Creation, Cannibal Corpse, and numerous others now forgotten among the thousands of international bands that followed. In a way, Slowly We Rot was the prototypical death metal album, establishing a template that would come to define the style (one that is distinct from grindcore or black metal, it should be pointed out). A few albums followed — Cause of Death (1990) and The End Complete (1992) both also very influential — but by the mid-'90s Obituary had run its course and the band splintered, reuniting now and then. Yet even as the bandmembers went their seperate ways (most notably West going on to much success as the guitarist of Six Feet Under), Obituary continued to stand tall as one of the definitive death metal bands, if not the definitive (a distinction that probably goes to Death, whose James Murphy actually was a bandmember for a while).
| CURRENT LINE-UP: | |||
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John Tardy - Vocals FORMER MEMBERS: James Murphy - Guitar (1989-1992) (Cancer, Death, Disincarnate, Testament, Konkhra, Explorers Club) |
DISCOGRAPHY
Slowly We Rot (1989)
1.)Internal Bleeding
2.)Godly Beings
3.)Til' Death
4.)Slowly We Rot
5.)Immortal Visions
6.)Gates To Hell
7.)Words Of Evil
8.)Suffocation
9.)Intoxicated
10.)Deadly Intentions
11.)Bloodsoaked
12.)Stinkupuss
Bonus Tracks on re-master:
13.)Find The Arise (Demo)
14.)Like The Dead (Demo)
Cause Of Death (1990)
1.)Infected
2.)Boddy 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
Bonus Tracks on re-master:
10.)Infected (Demo)
11.)Memories Remain (Demo)
12.)Chopped In Half (Demo)
Note:
Features James Murphy on lead guitar as Allen West had temporairly quit the band at this point. This is also Frank Watkins first album with the band. "Circle Of The Tyrants" is a Celtic Frost cover.
The End Complete (1992)
1.)I'm In Pain
2.)Back To One
3.)Dead Silence
4.)In The End Of Life
5.)Sickness
6.)Corrosive
7.)Killing Time
8.)The End Complete
9.)Rotting Ways
Bonus tracks on re-master:
10.)I'm In Pain (Live)
11.)Killing Time (Live)
Note:
There is a video for "The End Complete".
Don't Care EP (1994)
1.)Don't Care
2.)Solid State
3.)Killing Victims Found
World Demise (1994)
1.)Don't Care
2.)World Demise
3.)Burned In
4.)Redefine
5.)Paralyzing
6.)Lost
7.)Solid State
8.)Splattered
9.)Final Thoughts
10.)Boiling Point
11.)Set In Stone
12.)Kill For Me
Bonus tracks on re-master:
13.)Killing Victims Found
14.)Infected (Live)
15.)Godly Beings (Live)
16.)Body Bag (Live)
Note:
There was a video made for "Don't Care"
Back From The Dead (1997)
1.)Threatening Skies
2.)By The Light
3.)Inverted
4.)Platonic Disease
5.)Download
6.)Rewind
7.)Feed On The Weak
8.)Lockdown
9.)Pressure Point
10.)Back From The Dead
11.)Bullitary (Remix)
Note:
Contains an additional CD-ROM section with videos, live footage, and animation.
Dead (Live Album 1998)
1.)Download
2.)Chopped In Half
3.)Turned Inside Out
4.)Threatening Skies
5.)By The Light
6.)Dying
7.)Cause Of Death
8.)I'm In Pain
9.)Rewind
10.)Til' Death
11.)Kill For Me
12.)Don't Care
13.)Platonic Disease
14.)Back From The Dead
15.)Final Thoughts
16.)Slowly We Rot
Anthology (Compilation 2001)
1.)Find The Arise (Demo)
2.)Til' Death
3.)Internal Bleeding
4.)Intoxicated
5.)Slowly We Rot
6.)Cause Of Death
7.)Dying
8.)Chopped In Half
9.)Turned Inside Out
10.)Back To One
11.)The End Complete
12.)I'm In Pain
13.)Kill For Me
14.)Final Thoughts
15.)Don't Care
16.)Threatening Skies
17.)By The Light
18.)Back From The Dead
19.)Buried Alive
20.)Boiling Point (Remix)
Note:
"Buried Alive" is a Venom cover.
Frozen In Time (2005)
1.)Redneck Stomp
2.)On The Floor
3.)Insane
4.)Blindsided
5.)Back Inside
6.)Mindset
7.)Stand Alone
8.)Slow Death
9.)Denied
10.)Lockjaw
Note:
A video was made for "Insane"
Xecutioner's Return (2007)
1.)Face Your God
2.)Living Presence
3.)Evil Ways
4.)Drop Dead
5.)Bloodshot
6.)Seal Your Fate
7.)Feel The Pain
8.)Contrast The Dead
9.)Second Chance
10.)Lies
11.)In Your Head
12.)Executioners Return (Bonus on limited edition)
Japenese bonus tracks:
12.)Drop Dead (Live)
13.)Evil Ways (Live)
Notes: There is a video for "Evil Ways". The limited edition comes with a poster as well as the bonus track. The second post-reunion album.
Left To Die (EP 2008)
1.)Forces Realign
2.)Dethroned Emperor (Celtic Frost cover)
3.)Slowly We Rot (2008 Version)
4.)Left To Die
Note: Includes "Evil Ways" video as a bonus.