SUFFOCATION – Pierced From Within Review

SUFFOCATION – Pierced From Within

Roadrunner Records

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This band doesn’t really need an introduction, but I’ll give a short one anyway. SUFFOCATION has been making death metal music 1990, but formed in 1988. They have a pivotal point in the death metal scene, this release being a monument in the genre.

I personally have only (honestly) been a fan of a few of their releases. “Pierced from Within” being my favorite, and it seems like to most, theirs too.

The music on here is really crunch tone guitars, thick and utterly heavy. Deep throat vocals by Frank Mullen works to match the underground sound to them on here. Terrance Hobbs totally smoking on here as well, which I think was the main guitar contributor of the band overall, on here mostly. Just the way the music is constructed is that it’s really catchy and noteworthy. It sounds like no other that I can really think of except maybe NAPALM DEATH’s “Harmony Corruption” though not as fast and the guitars sound a little different than them here. It’s just trying to put into place how to conceptualize the sound of the music. I can only say a variety of different tempos with the heavy guitar work and balls out intensity. This album is notorious for its thickness and originality. That’s why it’s so hard to compare them, let’s also just say crunchy guitars and fast rhythms. A lot of balls to this one.

The production quality was very good especially in the mid-90’s when it was mixed. Everything is well heard and fit in together. I’m not going to say it was perfect, but perfect for a death metal band.

All in all, this album should be owned by all death metal fans that want original music and like it brutal. You won’t get anything but the most quality death metal among the ranks of what I compared it to, “Harmony Corruption” by NAPALM DEATH just not grindcore/death metal.

It’s a shame if you don’t have this in your CD collection! Support the band and get it!

Ryan “Death8699” Fanucchi