Autopsy - Severed Survival

Gore metal started here… yummy!

Horrendously graphic and sounding as if was recorded underwater, Autopsy’s debut album is as shocking today as it was on first release 20 years ago. Don’t read the lyrics if you’re easily offended – and don’t worry, Chis Reifert’s super-guttural vocals won’t give any words away.

The 2-CD edition of this extremely influential album deserves the attention of anyone remotely interested in the roots of extreme metal: Reifert had served time as a member of Death and, later, in the even more necro Abscess, which speaks volumes about his writing style. Along with Carcass, whose first two albums also helped pioneer gore-metal, Reifert wrote music that no-one else could. Service For A Vacant Coffin, Ridden With Disease and Gasping For Air were based on demo-quality unison riffs (sometimes not actually played in unison…), fast drum breaks and gargled vocals of the kind which are routine today but sounded completely alien at the time.

The bonus tracks (three newies recorded for the album by the classic Reifert/Eric Cutler/ Danny Coralles line-up, plus 15 live and rehearsal cuts) show that Autopsy weren’t meant to last longer than a couple of albums. As Coralles puts it in his sleevenotes, “Autopsy was a beast that refused to be milked.” Luckily, this version of the classic, still-terrifying album is far from a marketing ploy: it’s essential.

Peaceville | CDVILED 258 X (2-CD)

Reviewed by Joel McIver
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