Founded as Executioner (and then Xecutioner) in Seffner in 1984, a name change to Obituary four years later found Florida’s finest shaping and defining the nascent death metal scene. During their tenure with Roadrunner Records the band released four albums and formulated their own doomy brand of death that proved irresistible to a worldwide audience. Those four albums are unique and among the best selling in the genre, and now get collected by Cherry Red Records with an informative booklet, replica jewel case versions of the original pressings, bonus tracks and, of course, some of the very best old school death metal.

Disc One: Slowly We Rot

Back in the pre-internet age, buying records was a risky business. With few ways to try before purchase (and with metal expunged from mainstream media), there was a lot of trial and error involved, and you had to rely on recommendations from friends and trusted journalists. Alternatively, you’d put you faith in intuition and pick up visual clues from the cover and that ensured Obituary’s debut Slowly We Rot practically leapt off the shelf and into my hands; the band’s razor sharp logo is dripping blood, whilst below a corpse lies decaying in the gutter. Flip the sleeve over and the band are silhouetted by a raging fire and look suitably menacing as the flames lick their feet. It’s a cover that gives a good indication of the sound contained within, yet nothing could prepared the world for the musical tangent Slowly We Rot sent metal on. Certain moments in history find albums re-writing the rule book (Black Sabbath, Black Metal, Reign In Blood) and Obituary’s first found them pushing the boundaries towards greater extremities.

If you are like me, then music has a very visual quality and places strong images in your mind’s eye and that which Slowly We Rot plants is the most depraved zombie flick you’ve ever seen. Like Dawn Of The Dead on steroids, it found Obituary appearing from the swamps of Florida with putrefying tracks such as opener ‘Internal Bleeding’ which ensured metal would never be the same again. Down-tuned, fuzzed-up and accompanied by John Tardy’s unearthly growl, Obituary delivered a dozen diverse tracks that set the template for the rest of their career and ranged from all out thrashers to groove-laden beasts via skull crushing bruisers (and often all within the same song). It was this mélange that ensured Slowly We Rock never became staid with fresh cuts such as ‘Words Of Evil’ and ‘Stinkpuss’ effortlessly holding the listener’s attention over the 35-minute running time.

Two tracks from the band’s early days when they were known as Xecutioner are added as bonus cuts, and they show a clear lineage to what the band would become and make this the definitive edition of a classic, game-changing album.

Disc Two: Cause Of Death

Once again recorded at Tampa’s legendary Morrisound Recording studio with producer at Scott Burns at the helm, it would have been understandable if Obituary had become complacent and formulaic. Yet, their sophomore album Cause Of Death found them moving forwards at a hefty rate of knots and the growth between the two releases goes off the graph. Opening track ‘Infected’ evidences a more intricate band and one who are experimenting with time changes and rhythms, and brings to mind Death (perhaps no surprise as former Death man James Murphy played guitar on this release). In the vocal department, John Tardy’s words are semi-decipherable and double-tracked, and rather than detracting from the band’s power, adds another layer to their attack. Scott Burns’ razor sharp production gives Cause Of Death a crisp, surgical feel that cuts like a knife and renders ‘Chopped In Half’ a deadly affair.

A cover of Celtic Frost’s ‘Circle Of The Tyrants’ foreshadows their next album and helped Obituary move away from the usual death metal tropes and motifs, and ensured that they wouldn’t paint themselves into a corner. Overall, this feels like a much more mature effort with the band kicking down a gear to deliver a brooding, groove-orientated affair that leads us straight to the heart of darkness. That maturity is best exemplified by the cover; whereas the garish colours of Slowly We Rot rendered it a bit cartoonish, Cause Of Death is all business. Apparently it was slated for Sepultura’s Arise, but it works equally well here and, just like the music inside, creates a sense of unease and foreboding.

The sound of a band coming into their own, Cause Of Death found Obituary alive and kicking.

Disc Three: The End Complete

Each Obituary album has its own unique fell and personality and The End Complete is no exception. It is markedly different than its predecessor and this time around the band have opted for a grittier sound and it’s one that brings their hardcore sensibilities to the fore. It’s no surprise that metalcore hoodlums Hatebreed covered opening track ‘I’m In Pain’ on their covers album For The Lions, yet the original is the best and it set a very high standard for the rest of the album. The End Complete found the band coming full circle with original guitarist Allen West returning, yet there’s been no regression here. While it operates at the same kind of pace as Cause Of Death, this is more of a riff-centric album with songs such as ‘In The End Of Life’ having a bludgeoning effect as the instruments lock in to deliver a punchy affair.

The aesthetic that characterises The End Complete is one of oppression. The gritty production and relentless riffage, underpinned by an unrepentant rhythm section, means that very little light penetrates the darkness of this record. The feeling is of an album that totally entombs the listener, weighing heavy like a grey, leaden sky, it’s a gloomy affair and one that offers little in the way of redemption. However, death metal was never meant to be pretty and ornate, and The End Complete offers a glimpse of a world being pulverised to dust.

Dark and oppressive the tracks from The End Complete may be, but they transferred very well to the live environment and if you need proof then ‘I’m In Pain’ and ‘Killing Time’ are presented in all their stage diving, slam dancing glory as bonus cuts.

Disc Four: World Demise

Released in 1994 when death metal had passed its peak of popularity, World Demise found the band further expanding their sound, introducing a more groovy sections and even some sampling. Lyrically, too the album strays far from the usual death metal themes and draws inspiration from deep ecology and environmental issues. It’s actually subject matter that suits Obituary’s brutal brand of metal very well and the result is an album that really stomps. Those weaned on old school death metal might find the sampling and hip hop beats that form the introduction to ‘Redefine’ a little hard to stomach, and truth be told it does seem superfluous; this album would certainly have improved by some judicial pruning. Released at a time when the compact disc was in its ascendancy, record companies felt the need to give the public more bang for their buck (for a while in the 1990’s, CD’s were far more expensive than vinyl). Whereas previous Obituary albums clocked in at 35-minutes, World Demise adds 15-minutes to its running time, meaning your attention starts to flag as the album progresses, no matter how good songs such as ‘Paralyzing’ are. Iron Maiden’s Fear Of The Dark suffered from a similar flaw, and if Maiden had dropped a few on the weaker tracks they would have had a great record instead of a good one. It’s a good rule of thumb, and even more so with extreme metal; sometimes less is more. Obituary were heavily influenced by hardcore (especially the New York variant) and there’s good reason why those records had a short running time. That means, unlike previous Obituary albums, World Demise is best consumed in a couple of sittings.

World Demise would be the band’s final album for Roadrunner Records and the end of an era as the band would drift further away from death metal on their following outing, Back From The Dead before returning to the fold with Frozen In Time in 2005. However, if you want four albums that define what death metal meant, look no further than Godly Beings.

• Godly Beings is released via Cherry Red Records on 18th July 2025.

Track List:

Disc One: Slowly We Rot

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. Stinkpuss

Bonus Tracks:

13. Find The Arise (Demo Version)
14. Like The Dead (Demo Version)

Disc Two: Cause Of Death

1. Infected
2. Body 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:

10. Infected (Demo Version)
11. Memories Remain (Demo Version)
12. Chopped In Half (Demo Version)

Disc Three: The End Complete

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:

10. I’m In Pain (Live Version)
11. Killing Time (Live Version)

Disc Four: World Demise

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:

13. Killing Victims Found
14. Infected (Live Version)
15. Godly Beings (Live Version)
16. Body Bag (Live Version)
17. Burned Alive
18. Boiling Point (212’ Sporadic Mix)