Autopsy is pretty much the sickest music in existence. If
the name, album covers, song titles, and logo don’t give it away, this band is
about everything that is disgusting and wrong. Listening to these guys is a ritualistic
experience that is unmatched by any other band. Amazingly, the band put out a
comeback record that was on par with their old material. The only major
shortcoming of “Macabre Eternal” was how long it was. At just 44 minutes, “The
Headless Ritual” has already solved that issue, and now it’s just a matter of writing more quality music.
The good news is that “The Headless Ritual” is largely
similar to the previous album. The riffs are groovy and dripping with the skin-crawling
atmosphere that only Autopsy can produce. Chris Reifert’s vocals are as mangled
as ever. He manages to retain his deep voice but still be fairly
understandable, except when he is giving a ghastly scream. The versatility in
his voice is impressive, and it helps prevent this record from being
monotonous. Guitar solos are plentiful and come straight from the school of
Slayer. They are energetic, at times make no sense musically, but fit the music
perfectly. The songwriting bears a couple of surprises to the seasoned Autopsy
fan. “She Is A Funeral” features several tapping melodies unlike anything I’ve
heard from the band before. It’s great to hear an old-school death metal band
embrace a bit of 80’s influence in their music. The next track, “Coffin
Crawlers”, opens with one of the strangest, most haunting melodies in all of
death metal. It sounds like it was ripped straight from a horror movie. While
this section eventually dissolves, it returns at the end of the track before
the more upbeat “When Hammer Meets Bone” begins. At less than 2 minutes, “Thorns
and Ashes” is the soundtrack of impending doom. These kind of leads appear frequently on this record, as Autopsy appears to be putting
more focus than ever on finding melodies that are pure evil.
Despite these differences, “The Headless Ritual” is a
strange record for Autopsy in that the sound is largely similar to the prior
record. With their first four albums, each one was very distinctive from what
preceded it. Even “Macabre Eternal” had a different feel; it was a more modern
sounding version of the band that combined all of their best influences from
the first three albums. Ultimately, however, “The Headless Ritual” is very
satisfying as it shows the band settling into a sound that works well for them.
There certainly isn’t an overabundance of this style of music yet, and even if
that comes in the future, no one will do it better than Autopsy.
Highlights
"Mangled Far Below"
"She Is A Funeral"
"Coffin Crawlers"
Final Rating
4.2/5 or 84%.