Review by Jeger on July 23, 2024.

Few pioneering USDM bands do death metal with as much classicism and mind for tradition as Autopsy. Having been aborted onto the scene bloody and oozing with the vilest of primordial excrement following drummer/vocalist and founding member Chris Reifert’s exodus from DEATH in 1987, this institution is not only of the most noble pedigree, but also an anchor, a solid stone representing a style of DM laid down by Chuck Schuldiner during the “Scream Bloody Gore” and “Leprosy” eras. In so many words, Autopsy is true death metal done the American way - driven by pure torque and soaked in depravity. On September 30, 2022, Reifert and crew released from their putrefaction-reeking basements a grotesque abomination upon us all in the form of their latest album “Morbidity Triumphant”. This latest chapter is of course brought to you by the band’s longtime label Peaceville. Just keeps getting better doesn’t it?

With “Morbidity Triumphant”, Autopsy piss on the mainstream - corrosive acid exposing the genre’s most legendary acts as the - how do I put this nicely - all but completely out-of-touch with the old-school way of making death metal, industry juggernauts that they are. If your idea of great death metal is Cannibal Corpse and Obituary’s latest travesties then prepare for a lesson in DM 101. You see, true death metal is an art. What makes those old death metal albums of the late 80’s and early 90’s great is the fact that their creators were masters at formulating the most rotten compositions - disturbing soundscapes and wretched progressions that served to do nothing more than manifest from out of the deepest recesses of morbidity the kind of atmosphere and fevered psychotic energy needed to capture the essence of being butchered alive, immolated or strangled; desecrated in some sick f~ck’s schizophrenic fantasy come to life.

With grisly song titles like “Stab the Brain”, “Knife Slice, Axe Chop” and “Your Eyes Will Turn to Dust”, you can expect the same kind of meat grinding gorefest as what you’ve undoubtedly experienced in celebrated genre classics like the aforementioned “Scream Bloody Gore” or “Butchered At Birth” - albums that were unleashed upon a fragile society that, to say the least, was not ready for them. Musically, it’s a purist’s affair from the Entombed - “Wolverine Blues”, death & roll-driven “The Voracious One” to the simple genre-honoring brutality of “Born In Blood” and “Tapestry of Scars”. Each cut a lurid excursion into familiar yet unfathomably savage musical territories fraught with the sound of twisting grinds, putrid gutturals and primitive rhythmic bludgeonings. Nothing too technical. Wouldn’t want to ruin the mood. After all, this is a blood-crazed, frantic disembowelment type of death metal album - a soundtrack to torture and dehumanization. And it’s all clad in the total death-worshipping artwork of none other than Wes Benscoter.

All love, respect and bloody praise be to the Corpses, Carcasses and Obituaries of the industry who’ve so graciously bestowed upon us the very works of carnage that have, over the course of the past going on 40 years, defined the genre. But I’m afraid that the Nuclear Blasts, Metal Blades and Century Medias with their industry-dominating budgets and ability to spoil each band they sign with such Hollywood visuals and souped-up Michael Bay-level production techniques have all but completely sapped these outfits of any true scene-swagger they may have had left. Not to worry, because the true spirit of USDM is still alive in all of its throat-slitting glory because of bands like Autopsy and labels like Peaceville who, despite the rapid commercialization of the music, keep artistry and integrity at the fore where they belong.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Benjamin on October 3, 2022.

For seasoned death metal maniacs, the appearance of a new Autopsy album is always cause for grim celebration, and with the arrival of Morbidity Triumphant seven years on from their previous full-length, the anticipation this time around is especially fevered. Autopsy have quite simply never let down the expectant listener, and it will surprise exactly no one to discover that that is of course the case with the American institution's ninth album. As soon as the opening strains of the delightfully-titled 'Stab The Brain' rumble into view, the listener immediately relaxes into a familiar state of gleeful torment, as if stepping into a comfortable pair of old shoes, albeit shoes that are unlikely to console the wearer with an anaesthetic before painfully and violently amputating the feet that fill them. 

With their rough and ready sound, Autopsy remain the antidote that they have always been to some of the over-polished, over-produced and underwhelming death metal that floods the scene like an overflowing toilet cistern. Despite their advancing years, and time already served in the extreme metal underground, Chris Reifert and co still play ugly, monstrous death metal as if their lives depend on every last blastbeat and down-pick, utterly authentic, utterly monumental, and utterly destroying all pretenders to their throne. Indeed, one could argue that the ageing process was never likely to affect Autopsy in the same way as bands whose carefree youth was in some way intrinsic to their appeal – their music has always been grizzled, awkward and cantankerous, and the band have simply grown into this role as the years have marched on, wearing their battle scars like the badges of honour that they are, revelling in the fury and filth that seeps out of every pore of their being. 

It's no criticism to say that Autopsy have progressed little since the classic Severed Survival erupted from the depths in 1989, but that's not to say there aren't some intriguing elements to enjoy on Morbidity Triumphant, alongside the jackhammer blasting, and doomy lurch that still represents the cornerstone of their sound. 'The Voracious One' is one of the grooviest tracks that they have ever released, leaning gently on the kind of death 'n' roll that Entombed once made their own; closer 'Your Eyes Will Turn To Dust' offers a crunching take on classic Slayer; and most entertainingly, the punk and hardcore influences that are generally a more overt component of the Abscess sound creep into a number of tracks here, not least the thunderous 'Born In Blood'. That is, before it devolves before our ears into the kind of nauseating, twisted doom that Celtic Frost built Morbid Tales around. 

So much death metal is hampered by the inability of undoubtedly competent musicians to organise their riffs into memorable arrangements, songs and albums forgotten as quickly as they are released. Autopsy, on the other hand, are masters at effortlessly cramming countless rusty hooks into each track, from the infernal (and sneakily technical) harmonised tremolos of 'Tapestry Of Scars' to the brutalising suckerpunch of 'Skin By Skin', on which Reifert's death rattle rasp is hauntingly terrifying. Like syphilis, Autopsy are both infectious, and disgusting. Morbidity Triumphant, a title which could almost be said to symbolise the ongoing and unlikely success of the genre itself, meets and exceeds expectations in style, and Autopsy once against sit at the top of the pile of slain corpses that represents the competition, watching the world burn, and spitting on its charred remnants in the knowledge that they will outlast us all.

Rating: 9.1 out of 10