Review by George on April 7, 2025.

I have a fairly complicated relationship with old-school death metal. I respect the genre and would love to enjoy it more than I do, but the fact is that most of its classics have been really hard for me to get into - the riffs and solos they place so much emphasis on have always been of secondary importance to me as a listener, and in focusing on them a lot of OSDM bands seem to neglect the expansive soundscapes and atmospheres I so adore. I understand that Altars of Madness is a masterpiece worthy of the highest praise, but I can't remember the last time I actually listened to it - it's just that hard for an album to draw me in on riffs alone.

"Well," ask Autopsy, "what if we make an album that has riffs AND atmosphere in spades? An album that can be Altars of Madness one second then crush you with doom riffs the next, and all the while never stop feeling like a single cohesive piece?" It's a great proposal as long as they can deliver, and deliver they do - Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts is one of the best experiences I've ever had with an OSDM album, and I honestly can't recommend it more as a gateway to the genre for fans of more atmospheric metal like me. It drifts between Finndeath-esque melancholy, blistering riffs, and melodic solos so seamlessly that I often didn't even notice it happening until the transition was complete, and it varies the pace up often enough that the listen never feels monotonous or fatiguing. The songwriting and structuring burst with creative takes on an established formula, and that alone easily puts it near the top of my list for 2023 - I mean, just listen to how Well of Entrails starts out as a sinister, plodding death-doom track, slowly builds speed until it sounds more like something early Death might put out, then goes doom again but with much more elaborate instrumentals and repeats the process, all in the space of four minutes and without a single section sounding contrived or out of place. They do admittedly fall back on this trick a lot over the course of the album, but it's always with enough variation to feel fresh, and that's not to mention the sheer skill needed to pull it off so consistently.

That's not where the album's greatness ends, though - next, we have to talk about the bass. A lot of credit goes to the production here, which is clear enough to let each instrument shine individually while still feeling as claustrophobic as an OSDM album should. Beyond that, the basslines themselves are gorgeous, wonderfully melodic in their own right and often diverging from the guitars to do their own thing; I wish other bands were this good at writing bass because tracks like Death is the Answer and Coagulation are such a perfect showcase of how, when used properly, the instrument can add a whole extra dimension to an album.

What else can I say? The vocals are fire. And I don't mean that in a zoomer-slang "let them cook" way - I mean that if you gave an inferno a voice, it would sound like Chris Reifert. His growls are as bestial as they come, feeling utterly unconstrained and able to change the pitch on a dime while still commanding incredible power. He even, no joke, manages to make a coughing fit sound absolutely amazing on Toxic Death Fuk, though in fairness that's just as much the work of the guitarists - who, by the way, are also fantastic. Because everything Ashes does, all the little twists and details that make it such a compelling listen, are built atop a foundation of riffs so good that any lesser band would probably base a full song around each one. That Autopsy is happy to play some for twenty seconds before you never hear them again only showcases their iron-fisted command of the genre.

So there you have it. In equal parts The Karelian Isthmus and Scream Bloody Gore, Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts is an album so well-written and tightly played that it makes creating some of the best death metal I've ever heard sound absolutely effortless - it was in my top 10 of the year after just one listen, and clearly I have a lot of homework to do on the rest of Autopsy's discography.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Review by Michael on October 28, 2023.

Hmmm yummy!!! What a nice album just for Helloween. With Ashes, Organs, Blood And Crypts Autopsy have found another heart ripping em… I mean heartwarming and very inviting title for their 10th full-length album. I guess that the sickos from California don't need any further introduction here and if you know their music, you know what you have to expect.

I was pretty much surprised to see that they are releasing another album that quick after their latest output Morbidity Triumphant (it is just one year between both releases) and one might think that they used some rotten, stinking remains from it to fill the new album but well, even if it was the case, it doesn't matter.

So they do business as usual on Ashes, Organs, Blood And Crypts. They still don't invent the wheel of torture again nor do they proceed like the filigree technicians in Carcass who execute their songs with a sharp scalpel blade but with a rusty bone saw Eric Cutler, Chris Reifert and co do their bloody work here. Every song sounds very sick, somehow a little bit crooked and you always have the stench of putrefaction in the nose while listening to the 11 songs. But that's what you want when you listen to Autopsy. So the guys do nothing wrong here. Even these doomy parts they had in the past quite often come to light, again with a really sick flavor and again slightly crooked and somehow they feel like someone's going to cut your throat with an icy blade from behind. The instruments work is pretty precise when you want to cause a massive damage without regards to any severe collateral damages whilst doing some "surgery", like using a baseball bat to open the skull for some brain surgery.

Vocals and lyrics are also as sick as always – guess Chris Reifert took a sip of vodka-pus before he started growling them. Half whispered- half puke out, uaarrrrgh, this is what the Autopsy fan wants!

So we don't find any innovations or surprises on the album; Autopsy just do best what they can: to butcher relentlessly through their old school death metal songs so that you can see the blood and innards splashing around.

So now get your daily dose decomposition with Autopsy and check songs like 'Throatsaw', 'Toxik Death Fuk' (which is a very cool thrashy-punk-laden one and maybe the catchiest track they've ever done) or if you like it a little bit cozier 'Well Of Entrails'. What a great fun this stuff is!!!! Much more shitfun than Shitfun was!!

Rating: 9 out of 10 festering fistulas