Death Metal

Death metal has been around forever, or is a relatively new thing, depending on one’s perspective. Possessed’s Seven Churches – widely considered to be death metal’s mission statement – came out in 1985, a full fifteen years after Black Sabbath. In the 30 years since, the death metal genre has taken every imaginable turn, and has subdivided into several fully-articulated subgenres as well. Despite all this, there is still a healthy legion of purists – old dudes true to the old styles who ain’t into all that newfangled technological shit the kids are fooling with. Coincidentally, many of the bands still feeding this ancient frenzy are from Florida, The Retirement State – Obituary, Massacre, Deicide, Morbid Angel, Six Feet Under, etc…

Autopsy meanwhile, are from California, formed in 1987 when drummer Chris Reifert, who had just departed Chuck Schuldiner’s Death, recruited one Eric Cutler. Danny Coralles soon joined the fold and the band was on its way. Autopsy released a number of well-received albums, then broke up in 1995, only to reunite in 2008 and release a few more. Skull Grinder finds the band cribbing from decades of death metal history – both the general body and their own – to put together a generally satisfying, but not terribly earth-shattering release.

The thrashy “Strung Up and Gutted” opens the album. Generic guitars and drums pummel in the background while Reifert’s gruff, vomitous, middle-aged vocals ramble around the track. This here is metal by the pound, but it ain’t bad. Autopsy have been at this for so long that it’s easier for them to get it right than screw it up. Title track “Skull Grinder” switches rhythms and textures fairly often, and ends with a nice prolonged guitar squeal-fest.

“Children of the Filth” is where things get a little more interesting, with modern, striking chords adding a bit of color to the band’s straightforward attack. The rambling vocal part in the middle is awkward at first, but it is soon redeemed by a truly sweet guitar solo.

A note about nostalgia: Cultural nostalgia implies a certain selective memory – delighting in the remembrance of the most recognizable and uniting touchstones of a time period, while generally omitting the ugly, banal and boring ones. Signifiers trigger associations buried deep within memory, and we are often thankful to the ones reminding us of the sometimes embarrassing, but ultimately quaint and harmless ephemera of bygone eras. There is also a lowering of stakes – what we are re-experiencing is hard-set, and all the critiques and judgments in the world won’t undo the tacky trends of yesteryear. So most people just accept it, have fun with it, celebrate the camp and bad taste, or lionize the embryonic artifacts of things much greater to come.

What this means to say is that Autopsy are leaning on the old times a bit, instead of bringing something truly new. The appeal of Skull Grinder is tied undeniably to nostalgia for early death metal, and this creates expectations for both audience and band. On Autopsy’s part, they won’t take themselves too seriously (the goofy vocals and over-the-top dark atmosphere attest to this) and in turn, the audience won’t demand too much in the way of innovation or relevance.

Well, fair enough. The rest is just pretty good death metal. “Sanity Bleeds” is all horror movie ambiance and macabre carnival barking. “The Withering Death” is slow, ominous and mean. “Waiting for the Screams” is also slow, ominous and mean.

“Return to Dead” closes the EP with more squeals and ambiance. All in all, Skull Grinder is pretty well put together. The musical performances shine with casual expertise. It sounds like death metal, it hits like death metal and has some variety. It meets its own expectations, although those are not terribly high. We’ll probably never know whether Autopsy are being shrewd or unambitious, and in the case of Skull Grinder, it probably doesn’t matter all that much.