UMUR
"Dying of Everything" is the eleventh full-length studio album by US, Florida based death metal act Obituary. The album was released through Relapse Records in January 2023. It´s the successor to the eponymously titled album from 2017, although the two studio albums are bridged by a couple of live album releases, so while there are quite a few years between the two studio albums, Obituary have kept busy touring and releasing the above mentioned live albums. The lineup hasn´t changed since the last album, and actually has been stabile since 2012 when lead guitarist Kenny Andrews joined.
Obituary have always been incredibly consistent in terms of quality and style, with only a few slightly less interesting releases (compared to their best) to their name throughout their by now very long career. When a new Obituary album arrives it´s never a question if it´s great...it´s only a question how great it is compared to the best releases in their massive discography. I´ve read interviews with the band, where they said, that they had probably spend more time than on any album before fine tuning and tweaking the material on "Dying of Everything", and while the differences between this release and the previous albums by Obituary aren´t significant, I stil think the extra care and attention to detail have paid off.
Stylistically this is at its core Obituary as they´ve sounding like since 1989, with brutal downtuned death metal riffs (often groove laden), blistering lead guitar work, great organic drumming, and of course John Tardy´s ultra brutal yet intelligble growling vocals in front. So far...so good. So it´s the little details found in the songwriting which make parts of "Dying of Everything" stand out. I notice an old school thrash metal current on many tracks (already heard on album opener "Barely Alive"), which is something new on an Obituary release. It´s always tastefully incorporated though, so it doesn´t mess with the core sound, but it´s such a treat to hear Obituary try something a bit different. Again it´s nothing groundbreaking and only little details, but those details are important for a seasoned artists like Obituary, to make their albums stand out from each other.
"Dying of Everything" opens really strong with the above mentioned "Barely Alive" and then the two groove laden and heavy tracks "The Wrong Time" and "Without a Conscience". The album continues with other great tracks and a few less remarkable ones (although still great), and overall "Dying of Everything" is a strong album release by Obituary. The sound production is suitingly heavy, brutal, and organic, and Obituary have arguably released a strong album. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.