siLLy puPPy Starting out as Executioner and then changing to Xecutioner, the Tardy brothers not only changed their band project’s moniker to OBITUARY in 1988 but in the process took that leap of faith out of the cauldrons of the early thrash metal scene to become one of the pioneers of early death metal along with other Tampa, Florida bands such as Death and Morbid Angel. With the Tardy brothers which includes vocalist John and drummer Donald being the only constant members in OBITUARY’s multi-decade history, the lineup has been quite fluid and on the band’s debut SLOWLY WE ROT featured the Tardy bros with guitarist Trevor Peres, bassist Daniel Tucker and lead guitarist Allen West.

Released in 1989, SLOWLY WE ROT was unleashed right at the forefront of old school death metal gurgling up from the underground and launched OBITUARY into the position where they would become one of the most successful bands in the genre but would have to undergo unstable lineups and a couple more albums before death metal would finally emerge as a major metal force. This debut album is a bit different than albums that came after mostly because this one was recorded in standard tuning before the band switched to drop D tuning which gave OBITUARY that evil as fuck sound but even so SLOWLY WE ROT is a major death metal powerhouse that sounds as ominous as any other.

With a slight ambient intro to “Internal Bleeding” OBITUARY adopted the then standard characteristics of death metal such as the heavily distorted guitar riffs, palm muting, tremolo picking and deep growly vocals along with double kick and blast beat drumming but the band set themselves apart by creating a no nonsense approach to death metal while bands like Death were keen on jettisoning into more progressive grounds and Morbid Angel was keen on abstract riffing techniques and guitar squeals. OBITUARY has always been fairly even keel with straight forward death metal aggression and easy to comprehend compositional methodologies. OBITUARY also avoided the gore and occult themes and simply focused on good old fashioned mortality which is perhaps the scariest human subject of all.

Steeped with twelve rampaging death metal tracks, SLOWLY WE ROT delivered the immediacy of hardcore punk with short yet to the point outbursts of aggression with only one track, “Intoxicated” venturing over the four minute mark. Musically the tracks feature full gestated death metal that employed quickened tempos with various sections that are faster than others with lead guitar and more sophisticated almost jazzy drumming styles but for the most part this debut is a guitar driven chugfest with growly vocals narrating tales of horrific suffering, eternal damnation and human fragility. While by today’s standards this is pretty straight forward death metal, these early recordings have a sense of purity that allows the true nature of the genre to shine through without the added baggage of experimentation.

Overall OBITUARY’s debut may not be considered one of the top picks of early death metal but due to its early status as true death metal that was totally out of the world of thrash metal, it has a special place in the hearts of death metal historians who love death metal’s less complex nascency. OBITUARY would dominate the 90s as one of the top death metal acts but his debut shouldn’t be missed either as it shows the band in its early ferocity in all its rawness before becoming one of the top extreme metal bands of the world. Satisfying and too the point, SLOWLY WE ROT is anything but slow however it very well may make your soul rot! But then again isn’t that why we listen to this manic maelstrom of mind numbing madness?

UMUR "Slowly We Rot" is the debut full-length studio album by US, Florida based death metal act Obituary. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in June 1989 (originally through the subsidiary labels R/C Records and Roadracer Records). Obituary formed in Tampa, Florida in 1984 under the Executioner monicker, which was changed to Xecutioner in 1986, and again to their current monicker in 1988. They released three demos in 1985, 1986, and 1987, and appeared on the 1987 "Raging Death" various artists compilation album with the tracks "Find the Arise" and "Like the Dead". From the 1997 reissue of "Slowly We Rot", the two latter mentioned tracks are featured as bonus material.

"Slowly We Rot" was recorded at Morrisound Recording and produced by Scott Burns. The first 8 tracks on the album were recorded during one late 1988 session, while the last 4 tracks on the album were recorded during a session in March 1989. It´s one of the earliest Burns productions and features a lot of the production trademarks that he would become famous for in the next couple of years. An ultra brutal guitar sound (which surprisingly isn´t created by downtuning the guitars/bass), heavy bass, and dark and powerful drums, but with higher end clicky sounding bass drums, which was a deliberate production choice, made to make the bass drum hits stand out in the soundscape. The brutal growling vocals by John Tardy are placed high in the mix.

The music style on "Slowly We Rot" is brutal and and crushingly heavy death metal. John Tardy´s voice is very distinct sounding and his caustic delivery is ultra brutal. The vocals are not particularly intelligible but now and again some understandable words do pop up serving as hooks. The lyrics on the album are your typical blood and gore type of lyrics, and they are often not more than a couple of words/phrases with very little meaning, being repeated. In that way Tardy´s voice and his delivery work more like an additional instrument than regular vocals do.

The instrumental part of the music is mostly rather simple. Crushingly heavy riffs, screaming chromatic guitar solos, groove laden heavy drumming and the occasional faster paced part (never blasting). Obituary were never about technical wankery, but about the heavy grooves and brutality, and they deliver plenty of that on this album. Tracks like "Suffocation", "´Til Death", and the title track are great and memorable material, but one point of criticism when listening to "Slowly We Rot" is how one-dimensional it sounds. Sometimes to the point where you can´t tell the songs apart. A little more variation between tracks could have made this a much stronger album.

It´s often said that Obituary are just a heavier version of early Celtic Frost, and although the influence from the legendary Swiss act is undeniable (the riffs and the guitar tone are quite similar in style and sound), the heavy grooves and John Tardy´s unique growling vocal style give Obituary enough of an original touch to stand on their own two feet. So songwriting variation issues aside, "Slowly We Rot" is still a strong debut album by Obituary and it´s arguably one of the genre defining albums of the death metal genre and a huge influence on many artists to come. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Warthur "Memento mori" - remember that you will die. It's a dreadful fact that we spend much of our lives distracting ourselves from or finding a way to come to terms with that lessens the impact, and at the same time it's also a dark truth that Obituary are intent on confronting you with on their debut album. Fronted by the ominous, menacing John Tardy, Obituary offer a grotesque and brutal journey straight into the grave. Veering away from the fantastic occultism of Florida death metal peers like Deicide or Morbid Angel, Obituary stare death in the face before nodding in grim approval.

Time Signature Deadly intentions...

Genre: death metal

In the year of 1989, Obituary introduced the world to their heavy, dirty and brutal Hellhammer/Frost-inspired brand of death metal, a style that they still stick to. Most of the riffage is quite simple, and regardless whether the song in question is slow, midtempo, or uptempo, it is brutal as hell.

I really like the no-nonsense full on style of this album, which was really unheard of at the time. Modern listeners will find that the album lacks many elements that characterize modern death metal, such as blastbeats and a million riffs stuffed into one song. "Slowly We Rot" is a lesson in less is more, and carry on the Hellhammer/Celtic Frost ethic of sticking to a few simple, but crushing, riffs per song and then just letting it rip. John Tardy's sewer-like oozing growled vocals are totally awesome on this album and suit the heavy, dirty sound like a glove.

This is a strong and genre-defining debut release. It may not be as good as subsequent albums, like "The End Complete" or "Cause of Death" - and the songs may be a bit samey - but it is still one hell of a death metal release.