DISMEMBER — Indecent & Obscene (review)

DISMEMBER — Indecent & Obscene album cover Album · 1993 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
UMUR
"Indecent and Obscene" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Dismember. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in December 1993. Dismember was formed in 1988 and is often considered among the seminal Swedish death metal acts. They released their debut full-length studio album "Like an Everflowing Stream" in 1991. An album which generally garnered praise among fans of the genre. The debut album was followed up by the 1992 "Pieces" EP. The lineup on "Indecent & Obscene" is intact from the first two releases by the band. The title of the album refers to a British newspaper article which called Dismember Indecent & Obscene. A chance like that should of course not go wasted.

The music on the album is old school Swedish death metal. Most tracks are relatively simple and direct but there are a couple of more intricate tracks featured on the album too. I´d characterize both "Souldevourer" and especially the Dismember "classic" "Dreaming in Red" as examples of that. The latter is also notable for being THE highlight of the album. I´m afraid I have to add unfortunately here though, as the remaining tracks simply pale in comparison. There´s nothing that´s of a terribly bad quality featured on the 9 track, 35:06 minutes long album, but way too many of the tracks go by unnoticed, lack hooks, and are forgotten as soon as the album is over. To my ears the only standout tracks on "Indecent and Obscene" are the two above mentioned tracks and "Skinfather".

It doesn´t help that the sound production is slightly unpleasant sounding. Dismember takes the buzzing Sunlight studios guitar sound to the extreme on "Indecent and Obscene", and as a consequence it´s often hard to hear what is being played. The guitar sound simply comes off as messy. The musicianship is also only decent and the way the album is mixed reveals some of the not to tight playing. While "Indecent and Obscene" does features some redeeming qualities ("Dreaming in Red" is for example a splendid track), it´s hard not to feel disappointed by the drop in songwriting quality since "Like an Everflowing Stream (1991)". Sure the "Pieces (1992)" EP wasn´t the greatest release either (compared to the strong debut album), but one could have hoped it was a one off drop in quality. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.
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Vim Fuego wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Dismember fell off a bit after the debut. It would have been hard to match it. I remember getting this album and being somewhat underwhelmed.

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