EXCRUCIATE — Passage of Life (review)

EXCRUCIATE — Passage of Life album cover Album · 1993 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
UMUR
"Passage of Life" is the debut full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Excruciate. The album was released in 1993 through Thrash Records. "Passage of Life" was recorded and mixed at Sunlight Studio with producer Tomas Skogsberg.

Bearing the above info in mind, it´s no surprise that the music on "Passage of Life" is old school Swedish death metal. Excruciate had been around since the early nineties, releasing a couple of acclaimed demo tapes and a split with Epitaph, but unfortunately it wasn´t until 1993 that this debut album was released. "Passage of Life" was already recorded in November - December 1991, so my guess is, that it was label problems (probably issues finding a label) which resulted in the late release date. It´s actually a shame because "Passage of Life" already sounded a bit outdated in 1993. You have to understand that the death metal scene where in rapid movement in those years and what was thought of as "new" in 1991 could already sound "old" in 1993.

Taking that into consideration "Passage of Life" is however a good example of how Swedish death metal sounded in 1991. The vocals are brutal, the guitars are downtuned and have a thick crunchy brutal sound, the bass is gone in the mix and the drums are relatively simple and effective. Pretty much the recipe for most old school Swedish death metal acts back in the day (although Excruciate stand out a tiny bit for having the occasional deathgrind influence and not many hardcore influences). Of course there were acts who stood out, but the music on "Passage of Life" is pretty much run of the mill old school Swedish death metal and I can´t find any sensible reason to seek out this album instead of some of the early classic albums by for example Entombed, Dismember, Therion, or Grave. Still the album features some pretty well executed old school Swedish death metal so a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Suffocated By Fungal Odors Deathcore
VISCERAL EXECRATION
Buy this album from MMA partners
Lethargy Metalcore
HEARTLAPSE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Vitriol Deathcore
BEHEADING THE ICON
Buy this album from MMA partners
Cecità Atmospheric Sludge Metal
NITRITONO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Resiliencia Metalcore
SOURCE OF MYSTERIES
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Suicidal Tendencies - Send Me Your Money
SUICIDAL TENDENCIES
UMUR· 11 hours ago
Suicidal Tendencies - Trip at the Brain
SUICIDAL TENDENCIES
UMUR· 11 hours ago
Suicidal Tendencies - Nobody Hears
SUICIDAL TENDENCIES
UMUR· 11 hours ago
Suicidal Tendencies - You Can't Bring Me Down
SUICIDAL TENDENCIES
UMUR· 11 hours ago
Thanatos - Source Of Mysteries (Video Oficial)
SOURCE OF MYSTERIES
Bosh66· 1 day ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed