AUTOPSY — The Headless Ritual (review)

AUTOPSY — The Headless Ritual album cover Album · 2013 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"The Headless Ritual" is the 6th full-length studio album by US death metal act Autopsy. The album was released through Peaceville Records in July 2013. It´s the second full-length studio album released by the band since they reunited in 2009.

The music on the album is unmistakably the sound of Autopsy. Filthy Old school death metal with a doomy edge, but also with the occasional energetic punk section. This time around there´s also a slight rock´n´roll influence present. Especially some of the blues based guitar solos point in that direction. Autopsy pull it off with conviction and ease though. These guys might go for a raw, simple and unpolished sound, but there´s nothing wrong with their playing skills and as composers they are also delightfully adventurous. I can mention almost any track on the album and you´ll find twists and turns that provide the tracks with just the right amount of variation for them and the album as a whole to never grow stale. I´ll mention "Slaughter at Beast House", "She is a Funeral" and "Running from the Goathead" as some of the highlights, but as mentioned the quality is high throughout.

One of the features I really enjoy on "The Headless Ritual", besides Chris Reifert´s organic "loose" drumming and his spectacular growling, which are always highlights on any Autopsy release, is the interplay between guitarists Danny Coralles and Eric Cutler. It´s not like their playing is flashy or technically overwhelming, but their dark morbid harmonies and passionate soloing really provide the music on "The Headless Ritual" with something extra.

"Macabre Eternal (2011)" was most definitely a great comeback album by Autopsy, but the sound production (which wasn´t gritty enough) and a couple of filler tracks didn´t do the album any favours. To my ears "The Headless Ritual" is a much more interesting album by Autopsy. It´s like they´ve really challenged themselves to try new things and as a consequence the songwriting is generally much stronger than the case was on the predecessor. The more raw sound production also suits Autopsy much better. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.
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