Suffocation - Effigy of the Forgotten

This is the first pressing of Suffocation's immense Effigy of the Forgotten on R/C Records.

To me, this album simply emanates pure Death Metal awesomeness at its most primitive of levels. Not only was one of the first Death Metal albums I owned on CD (bought by postal order from the now defunct Pinnacle records as I recall), but it, alongside releases by the likes of Cannibal Corpse and Broken Hope, introduced me to the crushing new world of aural viciousness.

Effigy of the Forgotten isn't just an amazing Death Metal album, but alongside their Human Waste EP, it pretty much single-handedly created the 'brutal' sound that came to become more and more popular in the NYDM scene, before spreading across the USA like wildfire. I was (and still am) blown away by the wall of sound they created in the fuzzy, claustrophobic production — such massive, devastating guitar tones spiraling all around without ever losing control thanks to the contact battering ram of drums and bear-like growls of Frank Mullen. The fact that the riffs were constantly sweeping into solos, or switching into double tracked harmonious licks from their usual pounding rhythmic sections really manages to pump up the listener into an almost euphoric state of restlessness — I always struggle to stay still when listening to it anyway. If an album can move someone in that way, it has to have something about it that really makes it special, and on Effigy of the Forgotten, it's undoubtedly the riffs for me. From the killer breakdowns to the thrashy breaks, back round to the 'speedy without relying on blastbeat' sections — the riffs are timeless, and undoubtedly still inspiring to this day. Everything is right here, not just the music, but the awesome Dan Seagrave artwork, the lyrics and song titles... everything.

Anyway, I shouldn't need to go on any longer. This isn't just a regular Death Metal album, this is Effigy of the FUCKING Forgotten, bitches. Now, turn the volume up on this fucker, and let it change the physical form of everything in front of your speakers.