Cause of Death

If there is a blueprint on how to obtain death metal perfection, then Obituary’s second release
Cause of Death would be used as a template on how to achieve it. Released on September 19th,
1990, this nine-track masterpiece is a shock wave to the listener’s auditory nerves and is my top
contender for best death metal album of all time. The thing I absolutely love about this album
and the band is how absolutely unique their sound is! Obituary doesn’t sound like anyone else
and no one else sounds like them! The minute I hear the guitar tones of rhythm guitarist Trevor
Peres and the intense pummeling drums of Donald Tardy I know who it is even before the
monstrous vocals of his brother John Tardy emerge! These 3 men are the nucleus that has
always remained within this band throughout their entire existence and are absolutely essential.
Without them, Obituary would cease to be. From the opening track “Infected” with its ominous
atmospheric howling wind that starts with a slow but steady foreboding drumbeat that then
goes into the down-tuned strings of Trevor Peres’ chilling and doomtastic riffage, that then just
leads into the incendiary solos provided by James Murphy that is absolute audio candy to my
ears! Topped off with the pulsating rhythm section of the late great Frank Watkins on bass and
my all-time favorite death metal drummer Donald Tardy! Then the icing on this death metal
cake is the obliterating vocals of John Tardy that just smacks you in your ear hole! Incredible
opening track that sets the tone for the entire album! I especially love the phenomenal lead
guitar playing by James Murphy that fades out into the demonic howling wind that moves right
into the next amazing song!
“Body Bag” starts off with a brutal pulsating riff that is just one more exhibition of why Trevor
Peres is the greatest rhythm guitarist in death metal! It then progresses into another groove-
laden riff at 1:30 that then escalates into a pulverizing riff! His riffs are immaculately showcased
within his supremely embrittled, chainsaw-esque guitar tone which has always been essential
to the sound of this band and is one of the signature traits of Obituary that sets them apart from
many of their contemporaries of the Floridian death metal scene of the early nineties. The
musicianship on this track alone takes it to another level and is one the reasons why this album
is considered a death metal magnum opus!
With “Chopped in Half” John Tardy wields a unique sputtering vocal characteristic to create the
lumbering paced, somber, domineering stagger of its ponderous massiveness. “Circle of the
Tyrants” follows as one of the finest Celtic Frost tributes I’ve heard, exemplifying the
monumental influence Hellhammer/Celtic Frost are on Obituary. The devastation continues with
“Dying”, which has a powerful stream and grind to it, while “Find the Arise” once again makes
masterful manipulation of John Tardy’s shrieking opening to marshall the tsunami of sonic
devastation! Then you have “Cause Of Death” the title track is an extraneous example of the
slow death/doom variety that encapsulates this phenomenal band, that features virtuosity
throughout the entire track!
Yet, the pièce de résistance, if you will, might just be “Memories Remain” that spawns an
intensely death/doom ambience, especially in the chorus, as Tardy spews the lyrics “Life goes
on… even after death… life goes on.” James Murphy’s lead guitars are shrieking and proficiently
rendered, and this song encapsulates the very definition of
“death metal”. The closing track,

“Turned Inside Out”; is actually another killer track to exit the album, with some infectious riffage
and grooving.
Cause Of Death, in my humble opinion, is the greatest death metal album ever produced and is
the reason why Obituary are considered one of the pioneers of the subgenre.