May 2021 Feature Release – The Horde Edition

So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.

This month’s feature release for The Horde has been nominated by myself & it comes from arguably my favourite band. It's 1998's classic "Despise The Sun" E.P. from New York brutal death metal godfathers Suffocation.

https://metal.academy/releases/1247

Review is up.  An often overlooked record that could stink of a band just throwing any old shit out to try and remain relevant some three years after they dropped one of the greatest albums of their career (of the genre arguably).  Instead they pulled together 5 tracks of solid death metal, shaved off a bit of the technical edge and just let rip.  There is a sadness in the fact that upon reflection this is (for me) the last great Suffocation release and the EP gets way too little attention in all honesty.  It showed they had a lot still left to give but for whatever reason they split after this and although they reformed in the early noughties, they have never shown much of a hint of being able to capture this kind of form again.

4/5

Anyone who knows my preference for technical death metal already knows that I have very little tolerance for full on aggressive death metal that is more concerned about creating the filthiest mosh pit of all time rather than coming up with a decent tune that I will remember the next day. Suffocation comfortably fall into this mold for me and this record can only be propped up by solid production and good performances all around for so long. It's a passable dose of technical death metal, but I can guarantee that I won't return to this again.

6/10

To the surprise of absolutely no one, "Despise The Sun" has always been one of my very favourite death metal releases from arguably my favourite metal band. In fact, I rate it ahead of classics like "Effigy Of The Forgotten" & "Human Waste" these days with only "Pierced From Within" managing to top it. No one can compete with Suffocation for sophistication & controlled brutality & Frank Mullen's vocals are up there with the best in all of death metal. There's not as much of a reliance on those twisted guitar solos on this release however the sheer weight of this material means that it doesn't actually need it. An unmitigated classic in every sense.

For fans of Dying Fetus, Cryptopsy & Nile.

5/5 

I still don't know too much about the more Brutal side of Death Metal so I wanted to give this short one more chances and time than I normally do. I think it's incredibly solid, unbelievably heavy, and I can see how Suffocation is considered one of the pinnacles of the heavier styles of Death Metal. It helps that they don't necessarily fall into the pitfalls of the more modern Tech-Death groups, since they're able to create some really jagged and complex sections within Despise the Sun without it feeling like they're shoving technical playing in your face for no reason. 

Like Saxy said I don't think I'll necessarily have a reason to go back to this one too much given what I tend to want to listen to on a day-to-day basis, but I'm going to give credit where credit is due on this one. Some of the best, brutal-leaning Death Metal I've heard crammed into a 15-minute package. I have to admit that I'm more of a fan of the modern takes on the brutal but technical style, something like Tomb Mold's Planetary Clairvoyance always comes to mind whenever I try to think of what kind of Death Metal really gets me going, but this was satisfyingly grimy for sure. 

4/5