Reviews list for Resurrection - Embalmed Existence (1993)

I picked up the 1993 debut album from Florida death metallers Resurrection very early in my tape trading days & it made a pretty big impact on me too, triggering many return visits over the years & a general fondness that's seen me often wondering why these guys didn't amount to more than they did. "Embalmed Existence" is a rip-roaring extreme metal record of high-quality with Resurrection presenting a very professional & appealing sound that's benefitted from a trademark Scott Burns production job at the legendary Morrisound Studios as well as a typically dark & eerie Dan Seagrave album cover. So, why didn't it manage to achieve a stronger level of notoriety than it did? Well, I think some of that comes down to the inclusion of many spoken-word interludes that I personally find to add something to the album but many people simply find to be annoying. I can't understand it to be honest. I think they give "Embalmed Existence" its own unique character.

While Resurrection may not be the most brutal of US death metal bands, there's a cohesion to their attack that easily makes up for the lack of blast-beats. I particularly enjoy the contribution of drummer Alex Marquez (Solstice/Cephalic Carnage/Demolition Hammer/Malevolent Creation) who ties the instrumentation together with great precision, giving some of the simpler sections a little more meat than they might otherwise have had. Resurrection's weakness is definitely in the vocal department though with front man Paul Degoyler's whispery death growls lacking a bit of depth. While revisiting the album this week I got the distinct feeling that Degoyler was one of the guitarists because it seemed like all of his vocal parts were strategically positioned over some pretty simple riff structures, giving me the impression that he wasn't the most skilled of multi-taskers. I was surprised to discover later on that Paul is a dedicated grunter as it seemed so obvious to me but I guess I shouldn't make assumptions.

"Embalmed Existence" kicks off in stellar fashion with opener "Disembodied" being a classic example of the Florida death metal sound. My personal favourite "Pure Be Damned" comes a lot later in the piece & sees Resurrection playing in spaces that only the very top tier of the genre have any right to be. The remainder of the tracklisting is generally very solid with only the seriously misguided cover version of KISS' "War Machine" that ends the record being a throwaway. Resurrection tend to take two very clearly defined directions here. On the one hand you have the more brutal influence of Malevolent Creation which is probably where I see most of the stronger moments residing & on the other you have the more crushing & slower tempo power chords riffs of Obituary. Perhaps those influences are a little too blatant at times but I'm a big fan of both bands & there are enough unique elements to Resurrection's sound to give them their own identity regardless, particularly those interesting interludes which never overstay their welcome.

This revisit has once again proven to me that Resurrection were very unlucky not to receive a lot more attention than they did. Perhaps the slightly weaker vocal contribution is the main reason for that? it's hard to say but they were a more than capable band with a classy sound that fits right inside my wheelhouse & was probably a bit of an influence of the early Neuropath material too given how much time I spent with "Embalmed Existence". I think most of our The Horde members should find a fair bit to like here.

For fans of Malevolent Creation, Obituary & Morta Skuld.