Asphyx - Last One on Earth (1992)^{Release ID: 2479}

Now Dutchmen Asphyx are a death metal band I have been familiar with for quite a while now, their brand of OSDM coming to my attention via recommendations for bands similar to Autopsy and the fact that former Pestilence bassist/vocalist, Martin van Drunen, performed vocals on this and their debut album, The Rack, (as well as their later albums after rejoining the band in 2007). In common with many of the early practitioners of death doom, Asphyx like to vary their pacing throughout the albums runtime, not just sticking rigidly to the death doom template with their take on this style of death metal being less cavernous and abyssal-sounding than the likes of Autopsy. The production of Last One On Earth has rendered their sound crisper and less filthy than a lot of their contemporaries, which makes the album more desperate and hopeless-sounding than demonic and threatening, as if the band are victims of evil rather than the perpetrators of it.

One of the main reasons for this desperation is van Drunen's unique, shredded higher register which is a long way from the rumbling growls of Chris Reifert and co. and which gives the doom-laden sections a more human connection, reflecting a hopeless and bleak atmosphere. Of course, slow, doom-laden passages are far from the only game in town and Asphyx have no fear of letting rip, Serenade in Lead being a particular exercise in high-velocity riffing. The quicker material benefits greatly from the better-defined guitar tone and the issue of muddiness that often plagues the perpetrators of the more cavernous style doesn't rear it's head here. The songwriting is impeccable with killer riffs, variations in pacing with smooth transitions, interesting lyrical content and, most importantly, a crushing heaviness that any extreme metalhead can readily appreciate.

A couple of niggling issues are the lack of any appreciable bass presence in the mix which does seem to prevent the album from sounding as crushing as it may otherwise have done and I would have liked to hear a bit more lead work as the soloing that is present is pretty damn good. Minor gripes aside, Last One On Earth is a definite step up from the already well-received debut The Rack and, for me, is the high watermark of Asphyx's career to date.

This month, in an attempt to complete my studies of essential Old School Death Metal, I finally turned my attention to one of the last "classic" bands that I'd yet to dive into. Asphyx.  I had some familiarity, of course. I knew they were Dutch, and I knew The Rack was a pioneering release in the emerging Death/Doom subgenre, highly regarded by a few of my friends. 

To my surprise, it was not The Rack, but its follow-up, Last One on Earth, that was featured in The Horde's essentials, convincing me to check it out first.

Also to my surprise, I found little of the heavy, grimy doom-flavored death metal that I expected from Asphyx. Aside from the dark and brooding title track, this is mostly straightforward no-frills OSDM, more akin to an Obituary or a watered-down Consuming Impulse. I'm not sure if Last One on Earth was a departure from The Rack in that regard, but it wasn't necessarily a turn-off for me. I love me some straightforward no-frills OSDM and was prepared to also love this album.

Unfortunately, what does turn me off here, and what holds Last One on Earth back from joining my rotation of favorite OSDM albums, is the way it actually sounds. The production is... kinda awful. Everything sounds tinny and thin. Asphyx offer up plenty of good riffs on this thing, but in many cases they're robbed of impact by a lack of weight to the guitars. There's less lower-end than I like in my Death Metal sound. As a result, it doesn't ever feel very heavy. When you add in the presence of Martin van Drunen, who provides vocals on the aforementioned Consuming Impulse, one of my favorite death metal albums, yeah... listening to this just makes we wish I was listening to Pestilence. I alluded to it before, but Last One on Earth is essentially a worse-produced Consuming Impulse without the mysterious, horror-tinged atmosphere that album had. Van Drunen's unique wailing vocal style isn't as enjoyable for me without that sense of dread in the music.

Now... for the good. Because this album does have enough going for it to earn a solid 7 and a light recommendation from me. "M.S. Bismarck" and "The Krusher" are very good, well-written death metal songs, kicking the album off with a lot of promise and momentum. I particularly love the main riff in the former, and the drums and sudden tempo changes in the latter. "Last One on Earth" captures the most atmosphere on the album, with its slower pace, heavy riff, and vivid post-apocalyptic lyrics. It is more along the lines of what I expected from a band supposedly connected to the Death/Doom movement. After that, the album drops off a little bit, with a few tracks I would describe as "decent, but nothing special" death metal. Fortunately, the closer "Asphyx (Forgotten War)" is also a highlight, with a real sense of purpose to it that was missing on the preceding tracks, and perhaps the most memorable guitar riff on the whole album.

Overall, Last One on Earth is pretty good, but not really worthy of the greatness that some seem to bestow upon it. The production definitely holds it back being as enjoyable as it could be. If you're a Death Metal completionist like I am, it's worth checking out for 3-4 notable tracks, but you're also not missing much if you stick to Pestilence and Autopsy instead.

I never got the love for Asphyx's prior outing to this record.  The Rack as a stand alone record of its time was tame at best.  I found it devoid of memorable riffs which for a death/doom record is no mean feat in my book.  Thankfully the follow up release was chock full of huge riffs to blow the underwhelming debut out of the water in one fell swoop.

Things start off well enough with M.S. Bismarck but it's track number two that really gets the blood pumping.  The main riff to The Krusher is - fittingly - crushing!  It is so full of groove and bite that it is literally like having a set of teeth embedded in your throat whilst the beast that aforementioned fangs belong to shakes the very life out of your body.  I could listen to this track over and over on repeat and never get bored of it.  One of the most infectious riffs ever written in the history of metal for me.

Serenade in Lead continues proceedings in a more aggressive and calculated manner with it's full frontal assault and (more) memorable riffage before the title track settles down into the more familiar doomy edged death metal with its macabre tone and drawn out pace.  The rest of the album continues in this pretty much similar pattern of confrontational lyrics coupled with heavy riffs and scathing delivery which is where the criticism comes in.  For all its looming presence and vibrant riffage the memorability factor still isn't cranked up much higher than the debut.  The difference being that this release has standout moments that have stuck with me since the first listen.

I am a massive fan of Van Drunen's style and his demented ramblings seem ultra-bonkers on here.  He was absent for the next 25 years after this release and he's never really topped this vocal performance with Asphyx since he returned.  For me Asphyx's sophomore release was their peak, with nothing coming close to the almost dirty and gritty guitar sound over the past 30+ years.  Not perfect by a long chalk but the important parts are stuck in my head for the rest of my life.