Rigor Mortis - Rigor Mortis (1988)^{Release ID: 4018}

Dallas four-piece Rigor Mortis are a classic example of a band that really took advantage of the tape trading scene of the late 1980’s & early 1990’s. They’re raw, aggressive & possess the sort of underground aesthetic that was always going to appeal to an extreme metal aficionado like myself at the time. I became aware of them through exactly that scene a few years after the release of this debut album & recall quite liking it too but “Rigor Mortis” wouldn’t be a record that I’d find myself returning to all that often for one reason or another, despite my having checked out all of the band’s subsequent releases at some point. I can usually judge the magnitude of the impact a band might have had on me as a youngster by using my younger brother Ben as a point of reference. Did I pass “Rigor Mortis” on to Ben as an elite release for him to check out or did it sit in the back of one of my huge boxes of cassettes gathering dust? In this case it sat in the box so I’ve been a little surprised to see the sizeable cult following the album seems to have gained over the many years since. With that in mind, it’s probably time for a revisit to see if I’ve misjudged this record.

The first box that “Rigor Mortis” ticks for any underground thrasher worth their salt can be found in its raw, slightly cold production job which comes courtesy of Skinny Puppy’s Dave Ogilvie who had previously been responsible for producing some of his band’s more highly regarded works such as 1984’s “Remission” & 1988’s “Vivisect VI”. There’s not much gloss about the overall tone & atmosphere which suits Rigor Mortis’ intent quite well. You won’t struggle to make out the individual components though so it’s a nicely balanced portrait of Rigor Mortis’ sound at the same time. This is probably helped by the fact that they haven’t added a second rhythm guitar track underneath future Ministry/1000 Homo DJ’s/Lard/Revolting Cocks axeman Mike Scaccia’s rapid-fire solos which gives the album some much needed space & a distinctly live feel. Mike is well capable of holding his own without them though it has to be said. The rhythm section of bassist Casey Orr (Ministry/Gwar) & drummer Harden Harrison do a reasonable job but it’s Scaccia’s ridiculously fast right-hand endurance that’s the clear focal point & drawcard for the Rigor Mortis’ sound. His solos are utterly shred-tastic & must have left a few budding late 80’s shredders with their heads in their hands while his light-speed thrash riffs give a very clear indication as to why Ministry mastermind Al Jourgensen would recruit him to reproduce the technique on his more intense material. Just check out “Shroud of Gloom” & tell me that you can’t hear the main riff from Ministry’s 1992 industrial thrasher “TV II” for example.

Front man Bruce Corbitt guides Rigor Mortis through the 40-minute, ten-track run time with a muscular, masculine tone that’s well suited to aggressive thrash metal. The references to death metal you’ll sometimes read online are a little misguided although it’s not hard to pickup the influence of Possessed & particularly early Death in some of the riffs on tracks like “Condemned To Hell”. Slayer were clearly the most significant point of inspiration for Rigor Mortis (both their early “Show No Mercy” debut album & their more extreme mid-80’s classics) in a thrash-at-all-costs assault on the senses that doesn’t bring anything terribly new to the table but is unanimously successful in its attempt to capture the diehard metal audience. Speed metal tune “Die In Pain” stands out a bit in the tracklisting given that it would seem to be a tribute to Venom’s faster material if my ears are not mistaken.

“Rigor Mortis” is very consistent in the quality of its song-writing & performances & I’d have to suggest that I get enjoyment from all of the ten tracks included. It’s just lacking those couple of knockout punches that take a decent thrash metal record & make it into an essential one. There are no obvious highlight tracks on offer so even though fans of bands like Deceased…, Gammacide & Evildead will likely find plenty to interest them, I’m not sure that “Rigor Mortis” will end up on too many top ten lists.