Review by illusionist for Asphyx - Last One on Earth (1992)

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.