Review by Ben for Obituary - Cause of Death (1990)

Cause of Death is hands down the best album these Floridian death metal legends would ever produce. Their debut Slowly We Rot was certainly an enjoyable release that showcased how filthy and brutal, yet groovy and memorable these guys can be, yet Cause of Death took everything they were doing earlier and added one extremely vital ingredient. James Murphy!

Obituary were already a formidable outfit, particularly with John Tardy's incredibly violent, guttural, vocal talent leading the way. They'd already created their identity through Donald Tardy's restrained drums and West's and Peres's dark, evil riffs. But what they truly lacked was the incredibly beautiful lead work that James Murphy brought into the band during his short stint.

Tracks like Infected and Body Bag are great tracks regardless, but his lead work just takes them to a whole new level. Other highlights include Dying, the title track and Memories Remain. Add to all this some fantastic artwork and the fact that all 9 tracks are great, and you get an essential death metal classic. Unfortunately, Obituary would degrade into a very much by the numbers type band that would make it easy to overlook their earlier, more inspired outings. Make sure you don't make that mistake!