Suffocation – Blood Oath

Friday, July 24th, 2009, posted by K.Panagiotis

I must be honest to all of you who read this. Apart from considering all Suffocation members, old and new, great players and really important persons for the genre, there was always something about the music of the band that didn’t get things moving for me. I always felt there is lack of point to their songs, not in all eras but most of the times. For example ”Despise the Sun” EP is a legendary release undoubtedly, and I also liked very much the reformation album, ”Souls To Deny”.

The previous album entitled as the name of the band started causing new questions inside my head, as i felt it was a step back for the band, like they did some kind of compromise in order to become a little more easy to listen to.

”Blood Oath”, the newest album by the New Yorkers, doesn’t make things better in my opinion. It is a well played release, by experienced musicians, in the traditional Suffocation style.

This time mid-tempo parts are more on the album, while you can also listen many Morbid Angel parts during the album’s flowing. It is all about the nerve that’s missing i guess. Production is great, but i think it doesn’t help the album to sound powerful, the band sounds like it’s held by something, like they don’t unleash their full energy. Of course there are blast beats, of course there are good riffs, of course there are growling vocals. But that doesn’t mean this is what i expected. Many will disagree and i really bet on this. To be honest, i truly wanted this to be a praising review and a beginning for me to become a true fan of them.

It seems this is not the year, both for me and them. I wish them to gain some success, as I have read many complaints from them regarding to promoters that don’t book them for concerts. They still remain a great live band and a name with history and they deserve to be treated with respect. So, with all my respect to them, rating will be a little more than i think it is.

Track List

Line Up

01. Blood Oath 02. Dismal Dream 03. Pray For Forgiveness 04. Images Of Purgatory 05. Cataclysmic Purification 06. Mental Hemorrhage 07. Come Hell Or High Priest 08. Undeserving 09. Provoking The Disturbed 10. Martial Decimation 11. Pray For Forgiveness [instrumental version] 12. Dismal Dream [rough mix un-mastered version] 13. Blood Oath [instrumental version] 14. Cataclysmic Purification [rough mix un-mastered version]

Frank Mullen – vocals Terrance Hobbs – guitar Guy Marchais – guitar Derek Boyer – bass guitar Mike Smith – drums