### Obituary: Darkest day

#### 18/06/10 || InquisitorGeneralis

I am finally getting the chance to see Obituary live at the upcoming (probably already happened by the time you read this piece of shit) Maryland Death Fest. I am a late arrival on the Obituary scene and have slowly become a decent sized fan of these Florida Death Metal icons. “Frozen in Time” was my introduction to the band and it’s a good release: nothing too mindfuckingly amazing but nothing god awful either. I soon picked up a generic, Roadrunner-issued greatest hits compilation that exposed me to the certifiable Obituary classics like “Chopped in half”, “Cause of death”, and “Slowly we rot”. So, when a copy of “Darkest Day” fell into my lap I was pretty excited to hear the most recent offering from these stalwarts Floridian purveyor of old-school low’n‘slow death metal.

Well, “Darkest Day” is neither a major disappointment nor a mind-blowing success for me. Overall, it’s enjoyable, well done, and I like it… but I doubt it will reach the upper Pantheon of my tastes. The quality tracks on here come in chunks: “Payback” has a solid groove and nice guitar solo and is followed up by the heavier “Your darkest day”. “See me know”, “Fields of pain”, and “Violent dreams” are a solid triple combo near the end of the record. Obituary put out one solid groove after another and I give them a lot of credit for that: but repetition creeps up slowly on “Darkest Day” and a lack of major variety is what brings the album down a bit. At least the basic formula they follow is a good one, or else the Tardys and Co. would be in trouble.

“Darkest Day” has a definite old-school production which works both for and against it. It’s cool because it definitely reflects the sound and feel of the band’s classic material but when it gets combined with the lack of extreme variation between songs, it makes things feel a little old after a while. Overall, I can not say anything bad about any of the performances on here: Vocal Tardy delivers in his patented raspy growl while Brother Drummer keep a steady pace from behind the kit. I really like the subtle changes into tempo he tosses in.

If you are looking for hummingbird speed or gravity hammer blasts though, you will certainly not find them here. While I do love a super-massive drum fill to take me from one section to the next, I also can appreciate a softer transition as well when it is done right. You will not hear me listening to any Ahab anytime soon, but I like the swampy pace of the tunes on “Darkest Day”. I am not a complete speed freak! Guitarists Trevor Peres and Santolla of Deicide fame pump out some quality, mid-paced riffs and solos so nothing to shit on there either.

Overall, “Darkest Day” is a good album with plenty of enjoyable tracks. Nothing on here will blow your mind though and if you already have a shit-ton of Obituary albums this may seem like more of the same. However, if you are unfamiliar with the band this could be a good starting point before moving onto the early stuff. Pick it up if you can, but don’t go apeshit ok?

Lord Gay’s description below couldn’t be more fitting.

- Information
- Released: 2009
- Label: Candlelight
- Website: www.obituary.cc
- Band
- John Tardy: vocals
- Trevor Peres: guitar
- Ralph Santolla: guitar
- Frank Watkins: bass
- Donald Tardy: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. List of Dead
- 02. Blood to Give
- 03. Lost Inside
- 04. Outside My Head
- 05. Payback
- 06. Your Darkest Day
- 07. This Life
- 08. See Me Now
- 09. Fields of Pain
- 10. Violent Dreams
- 11. Truth Be Told
- 12. Forces Realign
- 13. Left to Die