Obscenity - Suffocated Truth

OBSCENITY - Suffocated Truth (VIC Records - CD 2015)

Another old album, another re-release and another one from the excellent VIC Records. This time they chose an album, which I was actually trying to find for some time, but damn, the prices were just ridiculous and to be honest, I don’t think the musical content was worth so much, so I never bought it. So, it’s good to see this reissue from VIC, to be honest. I had paid more normal price for it and finally have it in a collection, not bothering if it’s the first press or if it isn’t. Especially as it’s not among my favourite death metal releases, even when speaking of the German bands only. I don’t know… but I never thought of Obscenity more as an average kind of death metal band. Definitely I loved such Fleshcrawl, Torchure, Mangled Torsos or early Morgoth way more than them. It doesn’t mean I don’t like Obscenity. Surely they were cool band. I liked the demos a lot, but on the other hand I am familiar only with a couple of their full lengths; never bothered to check them all. “Suffocated Truth” was one of those, which I knew, even though I was not listening to it for many years. So, it’s cool to have this reissue. One thing I must say, that when compared to some other reissues from VIC, this one looks very poor. I expected to see a nice booklet, with some photos, lyrics, liner notes... Well, no booklet here really, just basic four pages with nothing interesting inside. Damn, that’s a disappointment. I like to see reissues done with more extensive presentation, to be worth having along with the first press. Well, I am not sure if it worked here. I guess the only reason for you to have this reissue is that you don’t need to pay 100 euros for it.

If I can be honest, for me “Suffocated Truth” is rather average death metal album from the 90’s. It’s good, but far from the brilliance of my favourite old records. Hmm, I suppose thing, which I think affects the whole “Suffocated Truth” the most and makes it less impressive as it probably could have been, is the production of this album. It’s just weak, not heavy and powerful enough. It should have been more chunky and brutal, not so fuckin thin, especially on the guitars. But the songwriting could have also been slightly more impressive. Sure, there are some great pieces, like for example I truly like the leads in “Forgotten Past”, which makes me think of old Obituary and Death, but at the same time there are some parts, which are simply dull and the riffs are too generic. Obscenity didn’t come up with anything, what would really makes this album standout from the whole bunch of death metal releases. Sure, it is solid and decent, but nothing more than that. Luckily, the music has that obscure and brutal feeling, comparable to the early works of their countrymen that I mentioned above, so in the end it is a good listen. Tracks like “Ruthless Greed”, “Forgotten Past” or “Life Beyond” are not bad at all, they bring some really great riffs, especially “Ruthless Greed” is my favourite, with that slower riffage, keyboard in the background and generally very dark, heavy aura. But is it enough to put this album among my favourite European death metal releases from these old days? Well, rather not. “Suffocated Truth” has no match even to some other German albums, not to mention some Dutch, British or Swedish classics.

But even if it’s not mandatory, I still recommend you it. Why? Because in the end Obscenity is an important band for the German death metal scene, one of the oldest from there and it’s just a must to know them. And “Suffocated Truth” may not be the most crushing of all albums, but it surely deserves attention. Grab then a copy of VIC re-issue, if you cannot afford the first press (which I think is not worth all the money).

Standout tracks: “Ruthless Greed”, “Forgotten Past”, “Life Beyond”

Final rate: 70/100