Autopsy - Macabre Eternal

AUTOPSY - Macabre Eternal (PEACEVILLE - LP 2011)

Autopsy's back from the dead, with first album in 16 years! This had to be a risky game for them. Luckily, this exhumed corpse got new vital forces and ejaculated an album, which for me is equally worthy as their classic records from the early 90's. Basically everything about "Macabre Eternal" is fantastic - from the stunning artwork, through the production, vocals... And the songs - even if not all of them are immediate classics and two or three may be slightly less exciting for me, but they are never boring fillers. The quality is just superb. Even the fact that the album is 60 minutes long doesn't bother me, because spread over two vinyl, listening to it is just fun and with such a collection of amazing riffs, it's an instant winner for me. 

Stylistically, "Macabre Eternal" is exactly what fans of Autopsy would expect. Gory, rotten and stinky death metal with punkish simplicity in some and doomy heaviness in other fragments. Plus sick, vomiting vocals and horroresque, "macabre" atmosphere. But let's be honest - this album sounds "more mature" when compared to such "Shitfun" or even "Acts of Unspeakable". Songs are much longer, mostly they're around five minutes long, which is definitely something new for this band. And "Sadistic Gratification" goes even further than anything Autopsy has done before and crushes bones for almost twelve fuckin minutes! But what a great result. Autopsy had used this time perfectly and came up with many fantastic riffs, combining that old school death metal with sludgy doom. They even added some melodic parts here and there, some simple solos.... I love the arrangements they written for these tracks, great feeling of the music, Reifert's drumming... and these vocals! Wooowwweee, Reifert is a sicko, but his voice fits this music just perfectly. But Eric Cutler also did some vocals on this album and I have to say that when I listen to "Dirty Gore Whore" and read the lyrics, it really feels like you're listening to this psycho, who the lyrics tell about. "In my hand I have a rock, to your skull it will grind. I take you back to my room to have some fun before your doom. Little slices bring big pain... Some would say I'm insane...". Yes, total madness and fuckin sick stuff! I need to mention also the production, which is just perfect. It's rather clean and much better, when compared to Autopsy's old records. But it keeps that dirtiness and harshness and is quite powerful, so this music rips head off, when played loud.  

My favourite songs? Well, definitely "Sadistic Gratification", which I mentioned earlier. This song is a beast, I love these slow paced, melodic riffs, which sound almost like Swedish death metal! The ending part, where you can also hear female screams, gives me such a goose skin that I swear, this is one of the best melodies I have ever heard! And so well arranged and played! This song turns into epic and a real highlight of the whole Autopsy discography. But that's not everything! "Hand of Darkness" is a crushing opener, but "Dirty Gore Whore" is even better, I love Cutler's vicious vocals in it and some of the riffs belong to the best on the album, especially the mid section. If you wanna know what the soundtrack for psychopaths could be like, then listen to this song. "Seeds of the Doomed"!!! This song is a great combination of doomy riffs with more up-tempo type of playing, but I have to say that the heaviness and vicious feel of slow fragments is simply amazing. For me this is when Autopsy sounds the best and I truly love it. "Bridge of Bones", which surprised me with some clean acoustic guitar interludes is also worth mentioning, as it shows that Autopsy came up with many new things on this album. 

So, I see no weaknesses in these songs and feel very excited every time I listen to "Macabre Eternal". And you know what? We have many Autopsy–esque bands around these days and many of them are pretty good, but there's only one real king of disgust and horror. Unbelievably good record then, unbelievably good comeback. Along with Unanimated and Asphyx, the best one ever!  

Standout tracks: "Sadistic Gratification", "Dirty Gore Whore", "Seeds of the Doomed" 

Verdict: 85/100