Cherry Red Records and Dissonance collate the Roadrunner albums from Obituary – a truly great run of albums that put the Floridians on the map.
Released: Out Now
Label: Dissonance
Format: 4CD
OBITUARY
There are few runs in extreme metal as solid as Obituary’s opening quartet of albums. Between 1989 and 1994, the Floridian death metal pioneers delivered four records on Roadrunner that didn’t just shape their own career: they helped lay the very foundations of death metal itself. Slowly We Rot, Cause of Death, The End Complete and World Demise tell the story of a band finding its voice and then doubling down on what made them unique, even as the metal landscape around them shifted.
SLOWLY WE ROT
When Slowly We Rot emerged in 1989, death metal was still in its infancy. Possessed coined the term, Death were crystallising the form, and Morbid Angel were on the verge of releasing Altars of Madness. Into this ferment came Obituary with a debut that felt like a blunt-force shock.
The record is quite raw with production bordering on primitive: guitars buzz and hiss like a swarm of angry insects, drums often sound distant, and bass rumbles like an underground tremor. Yet that roughness is part of its enduring charm. It’s not calculated…it’s instinctive, a snapshot of a band just letting it all out.
John Tardy’s vocals are the defining weapon. Unlike the more decipherable growls of Chuck Schuldiner or David Vincent, Tardy’s voice is a gargled eruption of pure sound. It’s less about words and more about texture, turning the human voice into a monstrous instrument.
Internal Bleeding and the title track capture everything that made early Obituary compelling: frantic riffs, abrupt transitions, and a sense that the whole thing could collapse at any moment. The energy is chaotic but unbreakable. Slowly We Rot remains one of the most unfiltered statements in death metal’s history—a messy, glorious birth cry.
CAUSE OF DEATH
If the debut was instinct, then Cause Of Death was intent. Released just a year later, it showed a band already learning how to shape their chaos into something heavier and darker. Right from Infected you can hear the difference. The riffs are slower, more deliberate, and infinitely heavier. Obituary had discovered that devastation didn’t need to be frantic; it could be patient, lurking, and suffocating.
James Murphy’s arrival on guitar added a new dimension. His fluid solos cut through the murk with precision and flair, providing contrast to Trevor Peres’ monolithic rhythm work. Body Bag and Memories Remain benefit hugely from this interplay. And then, of course, there’s Chopped In Half. Few songs in the genre are so blunt in both title and delivery. It’s iconic because it distils Obituary’s essence: simplicity made devastating.
Whilst Slowly We Rot is usually given the highest praise, Cause Of Death is equally as great. There is also the H. R. Giger artwork too!
THE END COMPLETE
By 1992, death metal was everywhere. Florida had become the genre’s epicentre; bands were vying for extremity, speed, and technical brilliance. Obituary, however, took a different route. The End Complete is not about velocity or complexity; it’s about control.
This is the sound of a band who know exactly what they want to do, and they do it without compromise. With thicker production, the riffs are sharper, and the grooves even more calculated. The title track looms like a monolith: slow, doom-soaked, and absolutely unrelenting. It proves that heaviness doesn’t need to race and it can drag you down by sheer weight.
Donald Tardy’s drumming is the secret weapon here. He has a knack for making even the most straightforward beat feel alive, whether through clever cymbal accents or subtle shifts in emphasis. His presence gives the record a muscular backbone, allowing the guitars to lumber and crush with force.
Back To One and Dead Silence highlight this newfound discipline. They’re not sprawling epics; they’re concise statements of intent, each riff placed for maximum impact. Where other bands crammed songs with endless notes, Obituary learned that repetition could be hypnotic, and space could be as heavy as sound. This wasn’t just another death metal release, it cemented Obituary as leaders rather than followers.
WORLD DEMISE
By 1994, the metal landscape was shifting. Grunge had taken the mainstream spotlight, and even within death metal, audiences were looking elsewhere: towards black metal, grindcore, or the burgeoning technical scene. For many bands, this period was one of decline. For Obituary, it was an opportunity.
World Demise is often overlooked, but it deserves credit as one of their boldest statements. Rather than retreating into formula, Obituary expanded their sound. The riffs are even chunkier, the tempos often mid-paced, and there’s an industrial, almost mechanical edge to the grooves. Don’t Care and Final Thoughts grind forward with relentless power, proving that Obituary could sound fresh without abandoning their identity.
Lyrically, too, there’s a shift. The gore-soaked imagery of the past gives way to something broader. Environmental collapse, political indifference, societal decay – all are hinted at within the growls and snarls. It’s not preachy, but it does make the record feel rooted in the wider world. The rot isn’t just bodily; it’s global.
The production is immense. Every riff lands with bone-crushing clarity, and the drums sound like artillery fire. It’s a record designed for bigger stages and wider audiences, yet it never feels like compromise.
LEGACY
Taken together, these four albums are more than just a strong start. They’re the DNA of Obituary’s legacy. Few bands in extreme metal can boast such consistency, and fewer still managed to evolve without losing their essence.
Even now, decades later, these records still hit with the same force. They aren’t historical curiosities; they’re reminders of what happens when a band leans into instinct and identity rather than chasing trends. Obituary didn’t need theatrics, speed contests, or technical gymnastics.
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