New York legends Suffocation helped shape death metal during its formative years, bringing a decidedly brutal, technical edge to the genre and subsequently inspiring generations of similarly inclined, and often inferior imitators. Following their late 90’s disbandment, Suffocation reformed with 2004’s Souls To Deny and have since added to their legendary discography through 2006’s back-to-form self-titled album and 2009’s Blood Oath. Despite a solid offering of monster grooves and typical Suffocation brutality, Blood Oath hinted at a veteran band running low on fresh ideas. Well, any doubts about Suffocation’s passion and ongoing longevity have been shattered by their phenomenal seventh full-length album, Pinnacle Of Bedlam.
The band sounds positively rejuvenated and armed with the tightest, catchiest and most vital collection of tunes they have written in a very long time. Original drummer Mike Smith has left the band and been replaced by returning sticksman Dave Culross (who played on their 1998 Despise the Sun EP). With all due respect to the outstanding talents of Smith, his replacement delivers a stunning performance filled with commanding grooves, subtle inflections and a vast array of fluidly technical rhythms and hyper-sped blast beats. The rest of the band are in equally fine form, with Frank Mullen’s distinct growl sounding inspired, while Guy Marchais and Terrance Hobbs peel off an endless array of sharp, technical riffs and tasteful, intricate solos, adding a soulful contrast to the blistering speed and unrelenting heaviness of the material. And of course Suffocation’s trademark breakdowns strategically pepper the album and are typically pummelling and well-placed.
The songs never really deviate far from the traditional Suffocation blueprint, but the song-writing is at a level not heard from the veterans since their 90’s heyday. The dense compositions and thrashier tone recalls their classic Pierced From Within album from 1995. Pinnacle of Bedlam might just be their finest offering since that landmark release. Sonically, the album sounds superb. The stellar production job mixes crushing heft with crisp digital clarity and a perfectly balanced mix.
‘Cycles of Suffering’ bursts out of the gate with savage immediacy and sets the tone for the rest of the album. Subtle melodies, catchy riffs and a thrashy edge define the superb ‘As Grace Descends’, while the crushing groove of ‘Sullen Days’ is wedged between a surprisingly subdued acoustic intro/outro. The sublime soloing, clever dynamics and bulldozing breakdowns of ‘My Demise’ wrap all the band’s vintage trademarks into a killer tune. Pinnacle Of Bedlam is a testament to Suffocation’s ongoing vitality and relevance in the modern death metal landscape and will surely go down as one of the must-have metal releases of the year. Essential.
Relapse Records
9.5/10
Reviewer: Luke Saunders