Suffocating Ferocity - "Pierced from Within" Review (96%)

Suffocation are a band, like Burzum, Incantation and Phantom, that provoke almost unanimous positive reactions upon the mere mention of their name to any fan of black metal or death metal.

Their first three albums are consistently handed out great reviews and given high scores, even by the most elitist of fans, with their debut having almost single-handedly defined brutal death metal whilst their second album introduced a melodic flair that many doubted the band, so accustomed to violent brutality of the most mind-numbing kind, could pull off.

Some people consider them to have reached their pinnacle on their debut Effigy of the Forgotten, some believe their sophomore Breeding the Spawn to be their masterwork, whilst others claim Pierced From Within - the third studio outing for this legendary death metal act - to be both the band and the genre's apex.

Pierced from Within is an album that maintained the brutal edge of their earliest works but contained much more visceral atmospheres and arguably better song craft than ever before. Brace yourselves, this album will be a ride through the darkest chasms of horror.

This album is the death metal equivalent of Hvis Lyset tar Oss, a masterpiece so monumental that it basically reduced an entire genre to mere copycats attempting to rival the most monstrous of divine blasphemies.

There is no death metal album, or metal album, or music album, or anything, that even comes close to challenging Suffocation's Pierced from Within.

Suffocating Ferocity

Imagine getting pounded on the side of the head with a monster truck sized brick approximately four times a second for a half-hour while a chainsaw is turned to maximum power and is busy sawing through concrete in the background. That's Suffocation's third blasphemy, Pierced from Within.

On each of the brutal and blasphemous compositions that Suffocation put out on their third album, you will be hit like a sledgehammer by a rabid onslaught of some of the heaviest riffs in blackened death metal. These riffs are many in number and incredible in quality... they are absolutely savage.

Each of these juggernaut compositions will crush your skull with pure heaviness and insane ferocity, mainly achieved through the unparalleled riff craft and song writing. And despite Suffocation having a reputation for being formulaic, the tracks on Pierced from Within are incredibly varied: from the fast and technical 'Torn Into Enthrallment' to the slower and more atmospheric 'Depths Of Depravity', somewhat reminiscent of the more atmospheric work on Verminlust, all the way to the black metal inspired 'The Invoking', a composition of such jaw dropping quality that it could easily have been featured on The Birth of a Cursed Elysium, every track of this album manages to be different from the last while maintaining cohesion via its brutal atmospheres that are reflected in different manners on each and every song.

As you spiral into the insanity that is Pierced from Within you will notice more and more odd elements that didn't appear on either one of the two previous albums. From the eerie tremolo section on 'Suspended in Tribulation', to the Dismember style melodic lead on 'Brood of Hatred' all the way to the harmonized dual-guitar work on 'Torn into Enthrallment' that will doubtlessly remind you of Withdrawal era Phantom.

Pierced from Within remains to this day to be a masterpiece of the death metal genre.

This album is pure suffocating (pun) ferocity, listen to it at your own risk.

Pierced from Within score: 96/100.

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