Clocking in at a taut nine songs in 39 minutes without a second of filler,
The End Complete may be the definitive
Obituary album. The band's third, it marks the return of lead guitarist
Allen West and it also marks an impressive leap forward in production. The songwriting and playing on
Obituary's past albums had been commendable, and
The End Complete is no exception in that regard. Rather, it's the return of
West and the remarkable production job by
Scott Burns that sets this album apart from its predecessors. The return of
West is important not only because his solos are one of the band's trademarks but also because he's an integral songwriter, here co-penning four of the nine songs.
Burns' crystal-clear, in-your-face production is not to be underestimated, either. If anything had marred
Obituary's past two albums, both of them otherwise excellent, it was the murkiness of the sound, especially the drums. That's not an issue here at all, however, as
Obituary have never sounded this great. The guitar tones especially are downright vivid, particularly when
West and rhythm guitarist
Trevor Peres depart from one another such as during the solos (the title track is a great showcase for this, and so is
"Rotting Ways"). You can practically feel the respective guitar tones buzzing through your head, they're so well recorded. And so are
John Tardy's vocals, which are sometimes overdubbed to make them all the more potent and nuanced. They're so well recorded, in fact, you can actually understand some of the lyrics! Overall, there really isn't anything to complain about here. Sure, nine songs in a brisk 39 minutes might not be enough for those who can't get enough of
Obituary's textbook style of
death metal, but this is such a powerful album that even seasoned metalheads can get exhausted quickly. And besides,
Obituary may be one of
death metal's greatest bands ever, granted, but they're generally not the most varied or experimental. So too many more songs or too much more music, and the proceedings could begin to get increasingly monotonous, a problem that has plagued innumerable
death metal albums over the years. But that's not an issue here, thankfully; the primary issue instead seems to be just how
Obituary could top an album such as
The End Complete. Its two predecessors,
Slowly We Rot and
Cause of Death, had been near perfect and were quickly deemed classics of the early
death metal era. But here the band has done itself one better, bringing
West back into the fold and getting a better production job from
Burns, and the result is arguably the definitive
Obituary album and, consequently, a prototypical
death metal album. It don't get much better than this, folks. [
Roadrunner Records reissued
The End Complete in 1998 adding two live tracks.] ~ Jason Birchmeier
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