Obituary Slowly We Rot/Cause Of Death CD

UK twofer combines the death metal band's 1989 & 1990 albums. Features 26 tracks including 5 bonus tracks, 'Find The Arise' (Demo), 'Like The Dead' (Demo), 'Infected' (Demo), 'Memories Remain' (Demo) & 'Chopped In Half' (Demo). Roadrunner. 2003.

2 LPs on 2 CDs: SLOWLY WE ROT (1989)/CAUSE OF DEATH(1990)
Obituary: John Tardy (vocals); Allen West, Trevor Peres (guitar); Daniel Tucker, Frank Watkins (bass); Donald Tardy (drums).
Recorded at Morrisound Recording, Tampa, Florida. Includes liner notes by Mike Gitter.
Personnel: John Tardy (vocals); James Murphy , Allen West, Trevor Peres (guitar); Donald Tardy (drums); Kent Smith (sound effects).
Audio Mixers: Donald Tardy; Scott Burns ; John Tardy.
Audio Remasterer: George Marino.
Liner Note Author: Mike Gitter.
Recording information: Morrisound Recording, Tampa, FL.
Photographers: Tim Hubbard; Susan Clark.
As part of its 1998 Obituary reissue campaign, Roadrunner released not only the albums themselves but also a pair of two-fers: Slowly We Rot/Cause of Death and The End Complete/World Demise. These two-fers feature not only the remastered sound of the reissues but also the same bonus tracks. Plus, they're quite a bargain relative to buying the albums individually. On the downside, you're stuck with typically unappealing two-fer artwork, and of course, you're stuck with two albums rather than one. This latter issue isn't such a big deal with these Obituary reissues because the partnered albums go together well. In the case of Slowly We Rot/Cause of Death, you get the band's first two albums, from 1989 and 1990, respectively. The former is a landmark, one of the first major death metal albums to surface and one of Obituary's best; the latter is an anomaly in the band's catalog, plagued by poor production values but highlighted by the substitute guitar duties of the mighty James Murphy of Death (lead guitarist Allen West is absent here). These are two of the most influential death metal albums ever and some of the best music to ever come out of the Florida school. If you're an Obituary fan, these are two of the band's albums you'll most certainly want to hear, along with the successive one, The End Complete. So if you see yourself getting into Obituary and are just now acquiring their music, you might as well save yourself some money and buy this two-fer, unless the original artwork is worth the extra money to you. Or if you're an old fan looking to replace your original, relatively crappy-sounding editions, this is a cheap way to do so, again as long as you don't mind the two-fer artwork. ~ Jason Birchmeier