Cause of Death

This is the second album, out a year after the debut Slowly We Rot. It was recorded at Morrisound Recording in Tampa, Florida, with Scott Burns producing, and it is one of the best-known shapes of the sound coming out of that studio at the time. What separates it from the death metal around it is that it is not competing on speed. There is almost no blast beat on it; the record works through thick, dragging riffs, structures that break where you do not expect them, and John Tardy's gurgling voice. Joe DiVita of Loudwire has written that the debt to Celtic Frost and Hellhammer is plain to hear, and the band's early use of hardcore phrasing has been noted as well. The fourth track is a cover of Celtic Frost's "Circle of the Tyrants", and Tom Gabriel Warrior, who wrote it, has endorsed this version. Obituary toured the United States behind the album in November 1990 with Sepultura headlining and Sadus on the bill, then crossed to Europe in mid-1991. In 2019 they played the record in full at the Decibel Metal & Beer Fest in Philadelphia. The running order here is the original's as printed.