Suffocation - Blood Oath

If it was the sheer brutality of Effigy of Forgotten that
got Suffocation recognised as the brutal death pioneers,
then Breeding The Spawn only cemented that fact.
And when questions were raised on their musicianship as they returned to the scene after a 11 year hiatus, Souls To Deny promptly answered them with its trademark unrelenting sounds. So where does Blood Oath stand against all this one may ask? And the reply to that would be that Blood Oath is still a very Suffocation album, like a giant trodding down a brute path crushing everything in its way.

Blood Oath is everything about metal that can possibly be extreme. Mullen's growls and screams are top notch and so are the monstrous yet technical riffs from Terrance and Marchais. But more surprisingly its Derek's sick bassline that gets along perfectly with Mike Smith's maniacal drumming in a superb precise manner. And yet somewhere down the line one starts feeling that things start to get repetitive inspite of the numerous tempo shifts they come up with. But this doesn't deny the listener the brutal headbangaing experience Suffocation have always provided in all their other works, and listening to it will catapult you into the vicious atmosphere they create in the album.

The album wastes no time, kicking off with the title track, and the onslaught of chug chug guitars and double-bass drums blast out of the speakers and quickly Frank Mullen's guttural roar takes hold and doesn't let go untill and unless you have started headbanging furiously to its beats. And the grinding sonic assault continues into the album, although its best depicted in Dismal Dreams.There’s plenty of other decent mosh moments throughout the album, such as portions of Cataclysmic Purification and Undeserving, but the masterpiece of this record can be found on Provoking The Disturbed. Right from the onset, this song is beating your face into the pavement, and it manages to keep it up at regular intervals throughout the track. By the time you hear the bass solo, you know it’s time to either don body armor or vacate the premises.

Overall Blood Oath is a well done slab of death metal from Suffocation. Although the first two tracks feels like a composite of the rest of the album, no where down the line you feel like lifting your head from the maniacal headbanging you would be indulging in listening to the album. And with this Suffocation have delivered another dose of brutality in Blood Oath.