Customer Reviews

Asphyx

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I can't understand how this band can be ignored. They are one of the most brutal Death Metal groups in history....

After leaving Pestilence behind, Asphyx continued their brutal ways, and this release was born. It's slower than what some may expect from Death Metal these days, but the Pure Brutality of this release is almost untouchable. It's a Classic!!

Nobody sounds like Asphyx. If you can buy this, you better hurry. This, along with Pestilences' "Consuming Impulse" have to go down in history as two of the MOST BRUTAL Death Metal releases in history.....If you like any Death Metal, this will pull your guts out!!

Very Neccessary Death Metal....Only For True Death Metalheads!!

I have been an Asphyx (R.I.P.) fan since the beginning when I first heard their "Enter the Domain" demo abck in 1988, and had bought everything they had released since.
"The Rack" was their first offcial album released on Century Media in 1991. Originally Asphyx recorded an album in 1990 entitled "Embrace the Death" for CMFT Productions in the UK, but the label went under and never was unleashed until 1996 when Century Media finally released it.
"The Rack" defines the word Brutality with its chainsaw sounding guitars and sick vocals which sounds like Martin Van Drunen is being tortured during the recording of this CD. The one thing I like about this album is the raw and primitive sound it has and is not over produced like a lot of other Death Metal bands have nowadays which takes away the brutality of the recording. The guitars sound is definitely unique which other bands try to duplicate, but fail in doing so. If you are a true Death Metal fan this must be added to your collection. This is definitely one of the most brutal albums in Death Metal history. If you enjoy just plain brutal, barbaric, sadistic, relentless Death Metal than Asphyx is for you.

I was fortunate enough to recover this lost masterpiece recently when I discovered an old taped copy of it that I had dubbed from a college radio station CD copy. I hadn't heard it in like 13 years and it had just sat in my tape drawer all those years collecting dust. Well, I must say that when I did play the tape I was blown away by what I heard! I decided I had to have an actual copy of the CD and fortunately found a used one on Amazon. I say fortunate, because unlike Asphyx's earlier releases this one has never been reissued and is becoming rarer to find these days on the internet. That's a shame, because it's the best Asphyx there is, if not one of the best pure death metal albums of the '90s. And keep in mind this was recorded in 1994. It is inarguable that death metal's glory years had largely passed by then, in a year that would usher in the pop punk of Green Day, which would become the then-flavor of the moment. "Asphyx" is a diamond in the rough of the death metal releases that were coming out at the time and remains a classic.

Why? This album features everything you could ask for in a death metal album. The production is great, the riffs are slow, deadly and brutal, and I'm going to go on record here as saying that to these ears the vocals of bassist Ron Van Pol are an improvement over those of his more famed predecessor Martin Van Drunen (who I am not a big fan of). Van Pol has a more standard guttural growl that I feel is better suited to the music.

This album is an hour long and is never boring for a second. It is slower overall than some death metal, but these sections just OOZE brutality. When speed is used it is done in a tasteful and controlled fashion. And those RIFFS -- totally punishing and in spots I am somewhat reminded of those of death metal forefathers Repulsion (but slower), and that's saying a lot!

All in all, do yourself a favor and hunt this classic down. No price is too high. Perhaps the best death metal record to ever emerge from Holland.