Customer Reviews

Breeding the Spawn

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was my first Suffocation CD. Having been introduced to them by various friends, I decided to check out a few mp3s of the band. I happened to come across ''Breeding the Spawn'' and as soon as I heard it, I knew the album had to be mine.

When I first spun the CD in my discman and set it to track 2, I became worried that something was wrong with my copy of the album. ''Breeding the Spawn'' sounded nothing like what it did on my computer. Washed out, thin guitar sounds, terrible bass production and an overall weak aural environment. It was soon later that I realized this was no mistake, the CD had been recorded this way.

I gave the album a few more spins and listened through it in its entirety half-a-dozen times, but it still did nothing for me. When I knew I was hearing a crushing, technical riff it had no impact on me. It is quite obvious Mike Smith is a talented, passionate drummer, but this album's muffled production completely eliminates the feeling of power his beats should reflect. Chris Richards shows off his stuff all over the album, but his bass guitar is barely discernible, even in between the already thin sounding guitars and drums.

Frank Mullen competently takes care of the vocals, but the majority of the album's lyrics are often silly and riddled with grammar mistakes. Combined with the quality of the sound representation, he is difficult to take seriously.

And yet, who can deny the technicality and wizardry of the music? Cerrito and Hobbs are always ahead of the listener, dizzying with their whipping riffs and furious solos. Mike Smith's beats are varied and plentiful without sounding directionless and his blast beats are punishingly accurate. Chris Richards, when one listens in closely, demonstrates talent far beyond what most death metal bass players can dish out, never content to simply follow the lead of the twin guitars.


This album would have been a true masterpiece, but for many it will remain inaccessible because of its production. Buyer beware, if you think you will be bothered by this.

I still remenber when i first heard "breeding the spawn" by suffocation and my first re-action was, " these guys can play" because the songs are so technical,complex,intelligent,original, and,it defines the word brutal...Yet being so soothing to listing to at the sametime. It's hard to pick a favorite song but if i had to pick? It would be "beginning of sorrow" a amazing song. All hail to suffocation!

DON'T LET THE OK PRODUCTION FOOL YOU! This is one of the best Suffocation albums. Yeah, yeah track 3 & 8 sounds funny and the double bass is sort of muddy but this CD contains some of death metal's finest riffs and percussion work. Frank Mullen maintains great brutal vocals throughout the album and their new bassist at the time, Chris Richards greatly enhances the sound of the guitars and drums by slapping at key moments. Terrance Hobbs and Doug Cerrito didn't let me down when I listened to this CD for the first time. The riffs are as brutal yet melodic as they have always been for Suffocation. Breeding the Spawn isn't has highly evolved as the masterpiece "Pierced From Within" but still this album is definately worth owning. For those who are new to Suffocation, its like early Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse, only more brutal and with more syncopation and tempo changes. Order this great rare death metal album now while it still exists!

This is the most overlooked album in the Suffocation catalog, and it is sadly out of press. Is it because of the musical performance in here? No, they did an excellent job at that. The reason why "Breeding The Spawn" is such an overlooked record is because of a terrible producing job done. Sub-par production isn't always a bad thing as long as it fits in with the music, but when it comes to Suffocation, and thinking this album came out after "Effigy of the Forgotten", it's just sad that this CD had to have such lame production. Thanks to that, the guitar tone is thin, the bass is barely audible, Frank Mullen's vocals sound like he has a sore throat, and the CD sounds like it was recorded in a garage.

There are golden elements in this album. Excellent riffage in songs like "Beginning of Sorrow" and the title track, the bass solo in "Epitaph of the Credulous", and excellent drumming make this another CD worth listening despite the terrible production.

Overall, this is a good CD. It's solid, well-played death metal. However, if you're new to the band, check out "Effigy of the Forgotten" first, and save this for later.

Within 5 seconds of listening to this disc you can hear how poorly produced it is. It actually sounds like you are listening to a warped cassette tape !! After Effigy of the Forgotten, you have to wonder what they were thinking when this was released. Was it because of pressure from the record company that caused them to release this album with such a poor sound? The bass-heavy, in your face brutality of Effigy of the Forgotten is gone. Instead we are left yearning for so much more while trying to make out low, thin guitars and the barely audible drums. I have tried to listen to this for years and I just cant find anything good.

The first song and the title track are good songs, but beyond that the rest of the album is weak. The beginning of the last song, Ignorant Deprivation, just sounds so damn cheezy because of the horrid guitar sound. Maybe if they re-recorded these songs (like they did with Breeding the Spawn on Pierced From Within) you would be able to hear what they are supposed to sound like.

I do not recommend picking this album up. I see that other people love this album, but it is clearly Suffocation's worst.

This should be a crime! To inflict such a great band like Suffocation with this lousy production should be considered a crime. You would need a big studio production to capture the true glory and power of Suffocation. It doesn't get much heavier than this. Reasonably representative production, but not enough clarity or bass to guitars in the mix, resulting in a washed-out trebbly sound. For this reason most fans rejected this release, causing great damage to an otherwise excellent album. Highly-rhythmic and easily combative, Suffocation's second album builds on the legacy of their first with more emphasis on the bearing weight of repeated changing rhythm than the percussion of repetition, which because of its rhythmic nature has a certain degree of repetition not experienced here. Often using sliding, entirely motion-oriented riffs to direct their tunes,As always the gutteral vocal expansion of vocalist Mullen is crippling and corrosive. With the overall emphasis on brutality no musicality is lost. The main element in this album's evolution, becoming more prominent toward the end of the disc, is its tendency toward doom metal with slow and drawn-out riffs in the Morbid Angel style, but even darker, more abstract, and did I mention it freakin Rocks!!! Not as good as Effigy of the Forgotten or Pierced From Within (Deathmetal masterpieces) but still it is money well spent.

Wicked, wicked stuff! Having read several reviews about this cd's poor production, I can honestly say it's all about who's listening to it... only tracks 3 and 8 have guitars that sound a little "squeezed" and washed-out, but even that doesn't take away from the entire cd's sonic crushing abilities... great drum sound, great gutteral vocals... a worthy addition to anyone's death metal collection!

Yeah, you guys are right. The production on this one has been the most ill-fitting thing that had happened since Mayhem's Live in Liepzig, but who would care more for that? My reasons? First of all, the vocals in this CD just plainly stays on top, totally devastating man...the guitar structure is as technical and nicely-intermitten as ever causing the dual guitar attack to blend and create a solid wall sound. The drum, as always, is creative and destructively musical. And well, the lead...hmmm, the leads, are well-worthy of the Suffocation name....

You know, I have been a Suffocation fan since "Effigy Forgotten" and let me tell you, this is one hell of a band that did'nt get enough credit like Cannibal Corpse or Deicide did. Yeah, this CD was'nt recorded very well but the music is absolutely awesome! I would recommend any person that is new to the death metal genre get this CD or "Pierced From Within" because these albums are excellent. Or any death metaller that does not have this album, I really think you think you should consider buying this album. It's too bad a great band like this one had to perish like it did. I hope they get back together. At least Doug Ceritto got to join an awesome band, Hate Eternal, for a while though because he is not in that band anymore. This is a mst have CD. Any death metallers e-mail me.

This album has been bashed repeatedly for the bad production, but if its played on a good sound system it still sounds pretty good. Its fast, heavy, and the vocals rip. To all those who think Cannibal Corpse invented brutal death, think again. For fans of fast technical riffs, gut churning drums and great vocals, u cant go wrong here