Despise the Sun [Original recording reissued]

Suffocation | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 30, 2002)
• Original Release Date: 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Relapse
• ASIN: B0000632M5
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #73,429 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the second best effort by NYC's most brutal, November 2, 2007

By 

Zander Haberstaft (Miami, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Despise the Sun (Audio CD)

"Despise the Sun" of 1998 is as good, second for second, as "Pierced from Within". This five song EP doesn't have a weak moment in it and is produced much like the prior effort by the master of all Death Metal production, Scott Burns. (Okay, the bass end is a little too heavy.) Starting off with the groove heavy "Funeral Inception", Dave Culross (Malevolent Creation, great drummer) drives the song with his super consistent double bass and great feel. But no Suffocation album would be complete without Doug Cerrito and Terrance Hobbs, one of the best guitar duos in metal history alongside Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, Gary Holt and Rick Hunolt. The riffs are as clever and ever changing as the minute counter on the play button of your CD player.

The tempos most go between the fast double time thrashing and medium paced blast beats but there are a few slower groove heavy parts ("Catatonia") with a little Hardcore flavor (like they're summoning the ghost of the Cro-mags). The bass is kinda twangy and mixed a little lower than most bands would go, but I think it only adds to the character of the overall sound. Frank Mullen's low lingering growl keeps the entire album together.

It is short but is as good as "Pierced" time wise, so it definitely is worth picking up. Too bad they didn't keep Dave Culross, and too bad they didn't stay together during what looks in retrospect to be their creative peak. A quality album recommended to every Suffocation fan and every discerning Death Metal listener.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DEATH METAL AT ITS ABSOLUTE FINEST., November 13, 2002

By 

matroy (San Antonio, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Despise the Sun (Audio CD)

After hearing this album, I had to purchase all of the other Suffocation recordings to see how they compare. And frankly, I didn't need to look any further than this e.p. These 5 songs have been stuck in my head for weeks. Amazing production, technicality, and songwriting. You need this!

2.0 out of 5 stars Overrated, February 25, 2011

By 

Johnny (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Despise the Sun (Audio CD)

The fact that so many people consider this Suffocation's best says a lot about the mentality of your average death metal fan. Pierced from Within is, without question, one of the most musically accomplished death metal albums ever made. Rhythmically complex, but also tonally sophisticated, with a use of dissonance and harmonic sensibility that I have never heard elsewhere in death metal. And beyond that, the songs retained a visceral power and immediacy that almost all technical death metal bands lose. You can listen to the album 30 times and still discover new things.

For Suffocation to turn around and write this is a complete disgrace. It's nothing but generic death metal, with simple structures and riffs designed only to be catchy and brutal. Sure, it has a huge and intense sound, but that's all it has. Sadly, it seems that most Suffocation fans never heard more than that in Pierced from Within either.