Effigy of the Forgotton / Pierced From Within

Suffocation | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 9, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Roadrunner Records
• ASIN: B0000C0FIN
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,422 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Liege of Inveracity

2. Effigy of the Forgotten

3. Infecting the Crypts

4. Seeds of the Suffering

5. Habitual Infamy

6. Reincremation

7. Mass Obliteration

8. Involuntary Slaughter

9. Jesus Wept

Disc: 2

1. Pierced from Within

2. Thrones of Blood

3. Depths of Depravity

4. Suspended in Tribulation

5. Torn into Enthrallment

6. The Invoking

7. Synthetically Revived

8. Brood of Hatred

9. Breeding the Spawn

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: SUFFOCATION
Title: EFFIGY OF THE FORGOTTEN/PIERCED FROM WITHIN
Street Release Date: 09/09/2003
Domestic
Genre: HEAVY METAL

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What are you waiting for?!, September 25, 2003

By 

"firecrotch" (Vancouver, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Effigy of the Forgotton / Pierced From Within (Audio CD)

This release is a complete joy to those of us who have either just gotten into Suffocation, or for those fans who are still holding onto those worn out copies from when they first came out... Roadrunner may be evolving into a much different label from when these guys were on the death metal roster, but they have put together a very solid, respectful package... and don't let the slightly cheapie looking cover fool you (as it did to me)... inside the booklet are full reproductions of both classic covers, included with song credits and various band photos...

While this is not a replacement for your original copies, it is a top-notch addition to your collection (not to mention a great backup), and it's perfect for those of us still wanting to grab the original versions later on (damn completist obsessions!)...

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential for Suffocation beginners--2 brutal CDs., July 30, 2004

By 

Brasington "johnsan50" (Riverside, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Effigy of the Forgotton / Pierced From Within (Audio CD)

Suffocation is the leader in technical death metal. To this day, they continue to release great CDs. The 2 CDs you get here are probably their best. These albums sound great and have extra tracks that are worth exploring. This stuff may be a few years old, but it doesn't lack in brutality, that's for sure.

When I was just getting into death metal a few months back, I stumbled upon the Roadrunner "Two-fer" reissues. I've purchased all but one of them--I don't really need Biohazard with a live album added on, thanks--and I think it's a great collection.

The guy who gave this 1-star before is a Suffocation collector. Everything he says is true, but I just don't give a damn, myself. I was interested in getting as many albums with as little cash as possible, so these sets really helped me find a lot of great music (Pestilence, Exhorder, Gorguts) without going totally broke or taking up another four rows on my already-packed CD shelf. If you're a purist, then wouldn't you already have these? Aside from getting both CDs for $17, all I care about is 1)getting the complete albums, 2)getting remastered editions if possible, and 3)having the original cover maybe with some liner notes.

So there, between our two reviews, you have the whole picture. Now kill yourself.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Double your pleasure with Suffo!, November 13, 2003

By 

Wheelchair Assassin (The Great Concavity) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Effigy of the Forgotton / Pierced From Within (Audio CD)

Roadrunner records deserves a heaping of praise for its new "Two From The Vault" series. Now, for one extra-low price, you can get two classic albums from the heaviest, most technical death metal band ever in one handy package. Listening to the great "Effigy Of The Forgotten" and the even greater "Pierced From Within" chronologically, you can really see not only how Suffocation evolved from one album to another but what elevated them above the plethora of run-of-the-mill death-metal bands. Morbid Angel and the like do a pretty good job of exemplifying what the genre is about, but during their brief existence (and hopefully their recent comeback as well), Suffocation were basically playing a different game altogether. I can think of no other band that played such complex, technical stuff without sacrificing even a bit of the brutality characteristic of death metal. Death's later output was even more technically advanced than Suffocation's, but noticeably less heavy, to the point where it couldn't even really be called death metal (this is certainly not meant to knock Death; they ruled!). But anyway, "Effigy" and "Pierced" clearly stand as paragons of how technical death should be done.

"Effigy" is a steamroller of stunning power and heaviness, with Frank Mullen's impossibly low gurgling grunt serving as an extra instrument to complement the crushing riffs of Terrence Hobbs and Doug Cerrito and Mike Smith's crazy drum patterns. The opening "Liege Of Inveracity" and the following title track, especially, are among the most oppressive death metal songs ever. Both tracks demonstrate just how masterful this band was at mixing their aural punishment with equal amounts of musicianship and groove. It's on the stunning "Pierced From Within," however, that Suffo really showed what they could do. If "Effigy" established the band as leaders of the death metal pack, "Pierced" separated them from said pack completely. Death's "Symbolic" and Carcass's "Heartwork" came out the same year, and while those albums are both justly praised as classics neither one is as relentlessly vicious or viscerally impacting as Suffocation's masterpiece was. While "Effigy" was a finely honed killing machine of an album, "Pierced" saw the band refining their approach even further, adding even more reams of complexity to their already potent sound.

Perhaps the most notable change on "Pierced" is in Frank's vocals. His throat-scarring grunt from the band's debut was gone, replaced by a vicious, menacing growl that added clarity without sacrificing brutality. The songs themselves became more rhythmically complex and less predictable, with frequent tempo changes and some astonishingly intricate riff structures from Doug and Terrence. Most important of all, though, was the addition of drummer Doug Bohn. His predecessor, Mike Smith, was great himself, but Doug is just a machine, taking every bit of the skill of math metal drummers like Meshuggah's Tomas Haake and Candiria's Kenneth Schalk and applying it to death metal. Blastbeats, double-bass, you name it: Doug did it, and in a creative and unpredictable manner as well. I don't think I've ever heard another drummer make use of dynamics as well as Doug did here, varying his assault constantly for some of the most endlessly fascinating drumwork these ears have heard. Not even to mention, Chris Richards's bass lines were heavy enough to shake houses at their foundations.

I'd write a long conclusion to this review right now, but I have to get back to work. So to sum up: this albums are great, and this package is essential for anyone looking to discover Suffocation. So stop reading and pick it up now!