Customer Reviews

Onset of Putfrefaction

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

_Onset of Putrefaction_, aside from having an AWESOME album title, is one of the most fun & intense death metal albums around. sure, it might be too fancy for the hard-core death metallers, and it's probably too growly and blastbeaty for the prog-metal crowd. But the ambiguity that is their distinguishing feature, apart from the over-the-top nature of the music. Stunning, sometimes viciously melodic shredding interpersed across madly complex time-signatures and mentally fractured and uber-heavy riffs. Such a cheesy description does not do it justice, but i would put this with classics from Cryptopsy and Death. If you like this, you should also check out Psyopus.

Immediately, you would never check out an artist like Necrophagist if you are a normal person. You would look at the name of the band, album and song names and write these guys off as a Carcass or Cannibal Corpse rip-off. But, then I would tell you that this entire album was entirely produced and recorded by the same man, and that man (if he qualifies as one; more like superhuman) is named Muhammed Suiçmez. He has quite a story. At 15, he began playing guitar, but he would have to overcome the obstacles of his strict parents who forbid him to play. He persevered this problem, and started writing his own stuff and formed Necrophagist. But, his band quit on him (the first of many instances), so he decided to record this album by himself. Not only did he record the guitar and bass parts, he produced it and programmed the drumming himself. Later, it was signed to Noise Solution Records. Some lineup changes still deterred Suiçmez, but he continued to tour and write his own material. He released the second full-length album, "Epitaph", in 2004. He now has a full band, but he remains the lead guitarist. They were eventually signed to Relapse, where they still remain. Necrophagist are now back on the road after a one-year hiatus because of Muhammed having an "unknown sickness".

But, what makes this so special? Well, the guitar playing is godlike. Muhammed was inspired by Ywngie Malmsteen's neo-classical guitar style, and he has implemented that into his solos. But, the thing is, he is no wannabe. These songs are extremely technical, with amazing guitar solos and complex song structure. It is hard to believe how this guy is actually doing this. I have seen live videos...he is insane. Another thing that amazes me is that he sings (or growls...whatever) while he is playing. I can't even touch the stuff he does when I play, yet he can do all that technically insane playing that involves full concentration and actually sing at the same. He is truly a god, and a good thing is that Necrophagist is starting to get very well known past the technical-death metal ring and into the spectrum of other listeners. As another reviewer stated, this may be a little too "fancy" for, maybe, the brutal death metal crowd or gore-grind/grindcore crowd. Not because it isn't brutal or anything, but long songs with many complex rhythms might seem a little too sophisticated compared to a band like Cannibal Corpse or Morbid Angel. But, hey, that's technical-death metal for you. If you want the crunchy stuff, look elsewhere. Necrophagist is all about laying back and soaking in the incredible guitar playing of this legend.

The album starts off with "Foul Body Autopsy". This short, 1:52 song is one of the coolest death songs I have heard. Immediately starting off with Suiçmez's amazing guttural growl (yes...he even make death metal vocals sound beautiful), it kicks off into a sick riff and doesn't hold back until the final second. The next two songs, "To Breathe In A Casket" and "Mutilate The Stillborn", are very complex, especially "To Breathe...", which has various breakdowns, and a very complex and technival solo to go along with it. "Mutilate The Stillborn" has another amazing solo and a great vocal performance by the man Suiçmez, especially at the end. The next song, "Intestinal Incubation", has barely any vocals and is really just another long guitar solo that never fails to impress. The next track, "Culinary Hyperversity", is probably one of my favorite songs on the album. "Extreme Unction" starts off with a sick bass solo and is followed by another batch of well-constructed guitar solos. To cap off this amazing masterpiece is, in my opinion, Necrophagist's best song, and that is "Fermented Offal Discharge". After a riff in the beginning and a great, memorable bass solo, this song consumes you until the last second. That caps off probably the best ever technical-death metal album that you will ever hear. If you do not own this and you call yourself a metalhead, click "Add To Cart" right now.

The reissue, which is the one for sale here on Amazon, has all new programmed drumming and two demos from the 1995 demo, simply titled "Necrophagist". These two songs are titled "Dismembered Self-Immolation" and "Pseudopathological Vivisection" (what a mouthful). Both songs do not sound like this Necrophagist. They are more straight up pure death metal than technical, but both are great and contain awesome guitar and drum work, of course. "Dismembered..." is the better of the two. This is worth picking up again if you owned the album beforehand for the demo's, but they also worked with the drumming a little bit to not make it sound so...uh...programmed. Any way, you have to pick this up. The lyrics are more like Carcass, and were written by Suiçmez when he was in his mid-teens'. This is something that anybody who loves death metal or who wants to study Suiçmez's guitar playing should definitely look into. Their 2004 release, "Epitaph" is also outstanding, but cannot match the overall destruction unleashed in this record.

He definitely would have made this CD. By looking at the song titles at first, you'll think it's a goregrind CD with shoddy production and undecipherable growls. Nope, none of that here. What you do get is talented technical guitar melodies and a progressive feel as well. This is a work of art. Don't miss. And once again, don't let titles like "Intestinal Incubation" and "Fermented Offal Discharge" throw you off. This isn't Last Days of Humanity or Rompreprop, people, this is Necrophagist.

Why this amazing band is not the biggest name in death metal right now is beyond me... When I first heard Necrophagist's Onset of Putfrefaction, I couldnt believe my ears! Were talking SUPER technical neo-classical riffage(sweeps, arpeggios and all)!, squishy scum vocals, and blazing drums that will have your head banging from start to finish. The songs on this album are really groove-driven and really really catchy, the kind of catchy that will have you humming these songs in the shower or dentist office. I could go on and on about how amazing Necrophagist is, so let me cut to the chase: GET THIS CD! I dont care if you like metal or not, do whatever you can to track this album down and buy it. You wont be dissapointed.

Muhammed Suicmez's wicked speed on the guitar is certainly worth at least 4 stars all by itself. The CD as a whole however didn't live up to its hype. Onset Of Putrefaction has a few musically complex tracks (4 & 7 in particular), but much of the album is fancy guitar work with mediocre creativity as the foundation. I look forward to a Necrophagist CD where Muhammed's playing and song writing develops beyond the repetition of harmonic minor scales and sweep picking of diminished chords. He is still just scratching the surface of what his talent has to offer. In summary: If you've been waiting to hear something that sounds like Yngwie Malmsteen playing death metal, then this CD is for you. If Yngwie Malmsteen has always annoyed the crap out of you due to his predictable neo-classical wanking, then be sure to check out recent releases by Cephalic Carnage, Meshuggah, Dying Fetus, and Carpharnaum, or old releases by Death before making a decision on your next brain-teasing metal purchase.

...as the other reviews basically took the words out of my mouth. This CD has some of the greatest solos mixed with a high classical influence. Drumming is superb, so is the bass. This, in my opinion, is Necrophagist's greatest work. Not that Epitaph is a bad album (I love that album too), but I have never heard album as complex, as mindblowing, and as magnificantly written as "Onset of Putrefaction". Buy it. Now.

I was compeletely amazed by this debut album from Necrophagist, not only does it have blisteringly fast riffs but it all seems complex yet it still sounded extreme.

I think that Muhammed Suicmez is a very underrated guitar player and is quite possibly a genius since he played all the instruments and produced this whole album on his own, he shows off his skills by playing some neo-classical like Steve Vai mixed with grindcore so you have some odd time signatures and tempos as well as Suicmez who starts playing some wild and over the top solos, a good example of this would be on the song Advanced corpse tumour and the beeping guitar noises on Mutilate the still born which sound a bit like a siren (I don't really know how to describe it since I'm not a musician or an expert) and Foul body autopsy just sounds crazy and unfu**ing believable, yes you will not believe your ears when you listen to this, Necrophagist is one of the most original death metal bands out there.

The vocals are typical Death metal style grunting which you're not going to understand but the lyrics aren't that important its all medical terms and stuff that happens in a morgue and autopsy table gory stuff. I was really impressed with this release it almost rips and shreds like a fu**ing beast, make sure that you check out this album if you like heavy and technical death metal played with alot of skill.

I love Tech Death Metal but this CD just isn't for everyone. IMO this CD will test even the most hardened tech death metal fans chops. Just not enough riffage for my taste. Beware all the 5 star reviews you might just hate this CD.

The first time I heard about Necrophagist was in a music theory class I took a while ago. A student made a reference to this band, and described them as being, "this insane metal band, that's one of [another student]'s favorite bands!". Well, that got me interested enough, and all I can say is...WOW!

First off, if you're a musician and you're into metal music, this is ESSENTIAL. It doesn't matter if half the population never heard of this band, or if 99% of mainstream society will dig this or not. Necrophagist is an absolutely stunning band (well actually, Muhammed Suicmez is basically the sole performer on this album), but regardless, it is extremely technical.

Between the death growls, blindingly fast arpeggios, crushing riffs and lightning-quick blast beats, this album delivers. Even within the first two minutes, the album's opener, "Foul Body Autopsy" shows you that Muhammed is one serious musician. And with such technical song titles like, "Intestinal Incubation", "Culinary Hyperversity" and "Fermented Offal Discharge" (a personal favorite song title of mine), you can almost guarantee before you even listen to this how amazing it will be. Fans of technical death metal are gonna dig this one. So, whether you use Limewire or go to the music store down the road, this is one for all extreme metal fans, and especially for all musicians! Thanks for the time, and peace.

NECROPHAGIST-Onset of Putrefaction

Necrophagist have made a name for themselves in the technical death metal community, mostly thanks to the amazing guitarwork from the brains of the band: Muhammad Suicmez. To think that an awesome album like this was created by one person! This is definitely one of my favorite technical death metal albums. Let's see what this album has in store for you:

Necrophagist are sometimes criticized because their songs aren't memorable. While I can see where they come from, Necrophagist have adopted a noticeable trait from progressive metal, in that their material has to grow on you. Every time I listen to it, I find something new to enjoy about the music. There's even some parts that are *gasp* catchy! Yes, catchy and Necrophagist DO exist together! The driving force of the band is frontman Muhammad Suicmez. His growls are very guttural and do a good job of adding to the intensity of the music. The biggest strength of this album, of course, is the guitarplaying. I don't know how he is able to sing and play guitar like this at the same time, but he does. In fact, EVERYTHING on this album is done by Muhammad. He wouldn't get a band together until their next album, Epitaph. Muhammad's guitarwork is astounding. The riffs are quite varied, ranging from death metal riffing, proggy noodling, jagged technical riffing, chunky chuggy riffs, all tied together. His solos are even better. They utilize many different techniques such as sweep picking, arpeggios, and finger tapping. They are obviously neoclassical, but are also very emotional, melodic, and well structured. He also does the rhythm section himself. The basslines are pretty technical too, as they keep up with the guitar. There's even the odd bass solo to be found here. The drums are done on a drum machine, but I really didn't notice it. There's a lot of blasting, but there are a few interesting things done that a lot of albums with drum machines don't have, like odd time signatures. It takes a lot of skill to do all of this alone, but he managed to pull it off! There isn't a weak song to be found here!

Foul Body Autopsy: A growl starts off the song, with some technical riffing and blasting. Some excellent arpeggio work follows this, and then:

"FOUL BODY

AU-

-TOP-

SYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

More crazy arpeggio work and blasting leads to an awesome guitar solo. Be ready to hear a lot of these. More arpeggios lead to more death metal riffing, followed by another section of arpeggios before the song ends. Yeah, this song is pretty much a giant two minute long guitar solo, but it doesn't sound forced at all.

To Breathe In A Casket: This song is much more riff-oriented than the last song, and here's something that's really going to shock you: this song, get this, DOESN'T HAVE A SOLO! However, that doesn't mean that this song doesn't have other stuff going for it!

The song opens up with some blasting and switches between angular riffs and proggy noodling. A brief pause leads to a mid-paced section with some death metal riffing, followed by some chuggy Suffocation on crack style riffs, followed by some dissonant riffs. Some technical death metal riffs follow, as the tempo kicks back up. Some pinch harmonics come into play towards the end of the song, joined by some proggy riffing.

Mutilate the Stillborn: Some nice arpeggios start the song off, followed by an awesome mini-solo. This is followed by a bouncy, catchy section. This leads to a midpaced section with more technical prog riffs. More crazy prog noodling leads to another mini-solo. This leads to a break with more mid-paced riffs. Blastbeats and arpeggios follow this, with more prog-death riffing interspersed with arpeggios. The song comes to a close with another neoclassical mini-solo.

Intestinal Incubation: This song probably has guitarwork closest to progressive metal. The song opens with some proggy noodling and some drum patterns with the odd pinch harmonic. Then the vocals kick in and the song blasts away. The guitarwork on this song reminds me of Neuraxis, with the ascending and descending scales. This is followed by some whammy bar dives, leading to an awesome solo. This is how you use a whammy bar properly in a guitar solo! This leads to some death metal riffing and proggy scale climbing to top the song off.

Culinary Hyperversity: A short drum fill with some double bass leads to blasting with some furious tremolo riffing. A pinch harmonic leads to more proggy riffing, with some arpeggios and odd time signatures. Muhammad's vocals are particularly vicious here. The guitarwork constantly swaps between death metal tremolo riffs, proggy noodling, and lightning quick arpeggios. This followed by a breakdown where Muhammad teases us with some short leads before actually getting to the solo. This solo uses less whammy bar and more finger-tapping and neoclassical arpeggio work. He follows up with more short leads. The song continues in mid tempo with plenty of arpeggios and noodly riffs until the end.

Advanced Corpse Tumor: This song is definitely a highlight. The song opens up with a meaty riff, then shifts to more blasting with some tech death riffing. Some neoclassical leads open up to some palm muted riffing with various moments of pinch harmonics, prog riffing, and arpeggio melodies. Some catchy pinch harmonics and a midtempo section lead to a short bass fill. The solo in this song is amazing. This solo is one of the most beautiful I've ever heard. It's definitely one of Necrophagist's best solos, utilizing tasteful melody. More chunky death metal riffs lead to more pinch harmonics. The technical melodies continue, followed by some pinch harmonics, back by furious blast beats. More proggy riffing leads to another mid-paced section. The song the goes into hyperspeed with more arpeggios to end the song.

Extreme Unction: The song opens up wit ha quick bass fill and some chunky riffage with an uptempo beat. This song doesn't have as much blasting as the others, which is cool. This leads to more proggy riffing and pinch harmonics, followed by some angular riffing. A dissonant break leads to more proggy riffing before the song blasts away with more abstract riffs in weird time signatures. This leads to another break with some scale climbing riffage with some awesome vocals.

"EXTREME UNCTION!"

Sorry, I had to do that >_>. Anyways, the solo in this song is different from the others, in that it doesn't have as much neoclassical influence. In fact, this sounds almost like an 80's metal style guitar solo that you would hear from a thrash band like Megadeth. The song returns to the uptempo section, followed by more blasting and crazy riffing. This leads to another break which ends the song.

Fermented Offal Discharge: This is another highlight. The song opens up with a nice arpeggio, then blasts off with some furious riffing. A short but awesome bass solo pops up, which is followed by more hyperspeed riffing. A pinch harmonic opens up more prog-death riffing, followed by more angular death metal riffs. This leads to a brain-scrambling breakdown, followed by dual guitar AND bass arpeggios! More crazy riffing and blasting leads to a break with some weird riffing, followed by more noodly prog riffing and blasting. Then comes the solo. This may very well be the best guitar solo in the death metal genre. I wouldn't even call this a guitar solo. This is a guitar concierto! There's only one person playing this, but it sounds like two people! The different techniques used play off of each other beautifully. More furious riffing ends the song.

This album also comes with two tracks from their demo days:

Dismembered Self-Immolation: Wow, this sounds a LOT different. This song almost sounds like Death or a more technical Deicide, and sounds more old-school. The song opens with some furious tremolo picking. A furious scream leads to more brutal riffing. Then some technical riffing leads to some brutal growls and blasting, with some nice drum fills. This is followed by another noodly riff, followed by more furious riffs. This leads to a midpaced break with some odd-time riffing, leading to a very catchy uptempo section. The tempo shifts to more blasting and furious riffing, with a buzzy bassline. The tempo goes midpaced again with some crunchy riffs. Noodly riffing and blasting bring this song to a close.

Pseudopathological Vivisection: Some cool drum patterns and vicious riffing start the song off. This leads to a bouncy, early Deicide style section, with brutal/technical riffs and some good drumming. This is followed by a solo. This solo is a bit less melodic and a bit more atonal than the solos you're used to by Necrophagist, and has less neoclassical influence. This followed by some riffs that almost resemble Nile, with crazier drumming and fast riffing to end the song.

This album is a staple in the technical death metal genre, and will definitely appeal to fans of both death metal and fans of technical/progressive music. Definitely get this and the follow-up album "Epitaph", which I will review soon.

Do I Recommend: Without a doubt, yes!