Customer Reviews

Severed Survival (W/Book) (W/CD) (Spec)

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

 

 

I bought this on record back when it first came out in 1989. Death metal as a sub-genre had only been around for a couple of years at that time. I had heard Death's seminal 1st album "Scream Bloody Gore" a little earlier and really liked it. Then I came across "Severed Survival" at the record store and noticed that Chris Reifert played drums on this album as well as Death's 1st album. I really liked "Scream Bloody Gore." It was the first time I had heard music like that. The guitars were fast, the leads were lethal, the singing was extreme, and the drums were insane! Plus the song titles were just ripe for a teenager who liked horror flicks.

I think this is a good example of a genre (death metal) before it got flooded with a lot of garbage. When you listen to Scream Bloody Gore by Death, it sounds like it was recorded in an underground cavern. I'm not saying that in a bad way either. It just has that feel. More of a mysterious kind of ambience. Whereas Autopsy's Severed Survival sounds like it was made in a rotting autopsy room filled with stinking corpses. The two bands are really playing the same type of music but when recorded differently, they come across very well.

Severed Survival is a classic as far as death metal goes. It has all the elements of gore and zombies you could ask for. It's like George Romero's "Day of the Dead" for your ears. With songs like Ridden with Disease, Charred Remains, and Pagan Saviour, you can't go wrong. Gore abounds on this great CD. The music is well executed and the lead guitars are cool. All in all, you cannot deny this work of pure death metal horror.

This would fit great along side classics such as Death's 1st album, as well as Leprosy. Plus, Grave's Into the Grave, Venom's Black Metal, Possessed's Seven Churches, and Celtic Frost's To Mega Therion.

This 2 CD set is a good deal. Not only do you get the original 1st album completley remastered but, you get 3 new tunes newly recorded specially for this release. The 2nd CD contains rare demos and live tracks throughout the years. Stuff like that is always cool. By and large, it comes in a good and complete package with a booklet including a history of the band with pictures and lyrics. Pretty cool. Don't be scared, give it a shot. If you like early death metal, you'll like this one.

You can buy this right now so do it..before it goes back to those DEATH METAL tomb's..amongst the million's of other forgotten DEATH METAL album's!! this was out of print for a few year's..which was a crime!! this is will always slay anything CANNIBAL CORPSE did..so it should be availble!! AND NOW IT IS!!

This come's in a DIGI PACK..I hate digi pack's..but it's not all that bad!!

THE REAL++here...the sound is even louder!!! YOU CAN HEAR EVEN MORE BASS!!!

So if you own the old version( I own both old version's the original press and the one with retro for the dead ep) I would suggest getting this version as well..you cant go wrong!! you get the lyric's and both album cover's as well!!

As you will read my other review which is for the album itself..it is the BEST DEATH METAL ALBUM EVER!! you have the chance to buy it..SO FUKKING DO IT!!!!!

''SERVICE FOR A VACANT COFFIN''

This is a great album, and the reissue has good production value; it's too bad it had to come in a digipak, since the album art is awesome, and, with a digipack, the art is bound to erode. However, the bonus CD it comes with isn't all that much, unless you like really crappy production from demos, rehearsals and live shows; the two new songs are ok.

Simply the best. No others can really compare. Morbid Angel's "Altars of Madness" comes close, but fails in its later tracks. "Blessed are the Sick" is too scattered, its best riffs splintered among several songs. Death's "Scream Bloody Gore" may have been there first, but ultimately it fails to transcend Repulsion cliches. This is the great death metal ever recorded: sick, beautiful, tormented, unashamed of its own excellence. Every song is a keeper. Buy it!

this album is just another testament to the greatness of death metal.memorable riffs apleanty,great tone and solos,and some of the best bass quality ive heard in any album ever.gomes with booklet with lyrics,a second disc of live shows,and the origional recording remastered.worthevery penny and then some.Buy now........NOW!

It might have been 23 years since Autopsy hit the death metal scene with their debut Severed Survival, but the aforementioned album is a staple of the genre and has influenced many bands, and will undoubtedly influence many more. A seminal act in the early days of extreme metal, the San Francisco-based quartet featured such luminaries as Chris Reifert (Death, Abscess) and Steve DiGiorgio (Testament, Sadus, Death) in its ranks. Autopsy innovatively fused elements of doom, thrash, and punk in its original and influential repertoire. When this album was released the genre was just starting, and needed some strong albums to define it and set a standard for the inevitable barrage of imitators inclusive with the birth of any genre. In my opinion, this album does just that.

From the very beginning the formula to follow is apparent. Mushy production slightly hindering the album, but not taking away the quality of the guitar riffs or Reifert's drumming. The vocals courtesy of Reifert as well are interesting; he has more than a hint of insanity in his voice, but he is still comprehensible to a certain degree. His voice and delivery compliments the music and chosen lyrical themes well. One of the most important part of any death metal release is a constant assault of great riff followed by great riff - and this album is no exception. The riffs can range from the agressive ones played to the blast-beats of Reifert, or the heavy chord hits. The guitar sound is a little to warm and undefinable for my liking, occasionally is is even obliterated by the bass. The solo work is good; succint solos that hit the music well without seeming indulgent and pointless. The bass guitar is pretty high in the mix here, which is a good thing as there are some nice lines. The prominence of the bass in the mix is quite an important factor in the intresting overall sound produced on this album. The drumwork is great, but it's Chris Reifert, what else did you expect?

The only drawback of this album is the lack of diversity, don't get me wrong though this is still a brilliant album with great songs, but some of them are forgettable like Impeding Dread, Stillborn and the dull track Destined to Fester. There's still plenty of great riffs to keep you going here, and the music and vocals are both of high quality. I'd recommend this album to fans of old school death, and I'd recommend listening to 'Pagan Saviour', 'Critical Madness', 'Embalmed' or the awesome death metal classic 'Ridden With Disease' those were the best songs if you need more persuasion. This double cd edition is definitely worth getting as you get a brilliant booklet with tons of info and pictures of the band, you also have two brand-new songs (which were pretty decent), five live tracks, eight previously unreleased demo cuts, and the tracks from the band's rare 1991 EP, RETRIBUTION FOR THE DEAD.

After Chris Reifert left death he started this amazing band and continued where "scream bloody gore" left of.It's raw and filthy and i think no band has ever made so much with the phrase less is more.In short if you're new to death metal this is THE BAND to begin your jorney with

i was informed to check out Autopsy from a few fellow Heavy Music enjoyers quite some time ago and i have to say, from a Death Metal perspective, its a classic.

one thing that i enjoy about older DM is how slapstick comical (granted GORY slapstick) the song titles can be [i.e. Charred Remains, Disembowel, Embalmed, Ridden With Disease].

musically, very simple, fast and heavy. twas cool reading the liner notes and seeing Steve DiGiorgio [Sadus, Testament] played the session bass. production, about as unpolished as one could expect hah. one of the telltale signs of being an Old School Death Metal album.

its a fun listen to say the least. for the sake of history its worth picking up and seeing where the DM subgenre came from.

Severed survival is debut album of this death metal gods and piggy man Chris Reifert.1989 was a good year for metal,and Autopsy rules that underground,stuffs like "Embalmed","Severed survival","Stillborn","Disembowel"...and others cult material is still festering. Sound is very raw,but of second album has typical dirty canal slowly noise and I like this underground crashing.It's very powerfull.
Simple death metal with hatred energy,that was a severed survival!!!

First of all, there's no arguing Autopsy's influence in extreme metal. Along with bands like Disembowelment and Winter they're really the ones who gave definition to this whole "death doom" thing, unless you really wanna dig back and attribute it to crustier pre-death metal forefathers like Amebix and Hellhammer. And if a band these days is said to sound like Autopsy, that's usually a quite good thing; see for instance, Coffins and Gallhammer. So what's the problem?

Past Autopsy's twisted, fascinatingly illogical compositional style, they were very much a sex, drugs and rock n' roll-oriented band, and as a result, their music feels philosophically and emotionally vacant at heart. They had interesting, nihilistic _sensibilities_, but beyond that they played exalted mosh stuff to keep insular subculture kids vacant and distracted--which is exactly what eventually made death metal redundant and braindead enough to spur on that church burnin' second wave black metal stuff as a reaction.

The sad fact is metalheads tend to have a lazy, tier-based sort of logic that gets all caught up in scene etiquette and glosses over substance. Autopsy were great riffcrafters, but the fact it was all just for sh's and giggles ultimately bleeds through, and I can't really get over that as the final step to respecting them. Give me Demilich, Morbid Angel or early Dismember any day.