Customer Reviews

Xecutioner's Return

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

 

 

Obituary was one of the originators of death metal as a style, and have returned due to the recent resurgence in metal's popularity to release two albums....2005's "Frozen In Time", and the new release "Xecutioner's Return" (a nice nod to fans of the band).

Although I enjoyed both, "Xecutioner's" is definately the better of the two, primarily due to the addition of Ralph Santolla's well-phrased and shred-happy soloing style, and simply the fact that this disc features better riffs, more variety and experimentation, and slightly better production. Of course, part of the appeal of this band (for me, anyway) is the dry, "old-school" metal production, but "Frozen" just seemed muddy, to me. For the older fans, the vocals are great, the low-end bottom heavy riffs are there in spades, but the addition of a bajillion solos will either help or hinder your enjoyment of this disc; as the older Obituary albums actually sound quite a bit different compared to this....there must be about 40 or so solos on this disc, and they are not the spastic, "Slayer-esque" variety, but very over-the top, in control, and flashy, which makes this sound much different than Obit's older discs. For me, that's awesome! For some die-hards, maybe not.

Obituary is possibly my favorite deah metal band and now they return with this album that can be placed among the best in Obituary's catalog. The songs are as brutal than aways and the production actally sounds more crisp. Ralph Santolla and Trevor Peres are a great guitar duo and have some brutal riffs and great solos. Donald Tardy double bass seems to get faster and better every time I listen to them. James Tardy is such a phenomenol death metal vocalist, which makes you wonder how can he do that type of growl. Frank Watkins bass actually sounds better this time. So far I can't be able to find my favorite track because they all sound good. If you are into death metal(or metal at all) get this album now.

After a judge threw the book at former Obituary guitarist and prime soloist Allen West and sent him prison, one would have thought Obituary might have to put the idea of a new album on hold for awhile. Not so. In fact they continued on with new material just two years after the excellent 2005 release "Frozen in Time". Just by the title I thought when I picked this up that Obituary was trying to capture their demo days back when they were actually called Xecutioner. (Tired of being confused with Boston thrash metalists Executioner, they changed their name to Obituary.) This new offering does bring back a lot of memories of those "Xecutioner" demo tapes. There still is the slow-sludgy-classic Obituary sound, but there are sections that are quite a bit faster. It's good to see Obituary is not afraid to highlight hardcore, Thrash, punk and crossover's influence on Death Metal.

John Tardy's voice is in top form and has changed little over the years -if at all. The growl that can't be imitated is part and parcel the driving force of much of the record. Trevor Peres still hands out heavy low end riff after riff. The drumming, which has always been simple yet elegant in its own way on every Obituary record, is executed with much more precision than ever before. Some of the drum lines on "Lasting Presence" and "Second Chance" are pretty cool even if they only last for a few moments. If you like Obituary, then you'll probably like this album since the band has nothing to change in their solid-as-a-rock-Floridian-Death Metal formula. Their approach only seems to sharpen over time. The only noticeable difference between this and prior Obituary albums is the guitar stylings of Ralph Santolla. His style is markedly different than Allen West. The pace is less frenetic and space is more utilized in his playing as opposed to West's style.

The only problem I have with this album is the production. Some parts of it sound less than ideally mixed. Even though it was mastered by Jim Morris at Morrisound Studios in Tampa, it wasn't recorded there and Scott Burns had little or nothing to do with this record. Scott Burns is a top notch engineer and differences in recording quality between "Frozen and Time" might not be obvious to everyone, but in the finer details of the recording (the mid-range) it does bring this album down a notch. Otherwise, a fine album and reccommended to those who like their Death Metal, American, straight forward, and heavy as all hell.

I was really looking forward to the release of "Xecutioner's Return" and was really hoping for great things because I've been a fan of Obituary since the early days, but unfortunately I found the whole thing a bit flat and "samey"...in my opinion it's probably comparable to "Back from the Dead" like Chris from San Diego wrote in an earlier review. I found that the guitar sounds got a little sludgy and weren't as crisp as say "Slowly We Rot" and "Cause of Death" (which are probably still two of the best death metal releases out there). It is still Obituary and I'm sure fans will buy it anyway, but I feel their first two releases outshine this one by a long shot...but if you love their later stuff, say from "Back from the Dead" onwards, then this'll be right up your alley.

Listened to this album the other day for the first time. I had taken a long break from Obituary. I use to be a big fan back in the Cause of Death days. This was really refreshing after a lot of their intermediate work. I really enjoyed the new guitar players thoughtful solo's. It felt like the Obituary I remember (James Murphy era) and loved. I would recommend this album to anyone who is a fan of Cause of Death.

XECUTIONERS RETURN! is a really solid cd from start to finish. with songs like Evil Ways, Bloodshot, and Contrast The Dead. It brings you back to the late 80's and early 90's that obituary tore up. This cd is beyond excellent with great riffs, If you were wandering with the absence of Allen west was going to hurt the band not at all. In fact it sounds like Allen was on this cd and you wouldn't even know, they have been at it for 20 years, and it's amazing how they can consistently keep putting out such good stuff. So many other bands try to imitate them, but none of them can really ever do it. I think this is probably the best CD they've ever put out, it's just as heavy if not heavier than any of their 90's stuff, and Tardy sounds just as great as he always has. What really stands out though here is there is more of an emphasis on solos, I think this is the most solo-driven they've ever been and prove they can solo just as great as they can pound out the best and most brutal death metal riffs in existence. For those that are new to Obituary, I recommend Purchasing their older stuff first such as "Slowly We Rot"(1989) or "Cause Of Death"(1990). For the old fans, you HAVE to buy this NOW!!!.

on first listen this is different good?bad? different? then comes the new guitarist catstrangeling his axe shiit!get allen west back on the road or at least let him write and record new stuff i'm not very fond of this change but I can't say it suck either.objeckively it's good better than back from the dead but not cause,the end or frozen or even world demise.
their newest one dark day seams a little better but ralph still dosn't fit and plays a different type of guitar than obituary needs!allen must return!

This album is nowhere near any of the previous Obituary releases. Vocals are a bit "careful" and I hate the guitar wanker solos by mr Santolla. I'm a huge fan of Obituary, but this album i a huge let down.

Some of you may recognize my name from a review I did previously about this album stating that it wasn't even close to being as good as 'Frozen in Time.' Well I gave it a second listen & it's not the first time this has happened, but I think the album is a little better than I first thought. I still think 'Xecutioner's Return' isn't as good as 'Frozen in Time' (Obituary's return to the metal game) but it is the usual sound that you would expect from this band.

After the release of Frozen in Time, I couldn't wait for this one to come out. And unfortunately it is a step back. It is on the same level as Back From the Dead. That means it is not a horrible album, but it is not up to what I think should be Obituary's standards. While it is better than most of the other crap that is out there, don't go expecting another great album like Frozen in Time.