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LEGALISE DRUGS AND MURDER · 10-16-2021, 08:30 PM

ASPHYX - LAST ONE ON EARTH (1992)

I guess I sort of neglected The Temple of Doom for a few days. I went and listened to a lot of old hardcore and thrashcore, and now I've circled back to classic death metal stuff. That being the case, Asphyx seemed like a perfect thing to cover.

Asphyx was a band that leaned very heavily in the direction of very classic, old school death metal. Fans of no BS death metal in the vein of Pestilence (also Dutch), or Obituary are going to feel very at home here. However, Asphyx pushed Obituary's gloomy mids in an even slower, more crushing direction. This is perhaps ODSM at its most sabbathy, with some riffs even settling into an identifiably bluesy rumble.

Despite that (though it's perhaps more accurate to say because of it), Asphyx serve up some really hideous, detuned, evil sounding music for the early 90s. Lots of this is just pummelling and while it's not super pristine or expensive sounding, the guitars really pound and grind. Not a lot of showing off, but very competently performed and full of titanic momentum. Not only is this very classic sounding, it's also just some of the best OSDM period.

There isn't a lot of melody here, but we get the occasional mournful, and very gothic and spindly sounding, guitar solo like on the title track, which is great. Very refreshing relative to very shreddy or unmelodic death metal soloing. The growls are nice too, and sit at a relatively punky mid range (without approaching anything like a scream or shout). On that front, Obituary comparisons definitely also apply, though it's hard to be as grotesque as John Tardy and I won't pretend the band does that here. Still, as someone who got into extreme music via punk, this is an approach that I favour.

Fans of straightforward (unlike towering monstrosities like Disembowelment and ilk) death metal that still dips into doomy, sludgy goodness are in for a treat. It's blunt force trauma to Morbid Angel's precision attack. Also, anyone who has an appreciation for 90s OSDM fundamentals will probably recognize this as a standout, and Asphyx as deserving of their reputation. I'll probably also do their more groundbreaking debut, but this is my preference.

Turn it the **** up or get burnt to a chrisp.

10-16-2021, 08:30 PM	#35 (permalink)
LEGALISE DRUGS AND MURDER Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2021 Posts: 94	ASPHYX - LAST ONE ON EARTH (1992) I guess I sort of neglected The Temple of Doom for a few days. I went and listened to a lot of old hardcore and thrashcore, and now I've circled back to classic death metal stuff. That being the case, Asphyx seemed like a perfect thing to cover. Asphyx was a band that leaned very heavily in the direction of very classic, old school death metal. Fans of no BS death metal in the vein of Pestilence (also Dutch), or Obituary are going to feel very at home here. However, Asphyx pushed Obituary's gloomy mids in an even slower, more crushing direction. This is perhaps ODSM at its most sabbathy, with some riffs even settling into an identifiably bluesy rumble. Despite that (though it's perhaps more accurate to say because of it), Asphyx serve up some really hideous, detuned, evil sounding music for the early 90s. Lots of this is just pummelling and while it's not super pristine or expensive sounding, the guitars really pound and grind. Not a lot of showing off, but very competently performed and full of titanic momentum. Not only is this very classic sounding, it's also just some of the best OSDM period. There isn't a lot of melody here, but we get the occasional mournful, and very gothic and spindly sounding, guitar solo like on the title track, which is great. Very refreshing relative to very shreddy or unmelodic death metal soloing. The growls are nice too, and sit at a relatively punky mid range (without approaching anything like a scream or shout). On that front, Obituary comparisons definitely also apply, though it's hard to be as grotesque as John Tardy and I won't pretend the band does that here. Still, as someone who got into extreme music via punk, this is an approach that I favour. Fans of straightforward (unlike towering monstrosities like Disembowelment and ilk) death metal that still dips into doomy, sludgy goodness are in for a treat. It's blunt force trauma to Morbid Angel's precision attack. Also, anyone who has an appreciation for 90s OSDM fundamentals will probably recognize this as a standout, and Asphyx as deserving of their reputation. I'll probably also do their more groundbreaking debut, but this is my preference. Turn it the **** up or get burnt to a chrisp.