When I was young I have to say I didn’t really get these guys. I didn’t mind them, but there were plenty of other bands I felt were far superior to Autopsy. Severed Survival came out in 1989 but by 1990 I was starting to buy and listen to the underground metal scene as the albums came out. We even had an independent radio show where I live that would play all this stuff. I guess at the time I was looking for the new extreme in music, where as the finer points of Autopsy are in their slowness and the absolute filth that is their vocals. I have to say, I love how disgusting the vocals sound. As Vocalist / Drummer Chris Reifert had previously played on the first album by fellow Florida band Death, I kind of get the feeling this might have been something a bit more fun for him. It kind of reminds me of a really drunk / sloppy version of his previous band.
Legend has it when these guys signed to Peaceville records, they were advanced $5000 to record the album and spent half of it on weed. It kinda shows! Hahaha! This new “adjusted” budget left them only 4 days to get the album done. But I have to say Autopsy did introduce a couple of new elements into death metal, namely the use of stoner, doomy parts, and fun! They obviously didn’t take themselves too seriously. Autopsy managed to combine the standard fast bits, but create a really morbid, slow feel through out the album really had a slow feel to it. I didn’t appreciate this at the time, but this was really a blast of fresh air through the crypt when you had every band trying to out fast each other. When trying to incorporate themes of horror and gore, I actually think the slow stuff works well for them. If being trapped in a pit of zombies had a feeling this album might actually be it.
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