Later this month, Autopsy and Bloodbath are teaming up to release a special split 7-inch. It comes as part of Peaceville’s ongoing 30th birthday celebrations, and marks a bond between the seminal California death metallers Autopsy with Swedish death metal supergroup Bloodbath. But that’s not all, as Autopsy themselves are releasing a new mini-album Puncturing The Grotesque on the same day! Not bad if you love yourself a bit of gore.
And Bloodbath themselves sure do! Which is why we asked Jonas “Lord Seth” Renkse and Anders “Blakkheim” Nyström to pick the 10 best Autopsy songs of all time. Let’s take a look…
Waiting For The Screams
Lord Seth: “A bluesy horror-filled masterpiece with some classic Autopsy ‘madman’ vocals. There’s an amazing guitar solo in this one, sounding like a thousand slithering maggots released from a freshly dug-up corpse. The Sabbathy ending part with the screams we all have waited for close this track perfectly.”
Torn From The Womb
Blakkheim: “I dare you to not bob your head or tap your foot when you crank the insane mix of dissonance and heavy groove of this track! When Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone was still a death metal band around their Soulside Journey times, they always mentioned Autopsy as their main influence and it’s not hard to see where that statement comes from when the song goes into the swing-beat guitar solo part.”
Funereality
Lord Seth: “One of my favourite Autopsy songs with its deranged, doomy intro, vocals that sound like a corpse trying to tell you what life beyond the grave feels like, and a miserable, funereal guitar solo. That’s all we need, really.”
Keeper Of Decay
Blakkheim: A favourite song of mine, mostly based on the genius lyrics about a deranged guy collecting rotten roadkill to admire as trophies inside his home. It would make a great video – or even a movie! I always loved how the album title on the front cover of this release was drawn inside the blood drips.”
Humiliate Your Corpse
Lord Seth: “Intense death metal madness – it’s downright dirty, sludgy and rotten. This song has got everything I love about Autopsy. The lyrical content serves as a blood red jewel in the rusted crown.”
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Retribution For The Dead
Blakkheim: “Dark, doomy, sludgy, groovy, filthy and heavy! This is what Black Sabbath would sound like had they progressed into death metal! This sound and style is Autopsy’s essential trademark to me. It’s so raw, unpolished and filled with relentless attitude! We used to refer to it as ‘basement dumpster junky death metal.’ Mr Reifert also clearly carved out his own theatrical niche for delivering his madman vocals in the sickest way possible, going back and forth between vomits put to words and agonising gasps for air!”
Your Rotting Face
Lord Seth: “I just love the miserable opening of this song, full of woe and thirst for gore. The song is sprinkled with classic Autopsy riffing, getting more intense as the song moves on, and as always it has a great guitar solo, ideal for death metal and far away from the perfectionism that we hear a lot in todays metal.”
In The Grip Of Winter
Blakkheim: “Ultra heavy and nonetheless extremely groovy, with some thoughtful lyrics about freezing to death! The main riff is now such a classic that any stoner band would wish they had written it. The crunchy interlude nodding to Black Sabbath was a highly unusual element to incorporate for a death metal band at this time. The solo also has all the feels you could wish for, as it thrives on the border between classic blues and rotten death!”
Service For A Vacant Coffin
Lord Seth: “A total classic! One can hear the legacy from Death’s Scream Bloody Gore, but Autopsy took everything a bit further on their debut, adding a bit of deranged punk into the recipe, creating their own style to which they have stayed unbelievable true to ever since. All hail the gore masters!”
Destined To Fester
Blakkheim: “Again, it’s looking back and flirting with Iommi and the boys, utilising some bending agonising wah-wah leads over simple hooks and doom riffs. The break with the bass starting up the mid-section is so catchy I lost count on how many times I hummed it doing something else! Great duelling lead bursts from the Cutler/Corralles guitar duo, always delivering something very musical yet still brutal! If there ever was a sludge/stoner/doom subgenre invented in death metal, that trail leads right back here, to Autopsy, where it all started!”
Autopsy’s new album Puncturing The Grotesque is out December 15, via Peaceville Records.
