This is my favorite Obituary album (though I do not own their latest release, "Darkest Day", so I can't speak for it!) The reasoning here is simple: with "Cause of Death", Obituary reached something deep within the soul. The band had already released a masterpiece, with the awesome "Slowly We Rot" foreshadowing a great career playing death metal and releasing great albums in the future, but with this album, things were different. The distinctive guitar player, Allen West, who is known for his bluesy soloing, and more "laid back" approach when compared to other death metal guitar players of the day, such as Trey Azagthoth or the Hoffman brothers, was replaced by guitar virtuoso James Murphy. Okay, virtuoso is probably pushing it, but the guy is a damn good guitar player. His style was completely different from what people would have been used to with Allen West in this position, completely ditching West's bluesy, atmospheric approach, in favor of something which valued substance over style. By this, I mean that West prominently made use of whammy bar and other such "stylistic" trademarks which helped craft a greater sense of imagery upon the band's music, while Murphy took on a more melodic and technical, yet extremely emotional (in my eyes, at least) approach that has the ability to make the listener fall to his or her knees, in tears, marveling at the sheer beauty. That is hyperbole, but rest assured, the solos on this album rock.
Look no further than the album's title track, "Cause of Death" (which also happens to feature some of the best lyrics ever penned by vocalist John Tardy), for a wild ride! The song's introduction possesses one of the most memorable and soul-shattering solos on the entire album, and it alone does wonders to justify why this album is so awesome in the first place. However, that's far from all this album has to offer. Why, the album's opening track, "Infected", makes use of an extremely moody, very unsettling solo before the track even gets going with the main riff, to great effect. In fact, "great effect" is probably a really good way to describe this album. Just about everything here is in tip-top shape. Donald Tardy's drum kit sounds better than ever, with his snare tone in particular shining as one of the production's most stellar aspects, and rhythm guitarist Trevor Peres not only nails us with some of the most powerful and brutal riffs of his career (2:57 in "Chopped in Half", for instance), but the riffs are perfectly represented within his extremely crunchy, almost chainsaw-esque guitar tone (it's still not quite the same tone as one would find on a Dismember album, though!). The bass guitar of Frank Watkins (another new-comer to the band, at this time), is easily recognizable, sitting beneath the more obvious sections of the band's music, and supplying backing brutality beneath the sawing guitar riffs. He's not a bassist of flair, but he gets the job done!
Back to talking of riffs and guitars, Trevor Peres also delivers some amazing riffs here (as previously stated). "Body Bag" opens with one of the catchiest and most memorable riffs on the album, and the riff at 0:33 in "Memories Remain" still haunts my dreams (accompanied by the ever so subtle "LIEF GAOS ANNN...EVEAN AFTA... DEAFFFTHH" line from John Tardy), and in all honesty, the overall approach that he takes to his playing is enough to cement him as one of the riff-masters of the genre. Unlike many, there is very little "showing off" to be seen, and you won't hear anything in these riffs that doesn't need to be there, and does not help advance the song further. Even his rhythm riffs which churn below the unreal shredding of James Murphy, and are often comprised of only two or three chords, are capable of sticking to the mind even when a melodic solo is shredding above (Gavin Ward of Bolt Thrower is another guitarist who deserves credit for doing this, as well).
And the final member who needs to be discussed is the man himself: vocalist John Tardy. This guy is my personal favorite vocalist in all of death metal, and with "Cause of Death", he proves why. If he sounded insane on "Slowly We Rot" (and he did), then he doesn't even sound human on this album. The sheer terror in the man's voice is simply unbelievable, but what's more, is his presence within the music. By this, I mean that it took me years to realize that there are actually only one or two lines of lyrics growled in the entirety of "Chopped in Half". To have such a strong presence, that the listener doesn't even notice when you stop singing, is something truly remarkable. He simply sounds like a beast which has been unleashed from it's cage! Of course, Tardy's vocal performance is one of the few aspects of Obituary's music which has never waned in any noticeable way, even 20 years on, so this should hardly come as a surprise to anybody who was already familiar with the band.
Another unique aspect of his vocal performance with this album, is his use of backing vocal tracks. I once heard King Diamond claim that there was "alot going on" vocally on the "Don't Break the Oath" album from Mercyful Fate, and I think this description probably fits this album pretty well too (though to a much lesser extent!). It's a rather hard thing to explain, though. When you listen to some of the songs on this album, for example the album opener, "Infected" (which is where the "backing vocal" tracks are probably at their most prominent), you will hear a main vocal track of John Tardy growling along, while a side track sticks in a few words here and there. At other moments, such as the breakdown of "Body Bag" (which occurs at about 2:19), you will hear a backing track supply terrifying screams below Tardy's already maddening death grunt. This particular method of "double tracking" doesn't appear to be very common these days, where bands choose instead to copy the Deicide method (and if you don't know what that is, listen to any Deicide song from the "Scars of the Crucifix" album!), which I think is rather sad. Like I said earlier, this helps enhance the presence of Tardy's voice, giving the listener the impression that they are in a room filled with demonic, grunting entities (which is much more brutal than having two different styles repeat the same line...), or perhaps they are hearing sad*stic voices in their heads, taunting them and urging them to kill? In either case, the vocals of John Tardy are clearly great on this album, and do wonders to enhance the atmosphere into something far beyond anything the band ever had done or ever would do.
There is so much more to talk about with this album, but in the end, I shouldn't need to explain further. If you don't already own this album, and are considering buying it...go ahead and do it, you won't regret it.
