Suffocation's "Pinnacle of Bedlam"

[Weltschmerz]

I just got around to hearing a promo copy, and I'm sad to say that they lost their way big time.
The only positive is that Dave Culross is a monster drummer, and does an excellent job.

The songwriting...well...

Suffo fans...what say ye?

[HottKarl]

Pretty much my assessment. They haven't put a decent album out in years.

Part of the song-writing process is knowing what not to include. It seems like they forgot this part.....songs are just a mish-mash of endless wanking and riffing. Pains me to say it but you pretty much summed it up....they have lost their way. Bummer because Culross is literally one of my favorite drummers and this is just a waste of his talents. Can't believe this is the same band that put out 'Effigy of the Forgotten', 'Pierced From Within' and 'Despise the Sun.'

[Adrian]

I haven't heard the whole album yet, but I must say, I like what I have heard so far. I honestly like a lot of the material they have put out since they reformed. Souls To Deny grew on me after getting past the hollow production, and the self-titled album that followed is badass if you ask me. Blood Oath is pretty solid too. Yeah, I know Doug Cerrito was a big part of the original Suffo sound, but I think Terrance Hobbs has been holding his own.


That all being said, I am looking forward to the new Carcass album more than anything. The fact that Bill Steer is doing vocals again has raised my expectations.

[HottKarl]

Yeah, their newer shit just doesn't do anything for me. I know the technicality is impressive but the songs themselves just haven't hooked me at all.

That said, I'll go see them live in a heartbeat. Been awhile since I've seen Dave play live.

And yeah, that new Carcass will be tasty.

[Holy-diver]

I like all suffocation, pre and post reform. this album sounds sick so far.

[RaceU4her]

Pretty much my assessment. They haven't put a decent album out in years.

Part of the song-writing process is knowing what not to include. It seems like they forgot this part.....songs are just a mish-mash of endless wanking and riffing. Pains me to say it but you pretty much summed it up....they have lost their way. Bummer because Culross is literally one of my favorite drummers and this is just a waste of his talents. Can't believe this is the same band that put out 'Effigy of the Forgotten', 'Pierced From Within' and 'Despise the Sun.'

pretty much the way i feel about most death metal these days. suffocation was one of my favorite metal bands and my old band playing with them was the highlight of my band days, but i havent been into anything they have released since their comeback at all. i think its time for death metal to slow it down a little, bring some groove back and maybe repeat a part here or there and have actual songs.

[nwright]

I'm a late fan to suffo, so I don't have the legacy stuff to draw from. But i think the new one sounds pretty sweet so far.

[Loins of Fire]

I think it's pretty good, not as good as their old stuff. I think Doug Cerrito was an important part of the band ( I always preferred his playing to Terrance). Not a big fan of the production either. I don't understand why death/grind bands go for super clean production these days, seems ironically backwards.

Culross is not even close to the same level as Smith. I love his work In the Malevolent albums but I've always considered his drumming very simple compared to his peers.

[SenatorClayDavis]

Culross is not even close to the same level as Smith. I love his work In the Malevolent albums but I've always considered his drumming very simple compared to his peers.

They're both good drummers, but nothing either one has done has ever really stood out to me. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing - other drummers are certainly guilty of doing too much and detracting from the song with their self-indulgently busy playing.

That said, I prefer Culross's work with Suffo. Probably also because he's drummed on their best material, but the way he plays suits the music better I think.

[Loins of Fire]

Culross is not even close to the same level as Smith. I love his work In the Malevolent albums but I've always considered his drumming very simple compared to his peers.

They're both good drummers, but nothing either one has done has ever really stood out to me. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing - other drummers are certainly guilty of doing too much and detracting from the song with their self-indulgently busy playing.

That said, I prefer Culross's work with Suffo. Probably also because he's drummed on their best material, but the way he plays suits the music better I think.

I don't know, I think Suffo is an extremely technical band that needs an extremely technical drummer. Mike could go from fast to slow and everywhere in between in a blink of an eye, just like the guitars. Culross sticks to the same blast for like 12 measures sometimes, and his fills are always the same snare/tom roll over and over. I think he fits in with a band like Malevolent a lot more because they are a lot more simple.

[RaceU4her]

id probably take the drummer from pierced, i cant even remember his name

[Loins of Fire]

id probably take the drummer from pierced, i cant even remember his name

Doug Bohn, and I agree.

[SenatorClayDavis]

I don't disagree with you on that. In general I prefer my death metal on the less-technical side, so that's probably why I like Culross better than Smith. I prefer a drummer who stays locked into a groove without too much stop-start/fast-slow type stuff. Mike Smith certainly leans more towards tech-death as a drummer, whereas Culross is old-school Florida Death Metal, and adds a thrashy flavour to the Suffo stuff he plays on. I like the way the more technical guitars are balanced out by the straight-forward drumming.

[Loins of Fire]

That makes sense I see your point.

[HottKarl]

Gotta totally disagree about Culross' skills as a tech drummer. The guy is super versatile and believes in pocket drumming....even in a death metal setting. He's there to keep time and accent with fills and some off-time stuff. His footwork is untouchable compared to Mike. Cleanest single and double strokes in the business and also can throw in polyrhythms as needed. Go listen to 'Fine Art of Murder' (Malevolent) or 'The Only Law is Survival' (Hateplow) again and listen to some of the crazy ass jazz shit he throws in. It's totally understated. Had a chance to speak with him a couple times and learn his pedigree (he was a Drum Corps guy and has jazz experience) so not a self-taught guy. One story he told was how Malevolent called him when they were recording 'Fine Art of Murder' in a panic because the drum parts they had just weren't working. They had fired the drummer, scrapped all his takes and needed someone to come in and lay some stuff down. Dave agreed, came in, and having heard the material for the first time right then in the studio, totally re-wrote, arranged and recorded all the drum tracks for that album in 3 days. Pretty amazing. The rest of the band confirmed the story and said that Dave is by far the best drummer they knew and wished he could commit to them full time (this was back then when they had just released that album.)

Other than 'Effigy of the Forgotten' (which Dave can play in his sleep), I've never felt that Mike Smith showed much dynamics in his drumming....he's as 4/4 as they come. He just has a weird style that combines an open playing stance with a right hand drum set up....a lefty playing a righty kit. Makes it seems like he's doing more than he really is. Don't get me wrong, I think Mike's work is great and 'Effigy..' is a drumming masterpeice, but Dave's style and technicality is highly underrated. He's a drummer's drummer.

BTW, I'm a drummer.

[Loins of Fire]

I don't know I've always thought of Culross as a pretty simplistic drummer compared to some other death metal drummers. I don't play drums but I know them very well. Just seems like he's always doing everything "by the book". I like more fills, more weird time signatures and toms. Seems like he's either just doing blasts, a double bass 4/4 beat or the same fill over and over. Don't get me wrong he's a good drummer, just dint think he's right for Suffo. The more technical the better imo.

[Loins of Fire]

And I don't think it's fair comparing Mike's work back in '89 to what's going on now. Check out his work on the newer stuff, dude is one of the best.

[HottKarl]

Eh, agree to disagree.

[Adrian]

So I just gave the whole album a full spin. Is it groundbreaking? No. That being said, the songwriting is good, and they sound pretty inspired after getting Culross back on drums. It's also cool to hear Terrance and Guy's lead playing improving with each album.