Clocking in at a taut nine songs in 39 minutes without a second of filler,
The End Complete
may be the definitive
Obituary
album. The band's third, it marks the return of lead guitarist
Allen West
and it also marks an impressive leap forward in production. The songwriting and playing on
's past albums had been commendable, and
is no exception in that regard. Rather, it's the return of
West
and the remarkable production job by
Scott Burns
that sets this album apart from its predecessors. The return of
is important not only because his solos are one of the band's trademarks but also because he's an integral songwriter, here co-penning four of the nine songs.
Burns'
crystal-clear, in-your-face production is not to be underestimated, either. If anything had marred
's past two albums, both of them otherwise excellent, it was the murkiness of the sound, especially the drums. That's not an issue here at all, however, as
have never sounded this great. The guitar tones especially are downright vivid, particularly when
and rhythm guitarist
Trevor Peres
depart from one another such as during the solos (the title track is a great showcase for this, and so is
"Rotting Ways"
). You can practically feel the respective guitar tones buzzing through your head, they're so well recorded. And so are
John Tardy
's vocals, which are sometimes overdubbed to make them all the more potent and nuanced. They're so well recorded, in fact, you can actually understand some of the lyrics! Overall, there really isn't anything to complain about here. Sure, nine songs in a brisk 39 minutes might not be enough for those who can't get enough of
's textbook style of
death metal
, but this is such a powerful album that even seasoned metalheads can get exhausted quickly. And besides,
may be one of
's greatest bands ever, granted, but they're generally not the most varied or experimental. So too many more songs or too much more music, and the proceedings could begin to get increasingly monotonous, a problem that has plagued innumerable
albums over the years. But that's not an issue here, thankfully; the primary issue instead seems to be just how
could top an album such as
. Its two predecessors,
Slowly We Rot
and
Cause of Death
, had been near perfect and were quickly deemed classics of the early
era. But here the band has done itself one better, bringing
back into the fold and getting a better production job from
Burns
, and the result is arguably the definitive
album and, consequently, a prototypical
album. It don't get much better than this, folks. [
Roadrunner Records
reissued
in 1998 adding two live tracks.] ~ Jason Birchmeier