Post Mortem-Message from the dead

Taboo
2009



Post Mortem originally formed way back in 1982 when some of the band members were still in High School. Their 1986 debut "Coroner's Office" gets much credit as an pre-death metal attempt. The band followed it with the EP "The missing link" and then a pair of albums in the 90's before going on an indefinite hiatus. However a few years ago the original members reunited and began slowly throwing around ideas for a reunion album. Days before flying out to record vocals for the album vocalist John McCarthy died from a heart attack. Guitarist John Alexander decide to press on and wrap up the album they had begun. They recruited Sigh singer Mirai Kawashima to take over the vocals. They also brought a number of guests including members of Anal Cunt, Devastation, Cianide and others to chip during the numerous extra versions of songs at the end of the album. Right away it's obvious that the intent was to get back to sound that dominated their two albums from the 1980's. They see-saw between raw early death, semi-thrash ramblings and slow as a snail sludge. The style is similar to their early material although perhaps slightly more straight forward. The other huge difference would be that this time around the production is quite suitable as opposed the underdone production vlaues given to Post Mortem's outings on New Renaissance records. Kawashima does a fantastic job handling the vocals as he growls and rips his way through the material. This band has always done what they wanted to rather than going by trends or expected avenues. That doesn't mean every song they did was good, but there has always been a certain honesty to their music. It's a shame that McCarthy was taken too early from this world. However I am certainly glad that Alexander and the rest of the band pushed on to see this project to it's end because it is certainly the kind of album that Post Mortem fans have been hoping for over the years. It's also a fitting tribute to John McCarthy.