"After hearing this album, I had to purchase all of the other Suffocation recordings to see how they compare. And frankly, I didn't need to look any further than this e.p. These 5 songs have been stuck in my head for weeks. Amazing production, technicality, and songwriting. You need this!"
Probably the second best effort by NYC's most brutal
Zander Haberstaft | Miami, Florida | 11/02/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
""Despise the Sun" of 1998 is as good, second for second, as "Pierced from Within". This five song EP doesn't have a weak moment in it and is produced much like the prior effort by the master of all Death Metal production, Scott Burns. (Okay, the bass end is a little too heavy.) Starting off with the groove heavy "Funeral Inception", Dave Culross (Malevolent Creation, great drummer) drives the song with his super consistent double bass and great feel. But no Suffocation album would be complete without Doug Cerrito and Terrance Hobbs, one of the best guitar duos in metal history alongside Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, Gary Holt and Rick Hunolt. The riffs are as clever and ever changing as the minute counter on the play button of your CD player.
The tempos most go between the fast double time thrashing and medium paced blast beats but there are a few slower groove heavy parts ("Catatonia") with a little Hardcore flavor (like they're summoning the ghost of the Cro-mags). The bass is kinda twangy and mixed a little lower than most bands would go, but I think it only adds to the character of the overall sound. Frank Mullen's low lingering growl keeps the entire album together.
It is short but is as good as "Pierced" time wise, so it definitely is worth picking up. Too bad they didn't keep Dave Culross, and too bad they didn't stay together during what looks in retrospect to be their creative peak. A quality album recommended to every Suffocation fan and every discerning Death Metal listener."
Hard to pick...
sickeningore | massachusetts | 10/22/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Its quite hard to pick a favorite album between "pierce from within" and "despise the sun" and i will never realy know my real answer as a favorite album but i love both of them alot.Althought "despise the sun" is a short album? It fullfills my soul with beautifull and talent deathmetal that is very powerfull and i hold it most dearly. Everything from traditional and powerfull deathmetal and very essential, i might add."
If You've never heard them- Start Here!
lashawn1 | Los Angeles, CA | 06/18/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If you love Pure, traditional, no frills or B.S. Death metal......Suffocation is the band for you. This EP is their best music.....i have all of their albums and Despise the sun comes of as the cleanest and most brutal of all their music. All of their albums are good, but if i only could keep one...it would be this one. The vocals are perfect gutteral vocals....not unrealistic harmonized(Bear being gutted), or annoying black metal shreaking. The vocals are the way death metal are supposed to be. The guitars shred with great riffs that are not boring, and make you(force you) to bang your head. They dont play the same riff that sounds like a puddle of mud for 2 minutes straight, nor are they so technical(dillinger escape plan), that it sounds like mess and where there is no harmony or order.....(a note on that) Before you can break the rules of music, You have to know them first...alot of these bands try to be so technical that it kills the enjoyability of the music.Suffocation is right on. They rule, this is their best CD. Take the word of someone who listens to every type of metal and punk out there, from street punk to goregrind to hardcore to crustcore to power and speed metal. This is a must buy. Enjoy."
Suffocation's final suffocating Death Metal grasp...
Sean | Lakeland, Fl. | 05/15/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The purveyor's of Extreme music are back with, sadly, their last album. Actually this is an e.p., but it still feels like a loss. Suffocation has always meant business wether it was shoving gutteral Death Metal vocals down your throat, or crussing your rib cage with an assault of double-bass drums and blastbeats enough to level the entire city of New York City. This is Suffocation which also means it's well worth your money. I thought this was their best one to date. It's very technical and very brutal. Not to mention the sample in the beginning of "Funeral Inception" is just worth the cd itself."