Uber Classics: Suffocation – Effigy of the Forgotten (1991)

Effigy of the Forgotten, the debut record of Suffocation, one that would would bring a whole new world of brutality to American metal. In my opinion, this album, along with Cannibal Corpse’s Eaten Back to Life kind of paved the way for what would become the modern form of death metal, leaning away from the thrash roots and forming its own identity as a sub-genre with more groove filled elements, blast beats, down tuned guitars, indistinguishable vocals and several other factors. Effigy of the Forgotten is an absolute staple of the NY death metal scene, and is arguably the best of the band’s storied career.

Unfortunately, due to a rather long lapse of activity, and many other bands picking up the slack during the 90’s, Suffocation’s place in the annals of death metal history while not entirely ignored, is definitely watered down. When I listen to Effigy of the Forgotten its hard to believe that this album came out in 1991. Suffocation may not have invented many of the techniques they used, but very few death metal acts before them put all the tools together quite like they did.

CODY