SUFFOCATION // MÉLANCOLIA // TERRORPY // SLOWLY ROTTEN

New York death metal legends Suffocation unleash their ninth full-length album, Hymns from the Apocrypha, via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to ...of the Dark Light (2017) pushes founder Terrance Hobbs (guitars), Derek Boyer (bass), Charles Errigo (guitars), Eric Morotti (drums), and newcomer Ricky Myers (vocals) to the very edges of extremity. Standout tracks "Seraphim Enslavement," "Perpetual Deception," and "Delusions of Mortality" are emphatically Suffocation but are enhanced with what Hobbs calls "progressive melodies." The crushing title track, "Immortal Execration," and the re-recording of "Ignorant Deprivation," featuring former throat-man Frank Mullen, are brutal alms to death metal's heaving masses.

"Hymns from the Apocrypha has a more natural/organic feel," says Boyer. "We recorded this album ourselves and intentionally took an old-school approach. This was the first time Suffocation captured the essence of the band ourselves. Musically, our goal is to evolve as musicians and songwriters. Our intention has always been to create aggressive, well-composed, well-made, and well-produced music. We put a lot of time and thought into every aspect of our work. Whether performing live or producing ourselves in the studio, we push ourselves to perform to the best of our ability."

Suffocation were founded in Long Island, New York, in 1988. Since then, they released foundational classics like Effigy of the Forgotten (1991), Breeding the Spawn (1993), and Pierced from Within (1995), with post-reformation slabs of savagery Souls to Deny (2004), Suffocation (2006), and Pinnacle of Bedlam (2013) proving death metal was not only Suffocation's to own but that it also continued to be a viable art form, all three albums earning accolades at Metal Injection, Decibel, and Deaf Forever. To date, they've played over 2,000 shows, giving audiences from the United States and Germany to Australia and Brazil unforgettable blasts and trademark slams. Truly, the group's global influence is unmistakable and undeniable. Hymns from the Apocrypha isn't merely another album from the New Yorkers but a statement of intent. Suffocation always have been and are here to slay.

"We will always be pushing for an extreme edge," Boyer says. "With each album, there is a new maturity. Whether it's a new vision of how we'll structure a song or if our approach to capturing our performances is going down a new path, no matter what, when we put something out, it will always be Suffocation. Even if we're experimenting in production with our tones or how we approach our compositions, it will always be Suffocation. After decades of this, we're not just going add a violin or feature a spoon man or some other bullsh*t. Suffocation's raw, aggressive, fast, heavy, brutal death metal. Just as it has always been and will always be."