Obituary - Roadrunner Records Australia

As hard as it is to fathom, Florida death metal pioneers, Obituary, owe a lot to melodic hard rock goofball Andrew WK. The band had been on indefinite hiatus since 1997 and by the middle of 2002 playing together again was the furthest thing on their minds. Singer John Tardy was working at a computer company, guitarist Trevor Peres was in Catastrophic, guitarist Allen West was in Lowbrow, bassist Frank Watkins was hawking mortgages, and drummer Donald Tardy was playing live with Andrew WK. Then, before an Ozzfest gig in West Palm Beach, Andrew WK called John and Frank and invited them to play a few songs onstage with him. "We hooked up to practice a couple songs and we remembered how fun it was to play together," John says. "That's all it took. We ended up doing a couple shows that were really well received, and things just snowballed from there." In early 2004, Obituary finally decided to start working on their sixth studio record. Often, when bands haven't been together for years, writing sessions are initially strained or unproductive and it takes a while for the musicians to get back on their creative feet. Obituary had no such problem. "It was really like putting on an old pair of shoes," John says. "It didn't seem like it had been six years at all, it was more like the blink of an eye. Some of us had longer beards than we used to have but everything felt the same. After about five minutes together, we were totally back at 100 percent." One listen to the band's new album, Frozen In Time, and it's clear that Obituary have returned with the same force and fortitude they had in the early '90s. "On the Floor" opens with an incisive, churning riff, thunderous beats and bloodcurdling vocals before shifting into a chugging, bone-splintering breakdown, "Blindsided" rides a gradually ascending hate groove to a destination just south of Hell, and "Back Inside" fuses colossal crunch with pummeling double-bass drumming to create a deadly mosh pit firestorm. "When I sit and listen to it, I hear some songs that sound like they might have come off of our Slowly We Rot record and others that sound like they might have come off of World Demise," John says. "Then there are others that are unique to us and different than what we've done in the past. So it's really well rounded, and at the same time, it's the heaviest thing we've ever done." Obituary spent three months writing the album and practiced the songs until they could play them blindfolded. Then, they took a trip down memory lane, coaxing veteran metal producer Scott Burns out of retirement and working with him at their old stomping ground, Morrisound studios in Tampa, Florida. They also worked with producer Mark Prator at his Tampa ProTools Studio, Red Room Recorders. "That was incredible because we've watched Mark grow up through the years," John says. "On our second record, he was emptying garbage cans at the studio, and now he has his own studio. And being back with Scott was amazing. We've known him so long and he has an instinct for what Obituary should sound like." From start to finish, Frozen In Time was created without any major trauma or turbulence. In fact, one of the biggest challenges for Obituary happened after they finished in the studio and were trying to come up with a name for the record. They considered titling it after one of the album tracks, but decided that no single cut could adequately represent the album. They thought about naming it something that would reference to their reunification after seven long years. Finally, they decided they were best off with Frozen In Time. “After six years of inactivity, it's like we awakened out of hibernation just as heavy as we were before. It was like our sound was frozen in time, ” John says. “This album isn't a new beginning, it's just what we've always done - just newer and better.” 31/03/2008 - New 'Best Of's' Now Online for Purchase Fans of new technology and the old school metal will be extremely pleasured to hear that we have now made the following titles available as ... 16/12/2007 - Tim Bell has a pretty tidy Top 10 1. Machine Head - The Blackening2. Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos3. Megadeth - United Abominations4. Down - Over The Under5. Arch Enemy - Rise Of ... 07/11/2007 - DAATH – The Hinderers reviewed A solid critique of the James Murphy produced ‘The Hinderers’. Courtesy of the Metal Forge. 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Bass player Frank Watkins had the following ... 07/11/2007 - Allen West's OBITUARY is posted Obituary guitarist Allen West is no longer part of the band. According to a posting at Blabbermouth, West's exit from the band comes on the ... 07/11/2007 - OBITUARY's European tour de force Here's a lengthy visual account of Obituary's recent European festival tour. Obituary's new album 'Frozen In Time' is in stores now. 07/11/2007 - ROADRUNNER UNITED 'The All Star Sessions' A special release celebrating Roadrunner's 25th birthday. This is no mundane comp either! Roadrunner Records has put together a groundbreaking record to mark the label's ... 07/11/2007 - Killer OBITUARY Review Thawing out from hibernation, Obituary return with new album 'Frozen In Time'. 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Tentatively ... 07/11/2007OBITUARY Studio Update Floridian death metal horde Obituary are currently in the studio laying down tracks for their forthcoming, as yet untitled album. Here's a visual tour through ... 07/11/2007OBITUARY's John Tardy on touring bands Decibel Magazine sat down with the vocalist, and asked him about topics such as his ideal touring line up. “Caninus and Hatebeak, because the only ... 07/11/2007OBITUARY Insane Here it is, new music from Obituary. The track, "Insane," and it will be on the band's upcoming self-titled release, which should be out mid ... 07/11/2007'Frozen In Time' OBITUARY - track by track 1. REDNECK STOMP The opening track is a mid paced and repetitive head banger. Listening to it, you are patiently waiting for the vocals, which ... 07/11/2007OBITUARY Frozen In Time It has been revealed that 'Frozen In Time' will be the title of the new album 1. Redneck Stomp 2. On the Floor 3. Insane ... 07/11/2007OBITUARY 'Obituary' Tracklist 1. Redneck Stomp 2. On the Floor 3. Insane 4. Blindsided 5. Back Inside 6. Mindset 7. Stand Alone 8. Slow Death 9. Denied 10. ... 07/11/2007OBITUARY Update Obituary frontman John Tardy spoke to Abrasive Rock about the band's forthcoming studio album. Abrasive Rock: Do you guys have any album titles or songtitles ... 07/11/2007OBITUARY's JT Speaks Obituary vocalist John Tardy have finally headed back into the studio to record their brand new studio album, which should see release during June 2005. ... 07/11/2007New OBITUARY Pix The photo gallery at the RR UK site is featuring a couple of new photos from a recent Obituary shoot. The band are working on ... 07/11/2007OBITUARY studio update Obituary vocalist John Tardy gave Blabbermouth a recent update about the band's forthcoming studio album. While not expected until 2005, the band are, as previously ... 07/11/2007OBITUARY back in the saddle One of the legendary death metal acts to emerge from Florida during the mid 80's, Obituary are celebrating their 20th anniversary (since they formed as ... 07/11/2007OBITUARY's frontman answer your questions John Tardy, frontman of the legendary death metal band Obituary is featured in this month's Ask the Artist (part of the Roadrunner US site). He ... 07/11/2007CHIMAIRA drummer to guest on new DAATH album Kevin Talley (CHIMAIRA, DYING FETUS, MISERY INDEX) will lay down a few tracks on the upcoming sophomore album from Atlanta-based technical death metallers DAATH. The ... 07/11/2007OBITUARY on their forthcoming album Obituary guitarist, Trevor Peres spoke recently to Metal Maniacs magazine about their forthcoming album. Quotes transcribed by Blabbermouth.net. 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Frozen In Time Frozen In Time Anthology Anthology The End Complete (Re-Issue) The End Complete (Re-Issue) World Demise (Re-Issue) World Demise (Re-Issue) Cause Of Death (Re-Issue) Cause Of Death (Re-Issue) Slowly We Rot (Re-Issue) Slowly We Rot (Re-Issue)