Severed Survival

Severed Survival is the debut album by Autopsy released in 1989. This album somewhat continues in the style of Reifert's former band Death, blended with odd drum fills and breaks, more extreme vocals and the technical bass playing of Steve DiGiorgio. Lyrically the band thrives heavily on horror and gore concepts; nevertheless these are not inspired directly by horror movies. The album was very influential for future death metal acts such as Cannibal Corpse, Entombed and Dismember. It was also a pioneer of gore lyrics and one of the first examples of the death/doom genre (although it is more death metal than death/doom).

Various re-releases exist with different bonus tracks and bonus CDs. Also a different cover exists for this album, which depicts the point of view of the person receiving the autopsy.

The original issue of the album has mediocre mixing and mastering, with the bass track much higher than all the other tracks. The drumming was also poorly recorded, with the kick drum almost inaudible.

To coincide with the album's 20th anniversary, Peaceville Records released a special two-disc edition of Severed Survival on February 23, 2009.^[1] It includes rare rehearsal and live material for a bonus disc as well as demo versions of two songs — "Mauled to Death" and "Human Genocide" — which did not make the final cut on the original album. Also featured in the package is a booklet with notes by the band themselves, detailing the history of Autopsy's early years, with rare photos and images. The reissue also includes two new Autopsy tracks that were recorded in September 2008, and are included on the reissue's second disc.

Track listing

All songs written by Chris Reifert, except where noted.

1. "Charred Remains" – 3:40
2. "Service for a Vacant Coffin" (Eric Cutler, Reifert) – 2:51
3. "Disembowel" (Cutler, Reifert) – 4:05
4. "Gasping for Air" (Cutler) – 3:20
5. "Ridden with Disease" – 4:53
6. "Pagan Saviour" – 4:10
7. "Impending Dread" (Cutler, Reifert) – 4:46
8. "Severed Survival" – 3:28
9. "Critical Madness" – 4:32
10. "Embalmed" (Cutler, Reifert) – 3:02
11. "Stillborn" (Only on the CD release) – 2:48

Credits

• Chris Reifert - Vocals, Drums
• Danny Coralles - Guitar
• Eric Cutler - Guitar
• Steve DiGiorgio - Bass

• Recorded in January 1989 at Starlight Sound
• Produced by John Marshall and Autopsy
• Engineered by John Marshall
• Cover art by Kent Mathieu
• Cover art by Kev Walker (Alternative cover)

References