One can easily become frustrated with my fondness for finding the “hidden gems” in the early days of death metal. Since there has been a whirlwind of trash that has blown into the general vicinity known as death metal and all associated labels, I believe it is my job to unearth these gems and pass along the savings to you, the consumer. Here, you will find a quality review made fresh daily on the premises, with artisan cheeses and Parisian breads. Yeah, it doesn’t make sense just like as if I said that there is a backpack filled with straight pubic hair, Pizzeria-Pretzel Combos, and a pair of Cannibal Corpse sweatpants. But I do have a point here – that there are old things that are still good today, even if they do have pubic hair on them.

I happened to stumble across of copy of Resurrection‘s Embalmed Existence in between a short ride on the bang-bus to 8th Street (some of you will get that). Bad logo, Dan Seagrave art, Alex Marquez on the drumkit, Scott Burns production, Morrisound, Florida, 1993 – sounds like a winner already to me. And indeed it is. Like taking a wiffle-ball bat filled with wet newspapers to the trout, Resurrection absolutely dominate on this album.

I am going to go out on a limb and make a statement that may make some drop their granola bars and/or rice cakes – this album should have been Malevolent Creation’s follow-up to Retribution. Please, before you begin spouting some kind of nonsense, take a moment to ingest what I said and think about Stillborn and what a monstrosity it was and still is. Malevolent Creation’s Retribution is a monster of an album and the step from this to Stillborn could be considered one of the worst album transitions ever. They had Marquez, Florida, the good years of death metal, Seagrave art…But apparently, according to the Metal-Archives (truth? – but makes sense), Roadrunner did not want to foot the bill for Burns and Morrisound. Instead, we were left with a soft stool sample of an album. Here is where Resurrection come in. My theory is that they were so pissed off about Stillborn, they decided to release the album that should have followed Retribution. If you look at their discography, you can see this is the only album they released until 2008. Conspiracy no…delicious yes.

Let me begin by stating that this album is an exact 50/50 mix of Malevolent Creation‘s Retribution and Obituary‘s The End Complete. It has that thick thrash element, throaty growled vocals, thumping drums, and precise riffing of Malevolent Creation with the slower, prodding interludes of Obituary. To be honest, the drums sound identical to those on Retribution, from the actual production sound to the use of interesting double bass patterns without a reliance on blast beats. There are elements of melody that permeate each song which makes this album a bit more versatile than Obituary and Malevolent Creation – Check out the mellow riffing at the 1:15 mark of “Disembodied.” I would spend more time explaining the album but I have made such strong parallels that I do not think anything else needs to be said.

There are some minor things worth noting. This album was recently re-released but it differs quite a bit from the original release from 16 years ago. Massacre Records has added the 1991 and 1992 demos along with a few “spoken word” pieces (to be explained). In addition, the cover of “War Machine” by Kiss is deleted from this 2009 edition. So unless you really care about Kiss cover songs, find the talentless antics of Gene Simmons amusing, or like to pour Cherry Dr. Pepper on your coinpurse because you are an honorary member of the Kiss Army, then its omission is a blessing.

Before I sign off, I must mention the tremendous error made on the part of Resurrection when making this cd. Most of the songs begin with this horrible voice, much like the one from the Tales from the Crypt show, spouting some nonsense that must have been some sort of inside joke. It is annoying and is the weakest attempt at humor that I have seen and heard, rivaling such things as Everybody Loves Raymond and Larry the Cable Guy. It is a minor glitch in what is a monster of an album that needs to be heralded. If you are not satisfied with this product, are tired of reading that this album is Retribution II (the opening riff to “Rage Within” – come on!), and refuse to believe the hype, I will send you an autographed picture of Manny Ramirez’s bitch-tits.

Review byDouble Ds