the second record i bought at the record fair in hamburg. to get a madball and a obituary record must have been destiny. on the way to the fair my friend and me were listening to some madball songs and when he asked me what i was looking for, i told him that i was out for some early nineties death metal - stuff like obituary. then my buddy was the one who pulled "slowly we rot" from the racks. a good condition of the vinyl and a fair price were the last pieces to the predetermined puzzle.
obituary debut full length "slowly we rot" is considered a classic for all the right reasons. not only was the record one of the first death metal releases but also it was one of the first works of producer scott burns at the infamous morrisound studios in tampa, florida. burns graced numerous death metal records with a great sound and mix. at the time of recording the band still was called xecutioner.
shortly before the release of the debut the band changed its name into obituary. "slowly we rot" became quite successful for a first full length and it paved the way for killer records to come. musically obituary were already this distinctive groove monster only in an early stage. the record is pretty raw but this only adds to the old school feel. great record all around. check it out here.
when i looked into discogs to find my copy, i was a bit confused whether i have a first press or not. five to six different versions are listed which seemed all to be made in 1989. my copy has a worked over centre label with the corrected band name (was misspelled on other versions as "obituari"). so maybe this is not a first press? anyway, this record fair was a nice experience. looking forward to the next one. roadrunner records. 1989.
