GMM 2024 - SUFFOCATION.jpg

Suffocation

Saturday 22 June

Genre Death Metal
Country United States
Played at GMM 2004

Suffocation formed in 1988 in New York and to this day, their full-length debut ‘Effigy of the Forgotten’ (1991) is one of the most brutal debut albums ever. Vocalist Frank Mullen’s pioneering low gutturals and his one-dimensional vocal attack were a blueprint for many death metal vocalists who followed in his footsteps. ‘Pierced from Within’ (1995) is an impressive slab of technical and brutal death metal. It was also the last before their 1998 breakup and subsequent reformation in 2003. Breakdowns are one of the hallmark aspects of their music and were instrumental in the emergence of the deathcore genre in the early 2000s. Suffocation’s new incarnation didn’t stray from their usual atmosphere of oppressive fatality. The aptly titled ‘Pinnacle of Bedlam’ (2013) is as venomous and technically accomplished as their early output, reaffirming their status as one of the most influential death metal bands around. In 2015 Ricky Meyers took over as live vocalist from founding member Frank Mullen, who stopped touring in 2012. In 2019 Myers joined full time and ‘Hymns of the Apocrypha’ (2023) marks his first contribution on a full-length recording. (#GMM24)