Effigy of the Forgotten

Effigy of the Forgotten is the debut full-length album by New York–based death metal band Suffocation, released in 1991. The album features several tracks that are re-recorded versions of tracks that appeared on the band's Reincremation demo and Human Waste EP. The cover artwork was created by Dan Seagrave.

The album was dedicated to the memory of fellow metal band Atheist's bassist Roger Patterson, who had been killed in a car crash earlier in 1991.

The album has received critical acclaim since its release, and is now regarded as one of the most influential death metal albums of all time, serving as a blueprint for death metal in the 90s. This album and Pierced from Within have been re-released by Roadrunner Records as part of the Two from the Vault series.

Background and recording

Guitarist Terrance Hobbs said of the album's songwriting process, "We were a bunch of kids down in a basement. Obviously, we were fans of heavy metal, and we were writing riffs on our own, so it was just a matter of putting all that together. That’s where the music came from. We’d sit together and play for hours."

Suffocation recorded Effigy of the Forgotten at Morrisound Recording in Tampa, Florida at the same time Florida death metal band Monstrosity were recording their debut full-length, Imperial Doom, there. George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, then-vocalist for Monstrosity recorded guest vocals on the album, recalling being asked to record vocals on the album while drinking heavily with the members of Suffocation. He recorded his vocal parts while half-drunk.

Artwork

Dan Seagrave created the album's cover artwork. Seagrave worked with other early death metal bands, such as Morbid Angel. According to guitarist Terrance Hobbs in 2021: "The Effigy cover is one of our favorites. I mean, we were mallrat kids. When we went into Record Stop or Tape World, we were always looking for the craziest covers. If the cover was explicit, we were like, “Oh shit! We gotta get this!” Anything that had to do with science fiction, fucked up faces, guitars, laser beams, horror, dark, and shitty stuff, I was into. I was such a fanboy. I remember we got Darkness Descends and Reign in Blood because we liked the cover art. That shit blew our minds! [Laughs] Goosebumps. I blew up the Slayer cassette because I played it so much. Fucking insane!"

Music

Effigy of the Forgotten is considered to be a death metal album with a highly sophisticated level of technical proficiency, being a pioneering record in the establishment of technical death metal. Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic described the album's sound as "a truly devastating display of technical death metal bordering on grindcore." Tom Campagna of Invisible Oranges said "as far removed as Morbid Angel was from thrash, Suffocation spilled the blood even farther." The guitars, which are tuned to C Standard (four half-steps, or two whole steps, down from standard tuning) feature fast palm muted riffing, tremolo picking as well as guitar solos. The guitar rhythms have been described as "mathematical". The drumming involves blast beats and quick fills. Campagna commented further, "what appears to be cacophonous noise is a multi-layered bean dip with something new on each subsequent listen."

The breakdown riff found in the hook of "Liege of Inveracity" has been credited as the first slam riff in death metal, later inspiring an offshoot of death metal known as slam death metal.

Reception and legacy

Effigy of the Forgotten has received critical acclaim and is considered by many to be one of the most influential death metal albums of all time. It is regarded as a pioneering record in the development of multiple subgenres of death metal, notably brutal death metal, slam death metal, and technical death metal, becoming a benchmark of the latter genre along with Death's fourth album Human, Pestilence's third album Testimony of the Ancients, and Atheist's second album Unquestionable Presence.

Decibel Magazine would later say: "Effigy of the Forgotten was a benchmark for extreme music, as it sacrificed neither virtuosity or brutality, becoming a signpost for thousands who were still contemplating how to incorporate scalar runs, rapid-fire palm-muting and hummingbird-wing-quick picking into riffs, while opening up rhythmic dimensions and the scope of the blast beat."

Invisible Oranges commended the album's artwork and Burn's production, conferring the titles of "bonafide death metal classic" and "one of the heaviest [...] ever recorded" on the album. Metal Hammer named Effigy the 18th best death metal album of all time, calling it "effectively ground zero" for the brutal death metal subgenre.

Personnel

Suffocation

• Frank Mullen – vocals
• Terrance Hobbs – lead guitar
• Doug Cerrito – rhythm guitar
• Josh Barohn – bass
• Mike Smith – drums

Guest musician

• George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher – additional vocals on "Reincremation" and "Mass Obliteration."

Production

• Scott Burns – production, engineering, mixing
• Eddy Schreyer – mastering
• Dan Seagrave – artwork