Suffocation United States

"Yes, the production on this album sucks, and that is a big problem with the type of music that Suffocation plays, because, while brutal, it is also very technical and there are a lot of details which require that the production be crystal clear but at the same time brutal sounding. So, when Roadrunner denied Suffocation the opportunity to record with Scott Burns in Morrisound, they really fucked up big time.

The music itself is, as mentioned, technical brutal death metal with lots of changes and multiple riffs and sections per song, which is of course something that Suffocation excel at. Compared to their other output, however, I think that musically "Breeding the Spawn" is not exactly up to scratch. While the musicianship is top notch, the album is characterized by an overall sense of sameyness. And it does not do any favors to "Breeding the Spawn" that it is sandwiched between "Effigy of the Forgotten" (1991) and "Pieced from Within" (1995). These two releases are classics and they make "Breeding the Spawn" seem even weaker.

The growled vocals, I think, are not too impressive either on this release, and are generally characterized by monotony. They become pretty boring and annoying to listen to.

That being said, there are a lot of interesting things on this album, and certainly enough to make it worth checking out and even purchasing.

(review originally posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"

"Like most of Suffocation's other albums, "Pierced from Within" is, in many ways, the epitome of the perfect brutal death metal album with its insanely fast blast beats and quite dynamically structured musical compositions. But I just think the vocals are too monotonously growling."