Autopsy was formed in August 1987 by Chris Reifert and Eric Cutler, shortly after Reifert's departure from Death.[4] The band recorded a demo that year, Demo '87, before Danny Coralles joined in 1988 immediately prior to the recording of their second demo, Critical Madness, and along with Reifert and Cutler, would be a constant in the band's lineup. The band signed to Peaceville Records and released their debut album, Severed Survival in 1989. These early recordings featured a pioneering death metal style that adopted a slower, doom metal influenced sound.[citation needed]
Autopsy participated in what was dubbed the "Blood Brothers tour" in Europe with Bolt Thrower and Pestilence in 1990. The three bands took turns headlining. Reifert recalled thinking the name of the tour, which the promoter had came up with, was "kind of dumb." He said, "I remember they made a tour shirt that was equally dumb. We were like, 'Oh, yeah, happy flying skulls...' That was a stupid shirt. So that was definitely not our doing, any of that stuff." Reifert claimed that the band received no payment for the shows, and that the promoter "ran off to Thailand with the money," never to be seen by them again.[5]
The next full-length, Mental Funeral, continued in this style and has since been cited by many other death metal musicians as particularly influential. Having completed a successful European tour soon after Mental Funeral, the band reentered the studio to record the Fiend for Blood EP, which was followed by their third full-length, Acts of the Unspeakable, which featured shorter songs and a more grindcore influenced sound. A difficult US tour in 1993 led to the decision to disband Autopsy after the recording of a final album.[6]Shitfun, released in early 1995, was heavily influenced by hardcore punk and would prepare fans for Abscess, previously a side-project of Danny Coralles and Chris Reifert, which would become their main band after Autopsy's demise.[citation needed]
Autopsy was featured in the 2005 music documentary Metal: A Headbanger's Journey when the film's narrator and star, Sam Dunn read aloud a verse from the band's song "Charred Remains".[citation needed]
Reunion
After several years of speculation regarding an Autopsy reunion, and denial of the possibility,[7] the band members briefly reunited in September 2008 to record two new tracks for the special edition of their 1989 debut Severed Survival.[8] They later reconvened to the Maryland Deathfest in 2009.[2] After Abscess broke up in June 2010, Autopsy immediately announced that they had permanently reunited.[9] They released The Tomb Within EP in September 2010, Macabre Eternal in 2011, Born Undead DVD in 2012, The Headless Ritual in 2013 and Tourniquets, Hacksaws and Graves in 2014. Autopsy released the EP Skullgrinder on November 27, 2015. They released the EP Puncturing the Grotesque on December 15, 2017.[citation needed]
In December 2021, the band announced they were working on a new album, which was tentatively due for release in 2022.[10] On July 27, 2022, the band revealed their new album, Morbidity Triumphant, would be released on September 30.[11] On August 31, 2023, the band announced their ninth studio album, Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts, would be released on October 27.[12]
Musical style and influences
Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic categorized Autopsy as a death metal band with "grindcore tendencies", and described their sound as a "caustic" fusion of thrash, doom and death metal.[13] Autopsy's music alternates between rapid and slow passages, breaking from typical death metal fashion at the time of the genre's infancy.[14] According to Chris Krovatin of Kerrang: "The band’s constant swing between noisy traditional racket and dissonant doom moved away from metal's beats-per-minute arms race and reveled in the bodily weirdness that was at the heart of the genre's growth throughout the '90s."[15]
Autopsy has cited Trouble and Saint Vitus as early influences. Brandon Corsair of Invisible Oranges said: "That impossible-to-fake direct influence differentiates Autopsy from even other death metal bands at the time that had slower sections here and there, and the contrast makes their more ripping sections hit that much harder." The band also draws influence from punk rock, and is known for the "brutal simplicity" of its rhythm section.[14]
The members of Autopsy are film fans, particularly "anything dark and gory", and hence, the band's lyrics draw on horror and slasher film-style violence. Guitarist Eric Cutler said the band's sound is "like a soundtrack for a horror movie". Chris Reifert recalled: "We would go to the video store and rent the goriest movies we could find and watch them over and over, rewinding the gore scenes several times in a row, cackling like maniacs. So, we couldn’t help but be influenced by them." Examples of films that have influenced the band's lyrics include Truth or Dare, Gates of Hell, Rawhead Rex, Hellraiser, and From Beyond.[16]
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