Band:	Autopsy
Album:	Ashes, Organs, Blood And Crypts
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	October 2023

01. Rapid Funeral
02. Throatsaw
03. No Mortal Left Alive
04. Well Of Entrails
05. Ashes, Organs, Blood And Crypts
06. Bones To The Wolves
07. Marrow Fiend
08. Toxic Death Fuck
09. Lobotomizing Gods
10. Death Is The Answer
11. Coagulation

Move over heads, shoulders, knees and toes.

Autopsy albums are like buses: you wait around ages for one, then suddenly a few come in quick succession, before repeating the cycle once more. Luckily, we appear to be in the cycle of buses, I mean albums, coming in quick succession, for Autopsy follow up 2022's Morbidity Triumphant merely a year later with Ashes, Organs, Blood And Crypts. Deciding not to take their time and instead riding the wave generated by this album's well-received predecessor, Autopsy can't be accused of taking the easy route.

However, the decision to somewhat rush the follow-up album is something that I think ultimately undermines Ashes, Organs, Blood And Crypts. As enjoyable as it is to have something new from the band to listen to, it does sound as if some tracks could have benefitted from greater gestation time before being torn from the sonic womb. This doesn't mean Ashes, Organs, Blood And Crypts isn't without merit, however; indeed, the opening tandem of "Rapid Funeral" and "Throatsaw" sound like the band gambled on a quick turnaround between albums because they seemed to have a winning hand. Thanks in part to Reifert and co sounding on top of their game, the powerful shifting nature of their sound is just as vital as ever before on these two songs.

Ashes, Organs, Blood And Crypts sonically fits in the same mould as Morbidity Triumphant, with a similar set-up that creates a perfect platform for the band to butcher and eviscerate their sonic victims. Reifert's vocals sound as grizzly and horrific as before, while Cutler and Coralles manage to bridge the gap between the charm of old school guitar tones and modern production values. "Marrow Fiend" and the closing "Coagulation" are the biggest beneficiaries of the guitar sound achieved on the album, helping push these tracks across the line in powerful fashion.

What lets Ashes, Organs, Blood And Crypts down is that the quality of the songwriting is too uneven, with some tracks feeling uninspired or incomplete. "Well Of Entrails" feels like a paint-by-numbers Autopsy track that lacks that element to really breathe life (or, I guess death in this case) into it. "Death Is The Answer" feels both uninspired and incomplete, at first sounding like another run-of-the-mill uptempo track, before losing its way and tripping over itself by its end. Perhaps with more time, the band could have refined these two songs and turned in a final form more powerful than Frieza... I mean, these.

Indeed, the surprisingly jaunty rhythm of "No Mortal Left Alive" has the unintentional effect of making me laugh, sounding like demented oompa lumpas have decided to overthrow Charlie and turn the chocolate factory into their own hellish domain. If this was the intention, then this album easily becomes a ten out of ten, if not, then it's a happy accident.

While matching or surpassing the bar set by Morbidity Triumphant was always going to be a tough goal, I didn't expect the dip in quality to be as big as it is on Ashes, Organs, Blood And Crypts. Still an enjoyable album, and one with moments to savour, it just doesn't match the bar the band have set for themselves throughout their career.