Pierced from Within
| Pierced from Within | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 1, 1995 (USA) May 23, 1995 (EU) | |||
| Studio | Morrisound Recording in Tampa, Florida | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 45:31 | |||
| Label | Roadrunner | |||
| Producer | Scott Burns | |||
| Suffocation chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Chronicles of Chaos | 7/10[4] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 6/10[5] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [6] |
Pierced from Within is the third album by the death metal band Suffocation, released in 1995.
Both this album and Effigy of the Forgotten have been re-released by Roadrunner Records as part of the Two from the Vault series.
Background and recording
[edit]"Synthetically Revived" is a re-recording of the song of the same name from the Human Waste EP and "Breeding the Spawn" is a re-recording of the title track from the band's previous album.[citation needed]
Before 2013's Pinnacle of Bedlam, this was the only full-length album by Suffocation not to feature Mike Smith as a drummer. It is the band's last album with guitarist Doug Cerrito and bassist Chris Richards, and the only with drummer Doug Bohn.
Music
[edit]The album's musical style has been described as "fast, intricately technical, immaculately heavy." The album's tracks have been described as "complex, savage riff collages that reveal more of themselves with each listen."[7] At 45 minutes and 31 seconds, Pierced from Within is the band’s longest album to date.[relevant?]
Artwork
[edit]The album artwork was originally intended to be colored blue. However, the album was printed incorrectly. The original blue album cover was correctly printed on some of the band's merchandise, such as T-shirts.[8][9]
Legacy
[edit]Pierced From Within has been called Suffocation's "watershed moment", and guitarist Terrance Hobbs has cited the album as his favorite the band has done.[10][11]
Loudwire named the album as the greatest album in the brutal death metal genre. Music journalist Eduardio Riveria explained: "While most metal fans were still just getting used to death metal’s natural brutality, Long Island’s Suffocation were already taking things up a notch and pushing the young genre to new domains. Pretty soon – right around the release of their career-defining third opus, ‘Pierced from Within’ – yet another subgenre description was required, and soon the band and others of their ilk fell into the brutal death metal category."[12]
Track listing
[edit]- All songs written by Suffocation except where noted.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Pierced from Within" | 4:26 | |
| 2. | "Thrones of Blood" | 5:14 | |
| 3. | "Depths of Depravity" | 5:33 | |
| 4. | "Suspended in Tribulation" | 6:31 | |
| 5. | "Torn into Enthrallment" | Doug Cerrito, Lee Harrison, Frank Mullen | 5:25 |
| 6. | "The Invoking" | 4:36 | |
| 7. | "Synthetically Revived" (Rerecorded from Human Waste) | 3:53 | |
| 8. | "Brood of Hatred" | 4:36 | |
| 9. | "Breeding the Spawn" (Rerecorded from Breeding the Spawn) | 5:09 | |
| Total length: | 45:31 | ||
Personnel
[edit]- Suffocation
- Frank Mullen - vocals
- Terrance Hobbs - lead guitar
- Doug Cerrito - rhythm guitar
- Chris Richards - bass
- Doug Bohn - drums
- Production
- Produced by Scott Burns & Suffocation
- Engineered and mixed by Scott Burns
- Assistant engineer: Dave Welner
- Recorded and mixed at Morrisound Recording, Tampa, FL, USA
- Mastered by Mike Fuller at Fullersound, Miami, FL, USA
- Cover art: Hiro Takahashi
References
[edit]- ^ "The Best Metal Album From 40 Subgenres". Loudwire. 21 November 2022.
- ^ "Suffocation - Pierced From Within". The Metal Forge.
- ^ Mathew, Leslie. "Pierced From Within - Suffocation". Allmusic. Retrieved October 15, 2011.
- ^ Filicetti, Gino (December 8, 1995). "CoC : Suffocation - Pierced From Within : Review". Chronicles of Chaos. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
- ^ Popoff, Martin (2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. pp. 428–429. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
- ^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). "Suffocation". Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 7 (4th ed.). MUZE. p. 827. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4.
- ^ Pierced from Within - Suffocation | Album | AllMusic, retrieved 2025-01-02
- ^ MetalSucks (2020-01-23). "Suffocation's Pierced From Within Cover Art Has Never Looked the Way It Was Meant to Look". MetalSucks. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
- ^ Kennelty, Greg (2020-01-24). "SUFFOCATION's Cover Art For Pierced From Within Has Always Been The Wrong Color". Metal Injection. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
- ^ "Terrance Hobbs of SUFFOCATION on Frank's last shows, the band's future, video games & more". YouTube. 17 November 2018.
- ^ DiVita, Joe (2024-12-18). "Best Death Metal Album of Each Year Since 1985". Loudwire. Retrieved 2024-12-25.
- ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo RivadaviaEduardo (2022-11-21). "The Best Metal Album From 40 Subgenres". Loudwire. Retrieved 2025-05-26.
