Review: Embodyment – 1993-1996
If you’ve listened to Embodyment’s four main full-lengths over and over again, please remind yourself that they are still far from the band’s roots. When they first started out in the early 90s, the genre they played was far, far, FAR different from how you’re used to hearing them. They played pure, unrelenting death metal. So if you’re spinning albums like “The Narrow Scope Of Things” or “Songs For The Living” and you have this 1993-1996 compilation included in your collection, you’d still be quite mind-blown that it’s literally the same band.
Tracks 1-7 were recorded in November of 1994, showcasing a merciless take on brutal death metal. The subgenre was still slowly making its way out of the underground at the time. Whereas we had secular acts like Suffocation and Dying Fetus paving the way, Embodyment was perhaps the first band in the Christian scene to tackle the subgenre. Tracks 1-6 were included in their demo tape “Corrosion Of The Flesh”, though track 7 was previously unreleased, and this compilation showcased it for the first time.
Tracks 8-10 were recorded in June of 1996 for a self-titled demo tape. This time they took a bit of a different approach and fused death metal with hardcore. The vocals were sicker, the snare drum hit harder, and the overall sound was more cavernous. Although the actual tape this session was released on was edited with dark, atmospheric samples at the beginning of a couple tracks, this compilation CD showcases the full raw session without the edits. The tracks “Golgotha” and “Religious Infamy” were re-recorded for their first full-length “Embrace The Eternal” in 1998, but with a deathcore take rather than their previous style.
With all these tracks together, the 1993-1996 compilation CD was released independently in 1999. However, one thing that puzzles me is the fact that since this does not include their FIRST demo “Persistent Sin”, I’m not sure how it’d be worth putting “1993” in the title. Perhaps the demo simply could not be resurfaced no matter how hard we look. Maybe someone out there still has a copy, who knows? But this compilation still has everything else.
The original CD pressing of this comp sold out quickly. But lo and behold, it has returned on CD and even digital, REMASTERED, thanks to Burning Dogma Records! You can get it over at their Bandcamp…
https://burningdogmarecords.bandcamp.com/album/embodyment-1993-1996
YouTube (1994):
YouTube (1996):
About Author
