Ranking the Studio Albums: Suffocation (w/John McEntee)

[@proggydoggie]

Pierced From Within is not only one of my favorite death metal albums, but one of my favorite albums period. Perfect blend of technical and brutal.

[@blackwaterrust476]

Same Effigy is a Very close 2nd but Pierced from Within SLAMS throughout the whole album.

[@proggydoggie]

@@blackwaterrust476 Agreed. Pierced From Within was one of those life changing albums for me.

[@johnmichaelwilliams6694]

Death Metal is not a genre that I follow too much but I always enjoy listening to John Mcentee talk on SoT. His discussions are interesting and inevitably lead me to listen to some music that wouldn’t otherwise be sought out. Thanks, John and Pete for this ranking show.

[@Ibexmoonrecords]

Thanks that's awesome to hear.

[@yngvebalmsteen9174]

John looks like a mix of Gandalf and Saruman these days, kinda like an arch druid of impious riffs - and I'm loving it.

[@Ibexmoonrecords]

🤣🤣🤣🤣 awesome 🤘

[@steelerfreak1977]

Pierced from Within tore my head off when I first heard it. Total classic.

[@biorythmicshifter]

The most impressive live band I’ve ever seen is Suffocation live. I saw them opening for Morbid Angel back in the day and Terrence was on fire. His playing would take your breath away during a solo and the whole band locked in the groove was an unstoppable force of nature. Truly amazing experience. Technically the tightest band I’ve ever seen…

[@jason-budney7624]

I have to check out Suffocation. I'm absolutely digging Immolation from the last episode with John. Amazing guitar playing and drumming. I like hearing both of you guys talking about this music having feeling, and the whole technical just for the sake of being technical, I couldn't agree more! Great show as always!

[@christianman73]

Pete, I *love* SOT album rankings for bands like Suffocation, where I don't know their discography well, but I definitely want to look into it more. This video is very helpful! In that vein, is there a chance that you might be doing a Death Angel album ranking in the near future? I've just started to check out their music recently, but what I'm hearing is great!

[@lening9]

1) Pierced from Within 2) Effigy of the Forgotten 3) Breeding the Spawn 4) Souls to Deny 5) Suffocation 6) … of the Dark Light 7) Blood Oath 8) Pinnacle of Bedlam

[@blackwaterrust476]

Suffocation are definitely one of my favorite Death Metal bands ever. I enjoy everything they have done much like Immolation, Bolt Thrower, Carcass, Death, Cannibal Corpse, Nile, Gorguts etc.... awesome you have John McEntee from Incantation (Another Great band) on here. 8 Of the Dark Light (Still solid) 7 Souls to Deny 6 Suffocation 5 Blood Oath 4 Breeding the Spawn (Don’t like the production but the songs are KILLER) 3 Pinnacle of Bedlam (Their best modern album) 2 Effigy of the Forgotten (Top 5 Death Debut) 1 Pierced from Within (One of my favorite Metal albums ever)

[@seaoftranquilityprog]

John has appeared here before-he and I ranked Atheist & Immolation together.

[@blackwaterrust476]

@@seaoftranquilityprog I’ll need to watch those then.

[@TheMetalGaia]

Love your ranking, and I love your 1914 picture!

[@jumpfart666]

Breeding The Spawn: Recorded and mixed at Noise Lab, West Islip, NY. Mastered at The Hit Factory DMS, New York, NY. Co-produced by Suffocation.

[@jonathanneville7105]

Great episode as always. Interesting viewpoint on Suffocation albums and production values in their earlier albums. I know stating Pierced is a generic answer but I can't help but truly feel its their masterpiece. Side note - Looking forward to seeing Incantation in Seattle again.

[@chetgreblowski7811]

John I can't wait for the Celtic Frost show, and also the Immortal show with Pete

[@Ibexmoonrecords]

Thanks bro!

[@cockybalboa2]

John’s picks are pretty shocking, honestly. Of the Dark Light at number 1? Pretty easily last on my list. And I consider Pierced to be the absolute greatest death metal album of all time. Nothing touches it in my opinion.

[@caljerm]

Yeah - describing the guitars on Effigy as 'wimpy'? That is like describing the sun as not being very bright LMAO.

[@nikolademitri731]

I do get what he means, though. I think the production on those albums holds them back. Obviously those early albums are classics, I’m not knocking them, but can I say I like the production? Hell no. I would have probably gotten into those albums much quicker, and like them a lot more, and listen to them more than I do, if the production was actually great. To be fair, early Incantation is hurt by the same thing imo. A serious hi-fi remastering would do wonders for so much of the early DM albums that are clearly classics, but had producers who were confused..

[@caljerm]

@@nikolademitri731 With Effigy and Despising The Sun maybe but Pierced From Within? The production on that is insanely good.

[@tabv_v]

glad i saw incantation/morbid angel before everything shut down,excellent show. i've technically seen suffocation more than any other band and i can see where ya'll are coming from buuut still love effigy/breeding any day of the week

[@nkvddeathsquad7668]

I hate to be pedantic John but Carcass was the one that spawned Goregrind. Suffocation spawned Brutal/Slam Death Metal.

[@Ibexmoonrecords]

Yes I agree with you. I couldn't find the words when I was trying to explain it.

[@zacharyseibert6788]

1. Pierced From Within 2. Breeding The Spawn (Saw em on this tour. Mindblowingly heavy!!) 3. Effigy Of The Forgotten 4. Self Titled 5. ...Of The Dark Light 6. Souls To Deny 7. Blood Oath 8. Pinnacle Of Bedlam

[@Morbidreich86]

Despise The Sun was the first Suffocation release I got and it blew my mind.

[@captainbeyond7469]

Hey Pete show suggestion. How about a series of episodes called re-ranking where you revisit a ranking where you’re opinion has changed over time?

[@j.j.4150]

John is always a very nice guy. Love hearing him in discussions.

[@Ibexmoonrecords]

Thanks🤘

[@GuitarWithDofka]

I am a late bloomer to Suffocation. Of course I knew of them but just started listening to them right when the singer announced his departure. I had a lot of catching up to do. Watched a few interviews and they seem to be ultra righteous dudes.

[@joeyuzwa891]

My ranking: 1. Effigy of the Forgotten 2. Pierced From Within 3. Breeding the Spawn 4. Self Titled 5. Souls to Deny 6. Blood Oath 7. Pinnnacle of Bedlam 8. Of the Dark Light

[@Redrum1981]

Awesome Episode!!! Love this band and Immolation :) Next i am hoping for Malevolent Creation 🤘

[@M.H691]

Great band (first 2 records are killer) but nobody will touch them now because of a certain song on that fourth album.

[@Redrum1981]

@@M.H691 what song ?

[@M.H691]

@@Redrum1981 'They Breed' and various behind the scenes rumours have ensured they've been written out of the DM canon.

[@Redrum1981]

@@M.H691 okey, i have only listen to the two first albums.

[@I.P1976]

I agree with John that Despise the Sun ep is awesome

[@mattseager2870]

John, as a fan who got into Suffocation when Blood Oath was the new album, I absolutely dig your ranking. I definitely think of the newer albums as "my" Suffocation. I would never have been brave enough to share that opinion without your review! You are one of the death metal innovators so your opinion adds some real legitimacy to that perspective.

[@corpusc]

your own tastes are always legitimate. :)

[@televiper11]

Much respect to John McEntee for forming his own opinions and sticking to them.

[@chadappell2280]

Love John's Troops of Doom shirt! Killer EP. Pinnacle of Bedlam is underrated, cheers🤘🏼

[@ingolfrvargr]

I have Pierced as my number one, followed by Breeding the Spawn. I haven't listened to the albums post Souls thoroughly enough to rank them properly, but that's because none of them have hit me as hard as the earlier stuff so I've never felt the imcentive to give them a thorough listen. I usually agree with John's rankings, so I might have to revisit these albums. Not that I dislike them or anything, I just connect more with the early stuff so I keep revisiting those albums instead of the newer ones.

[@griefforest1870]

I'm actually a mix of oldschool and the newest stuff... 1. Pierced from within 2. Of the dark light 3. Blood Oath 4. Effigy of the forgotten 5. Pinnacle of Bedlam 6. Breeding the spawn 7. Suffocation 8. Souls to deny Not a bad one among them!

[@TheGreatBaronOBeefDip]

I am surprised John does not know the story behind why Breeding the Spawn's production, with Roadrunner refusing to let them use Morrisound and so they used the studio who produced Human Waste.

[@caljerm]

indeed.

[@gemini2012100]

Pierced from Within is their longest album, at 45 minutes and 31 seconds.

[@musclecarfan74]

I went from listening to Pink Floyd, then to Suffocation in the same day. I am like Pete I listen tov a wide range of music. I first heard this band in the mid 90's when a co-worker borrowed me the first album. I started listening to death metal in 1990 in H.S. My brother and I were into Death and Sepultura, I listened to more bands then he did.

[@azforu29]

Wait. Is that the bassist/vox from Incantation? Wow. Sick. Breeding the Spawn was great but man that production. Begining of Sorrow has come you can not build but can destroy with what is left on Earth!

[@matternicuss]

While I don’t agree with John’s picks, I respect his opinion enough that it makes me want to revisit Suffocation’s latest albums, which I was never able to get into. As always, John is an absolute delight, and these videos rock!

[@chiragchittar4179]

Great choice! My favorite band from the new york scene but need to visit/revisit some of their more recent stuff. These guys could be so technical and groovy when they could be and Frank Mullen is a monster. Influential for the brutal death metal and slam vocal style. My top 5 1. Pierced from within (their masterpiece. Thrones of blood is my favorite suffocation song of all time) 2. Blood oath (fantastic record) 3. Effigy of the forgotten 4. Of the dark light 5. Breeding the spawn

[@yngvebalmsteen9174]

When did Frank do pig squeals?

[@chiragchittar4179]

@@yngvebalmsteen9174 Sorry I meant to say that he was influential for that and some of the gutteral styles prevalent in slam and brutal death metal

[@BlackMoore82]

Effigy of the Forgotten. Pierced from Within. Breeding the Spawn. Blood Oath. Souls to Deny. Suffocation. ...of the Dark Light. Pinnacle of Bedlam. I've seen Suffocation three times, opening for Carcass and opening for Kataklym were two of those shows and they stole the show each time.

[@RustyTonesJr]

Of Dark Light is the best Suffocation album. It eclipsed Pierced From Within. All of them.

[@dionisioramirez6706]

Pierced and despise are my two personal favorites. Once Doug cerrito left the band they lost that true suffocation sound.

[@wastelander1015]

1. Effigy of the Forgotten 9/10 2. Pierced from Within 9/10 3. Breeding the Spawn 8/10 4. Suffocation 8/10 5. Souls to Deny 8/10 6. Blood Oath 7/10 7. ...of the Dark Light 6/10 8. Pinnacle of Bedlam 6/10

[@gordy3714]

I don't listen to brutal death metal too often but I do like a band called Vomitory. 👍

[@g-man4744]

Totally surprised by John McEntee's picks, but it's hard to argue against his point about the thin production getting in the way of enjoying the albums. He mentions that the scene was kind of "split" musically and you can definitely feel they had a different focus - almost none of these thrash and hardcore elements are audible in Incantation's music. Looking forward to the Celtic Frost show.

[@jumpfart666]

Breeding The Spawn wasn't recorded at Morrisound. But they re- recorded the title track.

[@robertsparling917]

You should've gotten Brendon Snyder on for the Rush episode of "Favorite Albums Through the Decades".

[@jimmycampbell78]

I'd like to see Brendon on SoT. Great channel, nice guy. He has a collection to genuinely rival, and perhaps surpass, Pete's!

[@andreijurca5546]

Stop with spamming. Pete always does things right, so don't say what he should have done.

[@corpusc]

BTW, all (or nearly?) of the BTSpawn songs have been re-recorded with much better production. across the later Suffocation albums. you could make a playlist (if one doesn't already exist) of a newer version of BTS, that sounds really good. and it's songs are fantastic. not a single weak track on that album IMO.

[@cdsmetalhead99]

1. Pierced 2. Breeding 3. Effigy 4. Pinnacle 5. Blood Oath 6. Suffocation 7. Souls to Deny 8. Of the Dark Light

[@darkhymnsfromthecoldnorth]

Didnt Dave Cullross play on the Despise the Sun ep after Mike left the first time? I could be wrong. Also, didn't expect John tobe dropping Genesis references lol.

[@jumpfart666]

nope he did

[@jumpfart666]

Dave is BESTIAL

[@darkhymnsfromthecoldnorth]

@@jumpfart666 If anyone can replace Mike Smith, Dave is the guy.

[@jimmyandersson59]

Suffocation are a great band. Love Mike Smiths blast beat drumming. :)

[@Ibexmoonrecords]

I agree

[@jimmyandersson59]

@Mezzy Mez love Pierced from Within Album. Probably my favourite together with Effigy of the forgotten. ;)

[@fergalholmes]

Shocked by John's choices....'Effigy' so low down....wow! For me I think 'Despise The Sun' has to be no. 1 even though it's just an EP....absolutely incredible!

[@shawnbrucker1697]

1. Human Waste 2. Pierced From Within 3. Effigy of the Forgotten 4. Souls to Deny 5. Breeding the Spawn 6. Despise the Sun 7. Pinnacle of Bedlam 8. Suffocation 9. Blood Oath 10. Of the Dark Light

[@mathewbouse1105]

1. breeding the spawn 2. pierced from within 3. effigy of the forgotten 4. souls to deny 5. suffocation 6. pinnacle of bedlam 7. blood oath 8. of the dark light

[@caljerm]

I've got to include the two major EPs - they are too important to exclude... Pierced from Within Effigy of the Forgotten Souls to Deny Despise The Sun Human Waste Breeding the Spawn Suffocation Blood Oath ...of the Dark Light Pinnacle of Bedlam

[@MrGeweldig]

You guys should do a episode of Deicide, Obituary, Cynic, Cannibal Corpse

[@sideshowbobrobert]

art appreciation is ALWAYS subjective. whether or not i agree with whomever, when it comes to things i love i will always listen to what others who share my passion have to say. i'd love to hear John rank Death or Dying Fetus. he strikes me as such a laid back guy, while Incantation is such a brutal f'n band (and having the privilege o' meeting many musicians over the years - although not John, despite seeing Incantation several times while i was living in germany - i know this is not uncommon at all. case in point - Terrence is a super nice guy...)

[@coreyrapoza4234]

Are these guys Drawn and Quartered fans? That would be a very interesting discussion/ranking!

[@M.H691]

Despise the Sun was the first great sounding record they made, IMO - the earlier stuff really suffers from poor production (or really, really bad in the case of Breeding... )

[@corpusc]

everyone do The Mullen Chop!

[@nikolademitri731]

I get what John is saying. I think the production on those albums holds them back. I’d say the same thing about early Incantation, and a lot of early DM. I’m not knocking them, but I just can’t say I like the production very much at all. Lo-fi production is NOT a bad thing in and of itself. Some of my favorite albums are very lo-fi, and some metal, extreme or not, sounds good with lo-fi production, BUT there’s lo-fo production, and then there’s BAD production. Obviously it’s subjective to a large degree for what’s “bad” or “good”, but bad production would be when the music isn’t suited to more lo-fi production, specifically when what is meaty and complex music is thinned out and weakened, and would sound infinitely better if the production were done right for the music being played. This is what really hurts a lot of early death metal albums imo, bc the music isn’t bad at all, often the songs are great, but as they’re produced on the actual album, they’re just plain weak and it’s a serious bummer. Given that context, I 100% feel John, BUT… I still wouldn’t have ranked the albums quite based on that alone, and would have qualified it differently, but that’s me. Either way, I agree with him that of the earlier stuff, Breeding The Spawn is kinda weak, and for me has the worse production of any of their albums. It’s like Effigy has just passing production enough to not ruin it, Breeding has crap production that ruins it for me, and Pierced has just okay production that doesn’t hurt too much, but I’m sorry it could be a lot better, and really elevate it to one of my favorites. I’d love a hi-def remastering (and maybe even remix, though nothing drastic) of those earlier albums, something that really brings out the full power of what the material, and I’d probably listen to the band waayyyy more. Suffocation are one of many great bands in this boat, so I stress, I’m not knocking them.

[@ukrocksounds3419]

Am guessing Witchfynde are still on the list.

[@michaelfishman9555]

I love to see a dark Funeral show.

[@entelikey1]

Suffocation. ‘Funeral Inception’ Best song. Off - Despise The Sun ☀️🦹🏾‍♂️🌞

[@jumpfart666]

They re-recorded alot of songs from Breeding The Spawn for sure.

[@jakubjayvincent3203]

I think they re-recorded one song per album, so basically you could stich the album together, from the re-recordings.

[@infernicide666]

I could never get super into Suffocation and I tried like hell. The first 3 or 4 albums were okay but I’ve never been a big fan of slam death. I’ll have to check out some of the stuff from the 00’s.

[@jimit.4220]

It's not even slam lmao

[@donnybrookdetritus]

PIERCED FROM WITHIN

[@Edroz7]

Not including Despise The Sun in a Suffo ranking should be criminal. It's like excluding Haunting The Chapel or the Queensryche EP

[@entelikey1]

They must of excluded it because it’s an EP. IMO it’s by far their best and heaviest release. In fact it’s basically the only one I listen to. Devoid Of Truth is the pinnacle. Can’t believe there isn’t more of a mention of it in the comments.

[@Ibexmoonrecords]

I had to bring that release up because that my favorite by them. But the rules were full length albums.

[@entelikey1]

@@Ibexmoonrecords when something is that good in a band discography ol’ Pete should adjust the biblical rules from time to time. When I first heard it, I feverishly went through their whole catalogue trying in vain to find anything on that level of depth. Other than the 1st Deicide, it’s the best brutal death metal.

[@d_rocka]

Effigy of the forgotten, reincreamated demo human waste nuff said Despise the sun on fligmans short lived label was damn good too Suffos 1st show with a national act taking pestilence place on the death/carcass tour at sundance bayshore long island was fucking insanity!

[@homunculusprime647]

Correction. Obituary are the AC/DC of death metal.

[@armandoarrojo9841]

No disrespect to John but placing Effigy of the Forgotten as the second-to-worst album is INSANE.

[@televiper11]

I happen to agree. I think Suffocation got better with age. I think a lot of love for their earlier work is nostalgia driven, especially cuz Suffo were pioneers.

[@armandoarrojo9841]

@@televiper11 you can't touch the riffage from their first four albums or so, imo

[@televiper11]

@@armandoarrojo9841 The riffs are often great but it’s the overall song construction that I find lacking, at least until “Pierced.” “Souls To Deny” is really well written, imo/

[@emersonsellsout]

I can't believe John spent like 5 minutes ripping Effigy of the Forgotten. LMAO.

[@emersonsellsout]

And Pierced from Within! Incredible!

[@Ibexmoonrecords]

I just like the later albums more.🤷🏻‍♂️🤘

[@emersonsellsout]

@@Ibexmoonrecords nothing but respect my man! I loved hearing you talk about them.

[@Ibexmoonrecords]

The music on those early albums are great but to me they didn't translate on album as strong as they were live. But we all struggled with getting the proper perduction back then. I think the sound they have in their newer album works better for their style.. 🤷🏻‍♂️😉😎 And their current line up might be their strongest ever. IMO.

[@emersonsellsout]

@@Ibexmoonrecords that's an incredible compliment! I'll have to go back to some of the more recent albums again and revisit them.

[@kerzain]

Listening to the Despise the Sun EP for the first time, trying to "hear the asshole note" as John McEntee suggests. No idea what I'm listening for, wish me luck.

[@Ibexmoonrecords]

funeral Inception 1:25 I love that note change. Now that I know the song it's not a big deal but the first time hearing it, it was like "damn that's sick".

[@caljerm]

I think John's picks here are Suspended in Tribulation

[@under-one-flag]

I love John and i love Incantation and i am generally on the same page as him but this interview i think he has been abducted and replaced with a dud - i mean, Pierced at no 5?? Efiggy at no 7?? Breeding at no 8??

[@Ibexmoonrecords]

I know it's crazy but comparing them to the newer albums I just think the newer stuff sounds better. It's just my opinion.

[@under-one-flag]

@@Ibexmoonrecords lol i was shocked haha

[@corpusc]

Despise The Sun was their 1 bad album (err, EP), IMO. my faves were PiercedFW and BTSpawn (despite the bad production).

[@sadekx5251]

Immolation/Suffocation/Incantation, the holy Trinity of NY DM scene. Breeding the, Spawn had a crappy production, John should know something about this 😜. I love Terrance to death, but now with Frank gone I can't stand the new man bun/bearded hipsters in the new line up.

[@EmrahUncu]

Here is my ranking of Suffocation's albums; kzbin.info/www/bejne/aqXUiIRodrZ-e7c

[@fatalstep1870]

Breeding was recorded at criteria

[@entelikey1]

Despise The Sun is way out there as the best/heaviest thing they’ve ever put out IMO.

[@zzzaaa0990]

For me “Effigy of The Forgotten” is their best album,”Human Waste” is their best recording. I think John is right when he says Suffocation are much better live,they are truly awesome live. “Pierced From Within” and “……Of The Dark Light” tie for second place. The rest of the albums are about the same quality. I agree with John all the way,Suffocation are a great band,but some of their a,bums just didn’t click with me,the last album was much better than the last 3 or 4.

[@aaronrose7090]

Effigy of the forgotten is the best suffocation album period

[@mattmiller2761]

Hi Pete, just wanted to plug one of my favorite streaming radio stations. Stellar Attraction from the UK. Great obscure prog deep tracks. You should check them out.

[@azforu29]

Marital Decimation

[@jumpfart666]

Without Doug Cerrito they were never the same!

[@Ibexmoonrecords]

Doug is a great guitarist. But Charlie is also a amazing guitarist. They sounded amazing when we toured with them.

[@waywardcaveman]

have better ears gentlemen, breeding the spawn is besstttttttt

[@corpusc]

early Abigail Williams (1st album & EP) was grrrreat. very heavy & proggy. then they turned into a completely generic & simplistic black metal band. :(

[@daremcadams1868]

Cant stand any of the death metal, a la Slayer , venom...ect...its all shit...a tru borefest....its like So What 😴😴😴

[@neuroisis85]

Then why did you even watch this video?

[@martymartin2894]

I like slayer but cant take to the death black metal dont like the vomit into a bucket style vocals.

[@ryanjacobson2508]

@@martymartin2894 The vocals are so intentionally limited. Like, you can't have any range when you have to do a throaty growl all the time. It gets boring fast.

[@martymartin2894]

@@ryanjacobson2508 plus i dont understand why they bother writing lyrics because u cant understand a word.

[@steelerfreak1977]

Good lord you people sound like whiny children.