''Pierced from Within'' is the third album by the

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

band

Suffocation Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects all the tissues and organs, some more rapidly than others. There are m ...

, released in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

. Both this album and ''

Effigy of the Forgotten ''Effigy of the Forgotten'' is the debut full-length album by New York–based death metal band Suffocation, released in 1991. The album features several tracks that are re-recorded versions of tracks that appeared on the band's ''Reincremation' ...

'' have been re-released by Roadrunner Records as part of the Two from the Vault series.

Background and recording

"Synthetically Revived" is a re-recording of the song of the same name from the ''

Human Waste Human waste (or human excreta) refers to the waste products of the human digestive system, Menstruation, menses, and human metabolism including urine and Human feces, feces. As part of a sanitation system that is in place, human waste is collect ...

'' EP and "Breeding the Spawn" is a re-recording of the title track from the band's previous album. Before 2013's ''

Pinnacle of Bedlam ''Pinnacle of Bedlam'' is the seventh studio album by American death metal band Suffocation. It is the band's first full-length record since '' Pierced from Within'' to not feature Mike Smith (although he makes a guest appearance on the final ...

'', 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

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." At 45 minutes and 31 seconds, ''Pierced from Within'' is the band’s longest album to date.

Artwork

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 A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt, or tee for short) is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a '' crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shir ...

Legacy

''Pierced From Within'' has been called Suffocation's "

watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...

moment", and guitarist

Terrance Hobbs Terrance Hobbs (born April 6, 1970) is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist of the death metal band Suffocation (band), Suffocation. He has been a constant member in the band since their first released title ''Reincremated'' al ...

has cited the album as his favorite the band has done. ''

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive i ...

'' 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."

Track listing

*All songs written by Suffocation except where noted.

Personnel

;Suffocation *

Frank Mullen Francis P. Mull Eugene Mullen (born January 2, 1970) is an American vocalist, best known as the former frontman for the New York Brutal Death Metal band Suffocation. He is one of the first vocalists to introduce low-pitched growling vocals in ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

* Doug Cerrito -

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

* Chris Richards -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Doug Bohn -

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

;Production * Produced by Scott Burns & Suffocation * Engineered and mixed by Scott Burns * Assistant engineer: Dave Welner * Recorded and mixed at

Morrisound Recording Morrisound Recording (also Morrisound Studios) is an audio recording facility in Tampa, Florida, United States, owned and operated by brothers Jim and Tom Morris. Since its opening in 1981, Morrisound has been responsible for the popularizat ...

, Tampa, FL, USA * Mastered by Mike Fuller at Fullersound, Miami, FL, USA * Cover art: Hiro Takahashi

References

{{Authority control Suffocation (band) albums 1995 albums Roadrunner Records albums Albums produced by Scott Burns (record producer) Death metal albums