Long Island, NY · death metal · technical death metal

Suffocation

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New York death metal originators, and the band most responsible for the breakdown as a technical device rather than a gimmick.

Suffocation took shape on Long Island, New York, in 1988, founded by vocalist Frank Mullen with guitarists Guy Marchais and Todd German and bassist Josh Barohn. The band's name came from a Morbid Angel song, Mullen's suggestion. By 1990 the lineup shifted around guitarists Terrance Hobbs and Doug Cerrito and drummer Mike Smith, all previously in a local band called Mortuary, and the group drew on American death metal alongside Napalm Death and Sepultura.

That year Suffocation signed to Relapse Records, one of the label's first three signings alongside Incantation and Deceased. The Human Waste EP followed in 1991, and the debut album Effigy of the Forgotten was recorded that same year with producer Scott Burns at Morrisound Studios in Tampa, on a budget of $5,000 and finished within a week.

Effigy of the Forgotten paired dense, technically intricate riff writing with abrupt tempo shifts and slow, heavy passages, helping establish the breakdown as a structural feature of death metal rather than an ornament. Reviews were mixed on release, but the record's reputation grew steadily, and it later appeared on Martin Popoff's list of the greatest metal albums; Loudwire has since ranked Suffocation among the best metal bands of all time.

Frank Mullen's low, articulated growl and Terrance Hobbs's guitar work remained central through further lineup shifts, including bassist Chris Richards's arrival in 1991 after Josh Barohn left to join Autopsy. The band toured heavily behind the album, sharing bills with Vader, Dismember and Defiance, and playing package shows alongside acts such as Brutal Truth and Incantation.

Suffocation broke up in the mid-1990s and reformed at the start of the 2000s, continuing to record and tour with the vocal role eventually passing to Ricky Myers. The band has released eight studio albums in total.

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death metaltechnical death metal