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Unless you're a brand-new fan of Death Metal you probably already know plenty about Obituary, one of the most important bands of the subgenre, starting off their career (at least while under the name of Obituary) with two absolute monster albums in 1989's Slowly We Rot and 1990's Cause of Death. Those are the first albums we generally point to when the name Obituary comes up, but that doesn't mean a loyal fan base doesn't still hold expectations for new material.

What we get here is much in line with other recent albums from Obituary. Dying of Everything is largely committed to the mid-paced Death Metal game. The riffs are dry and blunt, and honestly extremely familiar to anyone who has heard any of the band's previous work. The famous vocals of John Tardy are still here as well, albeit lacking the ferocious quality of early-career work. Also, while he is known to use his vocals as an instrument without actual lyrics to accompany the music from time to time, he did not do it so much on this record, which left me wanting something more. As for the overall effect of the album, it sounds good while it's on and there are a few crushing moments, but otherwise familiar riffing. The solos are great standout moments, however, namely solos on "Without a Conscience" and "War." Perhaps the funniest thing about this record for me is that there is only one moment, or should I say one riff, which I absolutely dislike, and is also the only thing I can quickly recall from the album without turning it on. That would be the main driving riff on "The Wrong Time." It feels almost out of character to me, making the track feel less crushing and somewhat humorous, musically. I expect everyone will have different feelings about it, but I can't stop hearing that silly riff at night in my head, even though I don't particularly like it. I think it's cool that it could instill a strong impression, though, which is a strong testament to their riff-writing abilities.

This is not Cause of Death, nor is any of their latest material quite like that legendary album. While it's easy to draw comparisons and talk about what we want from Obituary (because yeah, I want another album to rival Cause of Death!), that just does not seem fair to the band as they do not seem interested in writing anything like it anymore. Obituary have long settled into a groove, and I respect that they stick to their style and keep churning it out. If you're a fan of the band and enjoyed the other latest albums, go buy Dying of Everything. If you're unfamiliar with Obituary for whatever reason, please do yourself a favor and go check out the first two albums, Slowly We Rot and Cause of Death.