Suffocation CLOSE OF A CHAPTER

Personnel: Frank Mullen (vocals); Terrance Hobbs, Guy Marchais (guitar); Mike Smith (drums).

Recording information: Quebec City.
Sure, many a death metal band can come off sounding as tight as a mosquito's arse in the studio (where one can fiddle around with Pro Tools and take endless takes to get things razor-sharp), but the real test is how they pull it off live, on-stage. And as evidenced by Suffocation's first-ever live offering, 2009's Close of a Chapter, these lads are just as explosively brutal on-stage as they are in the cold confines of the recording studio. Recorded in Quebec City during the band's Souls to Deny tour in 2005, this 13-track set is also advertised as being completely devoid of any editing, which only makes it all the more impressive. As with the majority of bands from this aforementioned genre, there's not a whole lot of musical diversity here. But looked upon as a whole album, Close of a Chapter is one unrelenting, raging beast -- and should seriously be considered as one of death metal's top live recordings of all time. ~ Greg Prato

• Format: CD
• Genre: Pop