Welcome to The Saw’s Butcher Shop! Ya Girl is back with a New Album Review – a new album, from a band that just dropped a new album last year. Autopsy seem to have found their late career second wind, as they drop their second new album in as many years. Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts (Peaceville Records) was released on October 27, 2023. 

As I mentioned in The Butcher Shop Review of 2022’s Morbidity Triumphant, Autopsy are credited for helping to create two genres (Thrash and Death Metal), and are mentioned by (almost) every OSDM band as a huge influence (from Cannibal Corpse to Obituary). Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts has the same line-up as last year’s record, so you already know that you are in for a banging!

Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts is a bit different from the previous record, in the sense that the band covers more ground on this year’s offering. So, there is (of course) some serious Doom/Death Metal, here, both musically and vocally. But there is some straight-up Thrash, too – including some very Iron Maiden sounding bounce. Autopsy seem to have pulled out all the stops on this one, as each song displays a different style and texture. 

There are tracks like the album opener, “Rabid Funeral,” that are quick-paced bangers – Reifert’s vocals are, in fact, rabid! The main riff is pure Thrash, with a mid-paced, dark change-up, and (of course) some excellent bass work by Wilkinson. The following song, “Throat Saw,” continues the beatings – everything is a frenzy, while the vocal delivery is a deeper register. “Death is the Answer,” another banger, is a (nearly) relentless song, until the mid-point where, with almost clean vocals, the point is driven home (literally). 

Other tracks, like “No Mortal Left Alive” is more of the Doom/Death Metal Ya Girl loves from Autopsy. This song has a great riff and bounce, when it isn’t dragging you through the mud! “Well of Entrails” is one of those gut dragging drudges that could be the soundtrack for a gore and guts horror movie; switching gears to a gallop at the half-way point, finishing the job. “Bones to the Wolves” follows suit, with dark and doomy grooves, and some wicked vocals. And “Lobotomizing Gods” is crushingly doomy, with some of the best vocal deliveries on the record. A classic 80s time change drags us through the woods, and back-and-forth the song goes. 

And then there are tracks featuring some interesting influences. The title track is a throwback to old school Autopsy, as if the band found a previously unreleased song and dropped it on this record. “Marrow Fiend” has some great change-ups, featuring an Iron Maiden-like gallop, and guitar-work that seems almost pre-Heavy Metal on one hand, but squarely centered in 80s Metal. “Toxic Death Fuk” follows-up with a Motorhead style punk/metal riff, but Death-like change-ups and leads. And the album closer, “Coagulation,” is one of my favorites! A super-doomy start, with deep register gutterals, is cleared out by one of the best riffs on the record – very 80s, timeless – with lead take-offs from the era. The song title explains the style of the track well, and is a great closer to this congealed clotting collection of Autopsy slabs.

Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts is a fine example of a pattern I am noticing for many bands, either old school or new school. Bands like Autopsy refuse to let the body of the golden age of Thrash and Death Metal lie. And I’m not upset about that at all! You just don’t let go of a good thing. 

Rating: 8/10! Classic Autopsy! With great musicianship, and wicked riffs.

Favorite Songs: Well of Entrails, Lobotomizing Gods, Coagulation 

Stay Metal,

THE SAW