Obituary will put out «Xecutioner’s Return» from 2007 and «Darkest Day» from 2009 again, in remastered editions, on 11 December. The two albums will come out on Relapse Records on vinyl, CD and cassette, for the first time in more than 15 years.
“`The new editions will also go up on streaming services, while pre-orders are open through Relapse. For many fans of the band, these two records have been practically hard to find for years.
They also carry a heavy weight. They are Obituary’s last records with bassist Frank Watkins, who died in 2015, and the only ones with guitarist Ralph Santolla, who passed away in 2018. The band said it is glad the records are becoming available again, so that people can remember Watkins and hear the solos Santolla left behind, and closed with a «R.I.P. both our brothers».
«Xecutioner’s Return» took its name from the Xecutioner, as Obituary were called before releasing «Slowly We Rot» in 1989. The remastered «Darkest Day» adds two bonus tracks: a cover of Celtic Frost’s «Dethroned Emperor» and a 2008 re-recording of «Slowly We Rot», which had only appeared on the «Left To Die» EP.
The release comes as the band works on its next album, the successor to 2023’s «Dying Of Everything». Terry Butler said recently that they have to put something out soon, and John Tardy had said in February that they are aiming for 2027.
The sound of these records belongs to the same school as the genre’s classics: their rhythm and riffs recall the era of Sepultura’s «Beneath the Remains» and Bolt Thrower’s «The IVth Crusade», with the band keeping its own slower, heavier style. Those who want to hear how Obituary sound next to other Florida bands will find a similar atmosphere in Entombed’s «Left Hand Path» and in the records Pete Sandoval singled out.
