You know those swampy lands, beaches, and babes of Florida — and of course, we mustn’t forget its cemeteries. Those very cemeteries played a major role in the birth of a new musical movement. In 1987, strange things began to happen in Florida. One autumn day, a man was admitted to the hospital and passed away after a few days. When his body was taken from the morgue for autopsy, he looked like an ordinary corpse. But just as the doctor was about to make the first incision, this man — Chris Reifert — suddenly opened his eyes and tore out the doctor’s heart.
Several crazies heard the sounds from the morgue; among them, Chris Reifert emerged as one of the scene’s leading figures and laid the foundation for the band Autopsy.
After those terrifying moments in the hospital, he headed home with his friends Steve DiGiorgio (bass), Eric Cutler (guitar), and Danny Coralles (guitar). They wasted no time following those days in the morgue and recorded an album called Severed Survival.
Tracklist:
Charred Remains
Service For A Vacant Coffin
Disembowel
Gasping For Air
Ridden With Disease
Pagan Saviour
Impending Dread
Severed Survival
Critical Madness
Embalmed
Stillborn
Chris Reifert, who played drums on Scream Bloody Gore back in the day, performed both vocals and drums simultaneously on this foundational album. The lyrics revolve entirely around horror, the living dead, and necrophilia. From start to finish, the album delivers a dark and savage sound enhanced by razor-sharp solos, Reifert’s aggressive drum-vocals, and brutal bass tones — a record that had reached the peak of depravity at the time.
Reifert proved himself as a drummer with his extreme speed and technique, supported by double bass drums. The songs feature a range of thrash-influenced riffs but also contain incredibly heavy, oppressive passages that add depth and a tortured mood to the album.
Overall, the album’s core strength lies in combining rawness and quality in its sound — a crucial factor elevating it to the top tier. One of the favorites, "Service For A Vacant Coffin," depicts mourners weeping by the grave, unaware the coffin is empty because the grave diggers are having lunch. The most striking moments here come from the heavy, horror-filled atmosphere, with solos reminiscent of Possessed.
The title track "Severed Survival" opens with grinding guitars at a slow tempo before suddenly transforming into an utterly destructive force. While we were used to songs about starving people eating each other, Reifert’s mindset wrote a track about someone stranded on a desert island, with no food but having to survive by eating another human.
"Critical Madness" greets us with an extremely slow tempo, leading us into the depths of despair with heavy riffs. Yet the song eventually picks up, charging forward with savage solos and pounding drums. Here, the band presents what could be described as extreme death thoughts — eternally burning brains.
Reifert consistently delivers excellent performances with his varied vocal styles — sometimes vomiting blood, sometimes screaming tortured, horrific cries. The closing track "Stillborn" runs at a consistently high pace compared to the others, with Reifert’s vocals speeding alongside the drums at full gallop.
Together with Necrophagia and Obituary, Autopsy opened a bloody chapter in metal history. Severed Survival stands as one of the earliest albums that greatly contributed to the rise of death metal. As a cornerstone of old-school death metal, this masterpiece deserves to be known, understood, and respected.