Epitaph (Necrophagist album)

Epitaph is the second and final studio album by German death metal band Necrophagist released by Relapse Records on August 3, 2004. Unlike on Onset of Putrefaction, guitarist and vocalist Muhammed Suiçmez recorded the album alongside a full band instead of recording it by himself. Though most uncredited, guitarist Christian Münzner, who later departed from the band and joined Obscura, confirmed he wrote at least half of the lead guitar parts as well as several basslines on the album. The track "Only Ash Remains" incorporates the melody of the "Montagues and Capulets" segment of the ballet Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev.

Composition and recording
Writing for the album began in 2002, with Muhammed Suiçmez composing the tracks initially in Power Tab Editor, and eventually in Guitar Pro; newcomer lead guitarist Christian Münzner composing the solos, half of the track "Symbiotic in Theory" and a portion of the basslines, for which he took influence from Greg Howe.

Recording took place in three different locations simultaneously: Hannes Grossmann recorded his drum tracks in Studio Iguana in March with Christoph Brandes, Stephan Fimmers recorded his bass in his own home studio in Schwandorf, while Münzner and Suiçmez recorded guitars in a makeshift studio in a school's basement in Baden-Baden; scheduling forced Münzner to drop out from recording rhythm guitars on three tracks, which were fully played by Suiçmez. As Suiçmez wanted to emphasize the compositional quality of the songs, the band relied heavily on punch-ins to get the accuracy they wanted.

Track listing
All songs written by Muhammed Suiçmez except where noted.

Personnel
'''Necrophagist
 * Muhammed Suiçmez - vocals, lead and rhythm guitars
 * Christian Münzner - lead guitar
 * Stephan Fimmers - bass guitar
 * Hannes Grossmann - drums

Additional personnel
 * Christoph Brandes - recorded drums and vocals
 * Bob Katz -   mastering