Severed Survival

Severed Survival is the debut album by Autopsy released in 1989. Continuing in the style of Reifert's former band Death, the album's lyrical themes draw heavily on horror, death and gore concepts, and is a pioneer of gore lyrics. Although the tracks are not inspired directly by horror films, the title track is based on Stephen King's short story "Survivor Type."

The album went on to be substantially influential future death metal acts such as Cannibal Corpse, Entombed, and Dismember.

Various re-releases exist with different bonus tracks and bonus CDs. Furthermore, a different cover exists for this album, which depicts the point of view of the person receiving the autopsy. To coincide with the album's 20th anniversary, Peaceville Records released a special two-disc edition of Severed Survival on February 23, 2009. It includes rare rehearsal and live material for a bonus disc as well as demo versions of two songs — "Mauled to Death" and "Human Genocide" — which did not make the final cut on the original album. Also featured in the package is a booklet with notes by the band themselves, detailing the history of Autopsy's early years, with rare photos and images. The reissue also includes two new Autopsy tracks that were recorded in September 2008, and are included on the reissue's second disc.

Musical style
The album is notable for its bass sound which was mixed much higher than all the other tracks.

Track listing
All songs written by Chris Reifert, except where noted.

Personnel

 * Autopsy
 * Chris Reifert - Vocals, Drums
 * Danny Coralles - Guitar
 * Eric Cutler - Guitar
 * Session musician
 * Steve DiGiorgio - Bass


 * Production
 * Recorded in January 1989 at Starlight Sound
 * Produced by John Marshall and Autopsy
 * Engineered by John Marshall
 * Cover art by Kent Mathieu
 * Cover art by Kev Walker (Alternative cover)