Long Island, New York’s Suffocation were pioneers in death metal, combining the technical intricacy of the genre’s progressive wing with a punishing brutality drawn from hardcore and thrash. Their first two albums are a blast, but Pierced From Within was the moment when their style matured, the dense, smothering production making the occasional moments of clarity, when a Terrance Hobbs guitar lead would break through and soar skyward, that much more thrilling.

– Phil Freeman