Pierced from Within

{{Infobox album

| name = Pierced from Within

| type = Studio

| artist = Suffocation

| cover = PiercedFromWithin.jpg

| alt =

| released = May 1, 1995 (USA)
May 23, 1995 (EU)

| recorded =

| venue =

| studio = Morrisound Recording in Tampa, Florida

| genre =

Brutal death metal{{cite web|url=http://loudwire.com/best-metal-albums-subgenres/|title=The Best Metal Album From 40 Subgenres|website=Loudwire |date=21 November 2022 |publisher=}}
technical death metal{{Cite web|url=http://www.themetalforge.com/reviews/1117|title=Suffocation - Pierced From Within|publisher=The Metal Forge}}

| length = 45:31

| label = Roadrunner

| producer = Scott Burns

| prev_title = Breeding the Spawn

| prev_year = 1993

| next_title = Despise the Sun

| next_year = 1998

}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web|last=Mathew |first=Leslie |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/r274433 |title=Pierced From Within - Suffocation |publisher=Allmusic |accessdate=October 15, 2011}}

| rev2 = Chronicles of Chaos

| rev2score = 7/10{{Cite web |last=Filicetti |first=Gino |date=December 8, 1995 |title=CoC : Suffocation - Pierced From Within : Review |url=https://chroniclesofchaos.com/articles.aspx?id=2-9 |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=Chronicles of Chaos}}

| rev3 = Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal

| rev3score = 6/10{{cite book |last1=Popoff |first1=Martin |author-link1=Martin Popoff |title=The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties |publisher=Collector's Guide Publishing |year=2007 |location=Burlington, Ontario, Canada |isbn=978-1-894959-62-9 |pages=428–429}}

| rev4 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev4score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite book|editor-last=Larkin|editor-first=Colin|editor-link=Colin Larkin|title=Encyclopedia of Popular Music|year=2006|publisher=MUZE |volume=7 |edition=4th|isbn=978-0-19-531373-4|title-link=Encyclopedia of Popular Music |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofpo0007unse/page/826 827] |chapter=Suffocation}}

}}

Pierced from Within is the third album by the death metal band Suffocation, released in 1995.

Both this album and Effigy of the Forgotten have been re-released by Roadrunner Records as part of the Two from the Vault series.

Background and recording

"Synthetically Revived" is a re-recording of the song of the same name from the Human Waste EP and "Breeding the Spawn" is a re-recording of the title track from the band's previous album.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

Before 2013's Pinnacle of Bedlam, this was the only full-length album by Suffocation not to feature Mike Smith as a drummer. It is the band's last album with guitarist Doug Cerrito and bassist Chris Richards, and the only with drummer Doug Bohn.

Music

The album's musical style has been described as "fast, intricately technical, immaculately heavy." The album's tracks have been described as "complex, savage riff collages that reveal more of themselves with each listen."{{Citation |title=Pierced from Within - Suffocation {{!}} Album {{!}} AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/pierced-from-within-mw0000175062 |access-date=2025-01-02 |language=en}} At 45 minutes and 31 seconds, Pierced from Within is the band’s longest album to date.{{Relevance inline|date=May 2025}}

Artwork

The album artwork was originally intended to be colored blue. However, the album was printed incorrectly. The original blue album cover was correctly printed on some of the band's merchandise, such as T-shirts.{{Cite web |last=MetalSucks |date=2020-01-23 |title=Suffocation's Pierced From Within Cover Art Has Never Looked the Way It Was Meant to Look |url=https://www.metalsucks.net/2020/01/23/suffocations-pierced-from-within-cover-art-has-never-looked-the-way-it-was-meant-to-look/ |access-date=2025-01-06 |website=MetalSucks |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Kennelty |first=Greg |date=2020-01-24 |title=SUFFOCATION's Cover Art For Pierced From Within Has Always Been The Wrong Color |url=https://metalinjection.net/news/suffocations-cover-art-for-pierced-from-within-has-always-been-the-wrong-color |access-date=2025-01-06 |website=Metal Injection |language=en-US}}

Legacy

Pierced From Within has been called Suffocation's "watershed moment", and guitarist Terrance Hobbs has cited the album as his favorite the band has done.{{cite web |date=17 November 2018 |title=Terrance Hobbs of SUFFOCATION on Frank's last shows, the band's future, video games & more |url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WRt1qXCny8Q&si=Hg_MbdqgXzojqYbP |website=YouTube}}{{Cite web |last=DiVita |first=Joe |date=2024-12-18 |title=Best Death Metal Album of Each Year Since 1985 |url=https://loudwire.com/best-death-metal-album-each-year/ |access-date=2024-12-25 |website=Loudwire |language=en}}

Loudwire named the album as the greatest album in the brutal death metal genre. Music journalist Eduardio Riveria explained: "While most metal fans were still just getting used to death metal’s natural brutality, Long Island’s Suffocation were already taking things up a notch and pushing the young genre to new domains. Pretty soon – right around the release of their career-defining third opus, ‘Pierced from Within’ – yet another subgenre description was required, and soon the band and others of their ilk fell into the brutal death metal category."{{Cite web |last=Rivadavia |first=Eduardo RivadaviaEduardo |date=2022-11-21 |title=The Best Metal Album From 40 Subgenres |url=https://loudwire.com/best-metal-albums-subgenres/ |access-date=2025-05-26 |website=Loudwire |language=en}}