A new Dying Fetus album isn’t quite the event is once was as since the bands crowning moment, 2000s Destroying the Opposition a revolving line up has kept John Gallagher from attainting perfect chemistry that was achieved with the classic Netherton, Voyles (who of course left after Destroy the Opposition to form Misery Index) and Talley line up.
However, after the underwhelming Stop at Nothing, Gallagher stripped the band back down to a four piece and released 2007s improved War of Attrition, and now down to a three piece (Mike Kimball has left the fold), Gallagher has retained bassist /vocalist Sean Beaseley (Garden of Shadows) and who has further settled into the band after two albums and replaced drummer Duane Timlin (Divine Empire, Forest of Impaled) with relatively unknown Trey Williams (Covenance, Severed Head). And the end result is an album that improves on War of Attrition, and is the bands much needed best release since Destroy the Opposition.
The overall formula for the music is unchanged since Destroy the Opposition and Gallagher and co deliver it with a precision and confidence the band hasn’t had in almost a decade; Thunderous grooves, squealing blast beats and Gallagher’s unmistakable growl all come together an energy and fire that the last two albums just didn’t have. The fine balance between slammy death metal and technical death metal is perfected again as the renewed sense of urgency is immediate from attention throttling opening statements of “Conceived into Enslavement” and “Shepard’s Commandment”; classic Dying Fetus structures if ever I heard them and the rest of the album simply falls in line with a swathe in unmistakably Dying Fetus moments from start to finish.
Astute listeners will notice that there seems to be a little more presence of solos and even some sweeps amid the landscape leveling heft and rumble as tracks like “Descend into Depravity”, “At What Expense?”, “Ethos of Coercion” and “Your Treachery Will Die With You” subtly show. It’s not an Origin or Decrepit Birth like development, but one I noticed immediately as it added just a little something to the already devastating tracks.
I wanted to end the review on a rant about how Dying Fetus are actually responsible for the modern deathcore movement but that would put a downer on an pretty salty album proving Gallagher’s persistence and consistency as well as being one of the better death metal albums of 2009. Instead, I’ll tell you how awesome Orion Landau’s artwork is , exspecially inside the CD booklet.
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I’m becoming more of a fan of this band all the time – this album crushes, front to back. Great review as usual Erik.
on Oct 5th, 2009 at 11:01I agree… absolutely killer album. No bullshit intros or interludes or any of that other crap, just hits like a hammer right out the gate and gets done before overstaying its welcome. Been spinning the hell outta this disk.
on Oct 5th, 2009 at 13:41I’ve also pondered if df was responsible for deathcore. I dunno, it seems like an insult to df almost. Most modern deathcore can’t hold a candle to this shit. Awesome album!
on Oct 5th, 2009 at 17:01Good review, I haven’t really delved into this album very much yet but I haven’t been disappointed by any DF I’ve heard, I even liked Stop At Nothing a lot. I’d definitely say this band had a huge impact on deathcore, as well as Suffocation (obviously). I don’t understand why we need deathcore when we have bands like this that play great death metal and huge grooves and “slams”.
on Oct 6th, 2009 at 15:39