ALBUM REVIEW: Dying Fetus - "Wrong One To Fuck With"

By: Jack Taylor

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 23/06/2017

Label: Relapse Records

Like any classic Dying Fetus song, opener “Fixated on Devastation” is saturated with amazing riffs, fantastic drumming and clever song writing. It’s a thrilling ride and one which carries on throughout this record.  One could argue that the band sounds more or less the same as they have done since “Descend into Depravity”, but as long as they keep up this quality of song writing, nobody will complain.

“Wrong One To Fuck With” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Fixated on Devastation

2). Panic Amongst the Herd

3). Die with Integrity

4). Revelling in the Abyss

5). Seething with Disdain

6). Ideological Subjugation

7). Weaken the Structure

8). Fallacy

9). Unmitigated Detestation

10). Wrong One To Fuck With

The Review:

Dying Fetus’s ‘Wrong One To Fuck With’ is the band’s first release in five years, and marks the longest period between albums in the group’s history. It’s been worth the wait – this album is a cracker.

From the first minute of this album, the listener is in no doubt over what they’re in for or who they’re listening to. A bewilderingly technical but catchy and, most crucially, relevant riff opens proceedings before a slamming groove slows things down and John Gallagher’s distinctive bark jumps into the mix.

Like any classic Dying Fetus song, opener “Fixated on Devastation” is saturated with amazing riffs, fantastic drumming and clever songwriting. It’s a thrilling ride and one which carries on throughout this record.  “Die with Integrity” has another insurmountable groove followed by frenetic riffage and torturous passages, while “Revelling in the Abyss” is the longest song the band have written in some time, clocking in at over six minutes. The clean guitars on “Weaken the Structure” make a welcome change from the relentlessly violent and scything riffage. After the last notes of “Seething with Devastation” ring out, you need a halfway break – this album and the band in general, are so intense that stomaching a whole album in one sitting would be tough going.

Have the band progressed? One could argue that the band sounds more or less the same as they have done since “Descend into Depravity”, but as long as they keep up this quality of songwriting, nobody will complain.

“Wrong One To Fuck With” is available here

Band info: bandcamp|| facebook

FFO: Suffocation, Misery Index, Nile, Aborted

ALBUM REVIEW: Deserted Fear - "Dead Shores Rising"

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full  Length

Date Released: 27/01/2017

Label: Century Media Records

This is finely honed death metal, referencing all the greats of the genre from this side of the pond and managing to create an identity all of its own. Deserted Fear are ones to watch for sure: feral stuff, crushing all in their path. This album puts 2017 off to a great start for death metal!

“Dead Shores Rising” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Intro

2). The Fall of Leaden Skies

3). The Edge of Insanity

4). Open the Gates

5). Corrosion of Souls

6). Interlude

7). Towards Humanity

8). The Carnage

9). Face Our Destiny

10). Till the Last Drop

11). Carry On

12). A Morbid Vision

13). The Path of Sorrow

The Review:

Deserted Fearspecialise in the kind of death metal so beloved of Scandinavian and European bands. Don't think Nile or Immolation. Think Asphyxand Entombed. This is the band's third full length and they bring their Teutonic terror to the masses in fine style here. The tanks roll, the sound is pleasingly clear and bright, but with the right amount of grit to make this sound... real.

No super fast blasting here, no so-low-you-can-barely-hear-them vocals. This is honest to goodness (not much goodness) death metal from Germania. “The Fall of Leaden Skies” is the first track after a scene setting intro and it really sums up the record: if you like this one then “The Edge of Sanity” will get your neck snapping in similar fashion.

The band offer up their own sound, but the aforementioned bands, Revel in Flesh, At The Gates, Dismemberand so on are all valid reference points. “Corrosion of Souls”, “Towards Humanity” and “The Carnage” offer up concise and rocking workouts; the song writing is lean and effective: riffs, changes, good vocals. Some tracks are pacier than others, but this is all head nodding stuff. Death metal, as I live and breathe!

“Face Our Destiny”, “Till the Last Drop” and “Carry On” cap off the album in grandstanding style; so consistent are the band in their sound that the record just flies by. The album also comes with two bonus tracks, both of admirably high quality and a nice touch from Century Media to include them.  “A Morbid Vision” was my favourite of the two, with its' Bolt Thrower esque pacing. There is absolutely nothing to complain about here. This is finely honed death metal, referencing all the greats of the genre from this side of the pond and managing to create an identity all of its own. Deserted Fear are ones to watch for sure: feral stuff, crushing all in their path. This album puts 2017 off to a great start for death metal!

“Dead ShoresRising” is available now

Band info: facebook

FFO: Grave, Bolt Thrower, Asphyx, Bodyfarm