In our ongoing investigation of deceptive and outright fraudulent extreme metal acts, we pull the rug under a handful of established outfits that don’t even seem to bother hiding that they are after your money first, artistic integrity a distant second - an audience satisfaction not even registering. The more we pull away the blinds the more obvious these practices become. Maybe your favorite band is in here, maybe your life-long inspiration only cares about the dollars/euros you’re giving him/her? Don’t be fooled, there are plenty of honest, hard-working metal bands everywhere in the scene. It’s just that these money-hungry, artistically vacuum units make it difficult for everybody involved. These bands stopped caring, they lost the passion and fire. In short: they Sold Their Souls...
I had some material done already before the demise of Lord Belial. Some of the material was actually intended for the next Lord Belial album, but since we disbanded I changed around all of the ideas into new songs.
I don’t really consider it that much superior. But we KEPT the quality from 1st to 4th album, and that is something that is not easy to do! And I think there will come a 5th album that will kick just as much ass.
American death metal combo Dying Fetus needs no introduction. Since 1991 John Gallagher and his merry band of mercenaries have been delivering releases in a consistent manner. On their seventh full length album the Maryland trio delivers exactly what is expected of them. In all honesty, this is as much a strenght as it is a weakness. There’s the interaction of Gallagher’s low grunts and Sean Beasley’s higher growls while Trey Williams is as savage behind the drum kit as ever. The material is still a halfway combination of technical guitar acrobatics, slam sections and crushing grooves. With the same line-up intact for a two albums in a row the performances are stellar and exemplary across the board. But for all the tightness, finesse and pristine production values there’s a feeling of familiarity that’s hard to avoid. Dying Fetus is as blue collar a band as they come. Consistent, reliant but as familiarity breeds contempt “Reign Supreme” is exactly what you expect and that’s the biggest disappointment. The trio is so locked into their particular sound palette that any deviation from the set formula would be much welcomed. There’s no need for Dying Fetus to throw in a Morbid Angel or Cryptopsy like genre shift, or to dumb their sound down to Kataklysm levels of accessibility. But the inclusion of new elements (a more diverse set of riffs, for example) would benefit this band much at this point in their career. Those who like Dying Fetus will no doubt love this unconditionally. Those of us who saw the writings on the wall a decade ago will feel like they haven’t missed out on much in the intervening ten years. Whether that observation is a pro or con is wholly up to the individual listener and their preferences.http://www.relapse.comcomment itWouter 6
