A friend of mine once noted that the album titles by this pioneering death metal band sort of read like statements of intent, such as Dying Fetus Killing On Adrenaline or Dying Fetus Destroy The Opposition and so on and this latest album is no different if you decide to interpret it as such. Like many long established and, dare I say it, veteran death metal bands they set the bar and indeed created whole subgenres back in the 90s with their unmatched brutal technical expertise. You’ve only to listen to the slam death scene to know that that genre was founded upon and feasted upon the bones and riffs of bands like Dying Fetus and Suffocation to name a couple of notable acts. This is the bands ninth album as they enter their fourth decade of existence since forming in 1991 and during that time have released one pounding devastating album after another. The current line-up has been the most stable since 2007 and if you’ve ever witnessed a live show by Dying Fetus you know that they absolutely kill.

Ten tracks of pulverising prowess greet you on the album which begin with ‘Through Agony’, the bands trademark groove annihilation is firmly intact as the opener utilises the machine gun drumming style perfectly. The sound is superb too, as is the disturbing artwork, though the band has always been near the knuckle with this aspect and particularly their shirts which are always snapped up at gigs. The speedy onslaught of ‘Compulsion For Cruelty’ was also released as a single earlier this year so will be familiar to fans as its unrestrained groove is laced with technical beastliness in all quarters. As a three piece the band has always given us some exemplary guitar work coupled to their multi-pronged vocal attack.

A chug riff, typical of the band, opens ‘Feast Of Ashes’ as the deep vocal roar hooks into the bombardment that follows unveiling that brutalising groove the band does so damn well every time. At less than two minutes ‘Throw Them In The Van’ is not an interlude and much like their awesome ‘Kill Your Mother, Rape Your Dog’ number it is a frenzied onslaught that I am sure will be played live, well hopefully anyway. ‘Unbridled Fury’, also released as a single previously, returns to a double bass avalanche replete with blast beats as that hook infestation rears up brilliantly and links with the excellent ‘When The Trend Ends’ which is similar to the other tracks but has a fantastic ending I just loved.

Their unrivalled bludgeoning continues on ‘In Victory Razed In Defeat’ but is slightly slower initially but you know the stamp on the accelerator is not far away and it indeed arrives with colossal impact. The band’s use of groove power is well known, but when they meld it to the technical astuteness you get songs that are as mind-bending as they are ferociously intense which penultimate tune ‘Grave’ proves. It is a truly brutal song, one steeped in savagery but instilled with melody before the album closes with ‘Subterfuge’. An isolated guitar riff begins it, which whilst short-lived allows the song to explode with cascading drum work and their myriad of guitar hooks and breaks.

Business as usual for Dying Fetus as once again they release a fierce demonstration of how to write catchy death metal but also beat the shit out of the listener.

(9/10 Martin Harris)

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https://dyingfetus.bandcamp.com/album/make-them-beg-for-death