Dying Fetus

Crypt Rot – An Ancient Summoning Review

Crypt Rot – An Ancient Summoning Review

“Not all bands have lofty goals—such is the case for many in the slam zone. At the very least, though, slam bands attempt to humor their audience with band and album names that snag the eyes and knot the gut in the slow-moving sump of the “bring the riff back but slower” crowd. I myself have gawked at such names like Goresoaked Collection Of Slam Killed Craniums or Indomitable Worldwide Slamdemic (Invirulent) this year hoping to get a hit of that sweet, sweet slam crank. Unfortunately, great names do not always deliver. And even more unfortunately, Crypt Rot has a name generated by two death metal naming dice.” One time, at Slam Camp…

AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Dawn of Creation – Self-Destructive Matters

AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Dawn of Creation – Self-Destructive Matters

“Back in the primordial days of this here blog, we attempted something called “AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö.” The basic idea was to select a bunch of unsigned bands and give them the collective review treatment to find the most worthy buried gems. It was our humble effort to remind folks that the metal underground is still an important part of the world of metal.” Welcome to Serbia.

Milking the Goatmachine – Nach uns die Grindflut Review

Milking the Goatmachine – Nach uns die Grindflut Review

“It’s late summer; baby goat season has come and passed. The now-adolescent herd will face culling and sorting for important caprine tasks: males will live to the next season for breeding within the herd or sold to other herds, and viable females will stick around for production of milk, which can serve as liquid for cheeses or in cosmetics. Potentially some goats who are neither fit for breeding nor milking will go up for sale as pets or sent to farms who raise goats for food production. Milking the Goatmachine is an atypical pair of goats though; they never made it to feed or breed. These German-born cloven-hoofed heathens escaped the goat-industrial complex to persevere as guardians of galvanized riffs, embodying the spirit of one heavy metal’s most celebrated animal icons.” Goatshake.

Instigate – Unheeded Warnings of Decay Review

Instigate – Unheeded Warnings of Decay Review

“If you’ve read my reviews before, you know how cautious I am about the riff. While hordes of metal maniacs revel in it and many even choose metal entirely for it, I’m about the atmosphere. That being said, if the riff sticks, it sticks hard. Death metal albums like Dyscarnate’s With All Their Might and Infernal Coil’s Within a World Forgotten offer high octane insanity aplenty with just enough variety and atmosphere, giving further weight to the riff. Italian quartet Instigate invokes the riff – and hard.” Riffy sense.

Misery Index – Complete Control Review

Misery Index – Complete Control Review

“A no-frills, hardworking deathgrind unit, Misery Index remain a dependably vicious and gritty act some twenty-plus years into a stellar, yet arguably underappreciated career. While well known within extreme metal circles, Misery Index often escape the limelight, and despite forays into modern death metal territory, the uncompromising outfit continue embracing their punk, hardcore and grindy roots to powerful effect. Now some three years since they dropped the solid Rituals of Power, Misery Index unleash their seventh LP, entitled Complete Control.” Control issues.

200 Stab Wounds – Slave to the Scalpel Review

200 Stab Wounds – Slave to the Scalpel Review

“Every so often, I’ll spot a promo that I have no choice but to grab. It’s a unique brand that I have trouble passing up: old school death metal with a gore-splattered cover from a band for which subtlety is a dirty word. Morally-bankrupt song titles (with even worse lyrics) and a grotesque, bludgeoning sound. And while there’s always a wide variation in quality, I find that each spin is fun in its own horrific way. This was precisely why I picked up Slave to the Scalpel, the first full-length release from Cleveland-based 200 Stab Wounds.” Knife life.

Waking the Cadaver – Authority Through Intimidation Review

Waking the Cadaver – Authority Through Intimidation Review

Waking the Cadaver is a few things to a lot of people. The first and most obvious one is them being the “Shredded Wheat” band from what was arguably the first popular metal meme. It was also the most memorable and probably the funniest, rivaled only by the Trivium “Boat Rudder” one and some gems from that page which dealt exclusively in Mortician memes. The second one, almost equally obvious, is that Waking the Cadaver traffic in a somewhat…controversial take on extreme metal which is often offensive to the ears of normies and metalheads alike. Third, Waking the Cadaver has some vitriolic bad reviews on Metal Archives. My favorite album of theirs, Perverse Recollections of a Necromangler, sits at a kingly 25% average – a firm 1.0/5.0 on the AMG scale.” Respect the dead’s authoritah!

Replicant – Malignant Reality Review

Replicant – Malignant Reality Review

“Three years have passed since their Negative Life debut, and by the sound of it, Replicant spent not a moment of them fucking around. With a sound newly honed to scalpel precision, the New Jersey trio radiate a septic valor, the fearsome pride of the canny skid row pugilist whose sweat-slicked wounds repel as many challengers as their calloused knuckles. They dominate each bout and dedicate the win to those who taught them: Steve Hurdle and John Gallagher.” Replicating nasty realities.

Aborted – ManiaCult Review

Aborted – ManiaCult Review

“There’s no such thing as a truly objective review so let’s get one thing straight: I fucking adore Aborted. Their brand of pulverizing death metal appeals to me on a primitive level and I’ve followed these Belgians for years. For the most part, I have enjoyed being reduced to DNA and endorphins every few years. And it’s that time again. 2018’s TerrorVision was good but it had some issues. Or rather it had one big issue. It just seemed to ramble on too long, which, for a band with grind sensibilities, isn’t optimal. ManiaCult is the definitive younger model.” Culted nuts.