Dying Fetus – Reign Supreme
Formed in 1991, American death metal nutters Dying Fetus have carved out a bit of a reputation for themselves as purveyors of extremely intense metal, showcasing an amazing grasp of musicianship. Although the line-ups may have changed over the years - guitarist/vocalist John Gallagher being the only constant throughout – the band have never been anything less than totally on-top-of-their-game and “Reign Supreme”, their seventh album, is testament to this.
Beginning with the relatively short blast of ‘Invert the Idols’, the album is pretty consistent in giving you a good kicking, with the superhuman drum prowess of Trey Williams being something to both admire and be a little bit afraid of – it would be very interesting to hear just the drum track to this album as an example of how to brutalise a drum kit, and also a good advert for the quality of the kit he uses as it sure does take some punishment.
The chugging intro of ‘Subjected to a Beating’ increases the heaviness before moving into blastbeat territory for the strangely catchy chorus, but the real early highlight of the album is the rabid fury of ‘From Womb to Waste’ that thrashes along mixing blastbeats and Deicide-style solos before closing on a mid-paced groove that is as heavy as it is headbang-worthy.
To be totally honest, the album whizzes by in such a flurry of rage and face-melting dynamics that when it finishes you’ll feel like you’ve been through nine rounds with the world heavyweight champ, and that’s probably the effect the band were going for. There are a couple of filler tracks that may force you to press the skip button on repeated listens, but the sheer ferocity and technical prowess of the band make it impossible not to admire what they’ve done here and will no doubt keep their legions of fans happy and probably gain them many more. (7/10)
Chris Ward
Band info: www.facebook.com/DyingFetus
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