Band: Dying Fetus
Titles: Infatuation With Malevolence / Purification Through Violence / Killing On Adrenaline / Grotesque Impalement
Label: Relapse Records
Distribution: Rough Trade
Release date: early 2011
Review: CD (re-releases)

Relapse Records are re-releasing much older stuff lately from major bands from the past. Death, Control Denied, and now several Dying Fetus-works. In fact four of the earliest Dying Fetus-releases –call it Cult, if you want– will be re-issued, some of them with bonus-material included.
Fifteen years ago, these Americans belonged to the most influential bands, giving the USDM-genre the attention it deserved back then. Since then, and still nowadays, many bands from the USA and the rest of our sick planet try to sound like Dying Fetus, some more successfully (Neverlight Horizon, Vomit Remnants, Abysmal Torment, Ingraved etc.) than others (pulp not worthy to mention).
It all started twenty years ago, in 1991, when John Gallagher, the only remaining member, and Jason Netherton wanted to create something that would fit the gap between Cannibal Corpse and Death. The band recorded two demos, Bathe In Entrails (1993) and Infatuation With Malevolence (1994), which were received extremely positive in the international underground scene back then. In 1995 Wild Rags Records, which was a rather active label around that period (think: the Emperor-compilation Wrath Of The Tyrant, Mordor’s Odes, Sadistic Torment, Resurrecturis, Crucifer, Morning Star (the Finnish one) and so on), released both demos in their totality on disc, named after the second demonstration recording (Infatuation …). The re-issue of this compilation comes with both demos, of course. The Dying Fetus-material at that moment was as heavy as it is now, yet not that complex (yet). …even though the band didn’t dare to experiment from time to time. The brutality in musical approach lyrics is legendary. And even though the first demo differs the most from the Dying Fetus we nowadays know, it did contain the heaviness that marks the band since the start. The sound quality of both demos was not that great, and it still sounds too under-produced – but who cares? The re-release of Infatuation With Malevolence comes with five bonus tracks: three live versions and two previously unreleased tracks from the earliest years, raw and unpolished.
The official debut was released in 1996 via short-lived Pulverizer Records from Illinois, USA. Purification Through Violence brought slamming and grinding Death Metal in the vein of the Infatuation …-demo, yet with an evolution in both technical approach and atmosphere. I don’t think I exaggerate to call this album a classic, at least when it comes to this specific Death Metal-genre. Most remarkable fact on the album might be the sublime Napalm Death-homage Scum (Fuck The Weak), an own yet lovely interpretation of Grinding Death Metal. My only problem with this album is / was the limited variation, yet the overall quality is / was satisfying. Anyway, this re-issue comes with two previously unreleased bonus tracks too, one from a ’97-rehearsal and one live.
After touring intensively, the band signed to Morbid Records, and 1998 saw the light of the second studio full length, Killing On Adrenaline. This album gets often considered thé ultimate Dying Fetus-album from the nineties – and who am I to deny… Killing On Adrenaline is a lot catchier than Purification …, yet heavier and more brutal as well. The technical evolution did come to its peak with this recording, and therefore I can agree with the highest status. Two bonus tracks again: a live one and an unreleased song from a 1997-rehearsing session.
Killing On Adrenaline brought the band to a first headlining tour in the US, shortly after followed by the Grotesque Impalement cover-EP, originally released on the band’s own label imprint, Blunt Force Records. This EP was even heavier produced than Killing …, and a tribute to all influences that made Dying Fetus do what Dying Fetus do. In a way, these songs are more closely related to Purification …, yet with more professionally written compositions and a better production. Grotesque Impalement, the fourth re-release, comes with bonus tracks too, of course, a live one and an unreleased song from 2000, yet also a completely new recording, the modern-meets-old-school head bang ballad Dumpster Love.
In 2000, the band signed to Relapse – the start of a new chapter, the creation of the full circle…

Ivan Tibos