Album Review: Dying Fetus-Wrong One to Fuck With

Old-school death metal fans are currently experiencing what their comrades in the thrash community went through in the late 90's/early 2000's. While no one besides Morbid Angel (sup IIud Divinium Insanus) has released anything as notoriously shit-laden as Metallica's St. Anger or Megadeth's Risk, the forefathers of the genre that are still standing (Suffocation, Obituary, Deicide) have spent the 2010's releasing safe, standard-issue material that's missing a lot of the edge and sinister magic that made them special. Slam pioneers Dying Fetus have proven to be among the small number of acts that have sidestepped this "iconic death metal bands throwing in the creative towel once they hit 40" epidemic. The Maryland-based trio rebounded from their mid-2000's slump (Stop at Nothing, War of Attrition) with 2009's eyebrow-raising aural assault Descend Into Depravity and have been on an unstoppable warpath ever since. After a 5-year hiatus from releasing new music, Dying Fetus has kept their hot streak alive with the exceptional Wrong One to Fuck With.

What makes Wrong One to Fuck With such an impressive accomplishment is its unwavering consistency. All 12 tracks on this record are expertly-assembled symphonies of destruction that feature enough punchy riffs, pummeling blast beats and pit-starting breakdowns to fill a 12-disc box set. The construction of this record isn't going to shock anyone that's heard the last couple of Dying Fetus records, but the sheer level of craftsmanship it took to make a 53-minute slab of tech-tinged brutal death metal as engaging and memorable as this impressed the hell out of me.  

The unrelenting intensity and quality present on Wrong One to Fuck With is a testament to how well-oiled of a machine Dying Fetus is at this point of their career. Listening to guitarist/vocalist John Gallagher, bassist/vocalist Sean Beasley and drummer Trey Williams play together is pretty much the death metal equivalent of having three elite yet humble maestros on the same stage. Each member possesses the chops to run the show themselves, but they understand that they're a lot more dangerous if they combine their individual talents into one flawlessly synchronized collective. The top-notch chemistry between the members of the current lineup-who have been playing together since late 2007-is a large part of why Dying Fetus is still putting out crushing, badass death metal a mere 21 years after the release of their debut album.    

At a time where their peers are coasting into their AARP years on autopilot, Dying Fetus continues to deliver some of the most suffocating, headbang-worthy heavy music on the planet. Dying Fetus' ability to blossom and thrive as musicians this far into their musical journey will hopefully inspire the next wave of bands set to hit old age (The Black Dahlia Murder, Behemoth, Gojira) from copying the formulaic sins committed by most of the genre's OG bands. If Dying Fetus wasn't already considered death metal royalty, Wrong One to Fuck With should be enough to finally get them a prime seat at that unholy table.
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4/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.Seething with Disdain
2.Reveling in the Abyss
3.Unmitigated Detestation