Catchy and brutal as ever Dying Fetus return to the forefront of brutal american death metal, a genre that they arguably ruled for nearly a decade. Unloading a full clip of ammunition on the world in the form of Wrong One To Fuck With the Maryland metalheads do not extend any level of mercy on its listeners. The riffs come in thick waves, the bass tone is massive, the drums blast away and the songs are catchy as all hell. Relapse and Dying Fetus have released one seriously demented record once again.
Fans of the unholy trio of John Gallagher, Sean Beasley and Trey Williams have nothing to worry about as this is another worthy addition to the bands multi-decade spanning arsenal. After playing 2016’s Download Festival, mainly thanks to devoted fans starting a campaign using the hashtag #WhyNotDyingFetus, it’s easy to see that the group have a loyal legion of die-hard fans, people who love the band so much that they secured them a slot on a coveted festival. With Wrong One To Fuck With the band deliver on their trademark brand of moshy death metal, well suited to head banging circle-pitters.
From the opening moments of “Fixated on Devastation” your brain will border on implosion thanks to the dizzying fret work of both Gallagher and Beasley and the of course the inhuman drumming of Trey Williams. It nicely recalls the technical outburst of last record “Reign Supreme” but still manages to sound unique. Honestly, I may be a little biased but I have always loved this incarnation of the band the most. Descend Into Depravity is my favourite album by them and much of that style is back in full force. If I am going to be honest though, in my opinion, everything since their album War of Attrition has been must own death metal material.
Dying Fetus drop their trademark groove-laden slam riffs everywhere on Wrong To Fuck With leaving just enough room for tension to build. So many bands try to be heavy and memorable at the same time but it seldom works out in their favour. These dudes however, really can do no wrong with this formula, it’s almost like they invented the style. I would definitely think they are the wrong to one to fuck with when it comes to biting this sound – and yet a whole genre of “slam” metal exists now that might not be here if it weren’t for early pioneers like these violent virtuosos.
There are also some cool thrashier moments found along the groove, like the mid section of “Ideological Subjugation” that harken back to old school death metal moments and makes for some real fun. It’s really hard not to headbang when listening to one of these songs and the band have added some nice elements of melody as on “Weaken the Structure” with its cool grinding intro and melodic lead. As much as I crave the Dying Fetus I know and love I have to admit that it is very cool to get song structures that I wasn’t anticipating from such a long running and established act.
Crushing and dominating, this band have never let the opposition sway them from their goals, which seem to be total world domination through heavy metal assault. I would wager that a lot of the acts older and possibly more jaded death metal fans will come back after hearing hefty politically themed songs like stand out “Panic Amongst the Herd” and the sludgy beat down “Die with Integrity”. Luckily for the more well read and politically aware fans of metal not much has changed in terms of the lyrical content of the group. I am sure the ultra-conservative right wing politics of the Trump campaign gave them plenty of fuel while coming up with topical matter for this recording.
If you’re looking for some memorable slam based death metal that isn’t afraid to get technically over the top at times while spitting out politically informed messages then this is your record of the year. Step right up and cast a vote because I doubt many other bands this year will release a record that is going to contain all those pre-requisites in the correct measures. Dying Fetus’ Wrong One To Fuck With may be be just that for the uninitiated but for lovers of extremes it’s a wild ride. Try and tell me you aren’t maniacally head banging to at least a dozen riffs on this album by the time you hit “Fallacy”, I dare you.
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