Bottom line, if you guys haven’t heard of Dying Fetus then you are new to modern Death Metal. These guys have been around since at least 1993 although my first contact with them wasn’t until 1996 with their excellent "Purification Through Violence". The original Dying Fetus line up has basically spit up to form this new version of Dying Fetus (first seen on "Stop At Nothing") and also the deathcore group Misery Index. To be honest if you have heard their last three albums ("Killing On Adrenaline" – 1998, "Destroy The Opposition" – 2000 and "Stop At Nothing" – 2003) then you pretty much already have an idea of what their current album sounds like. In the 3 odd years since "Stop At Nothing" there has been a few personnel changes. Most notable was the change on drums. Starting with "Killing On Adrenaline" the band really stepped it up in the drum department with none other than Kevin Talley. Talley did an excellent job and really helped DYING FETUS reach new heights. He drummed on the next album before he left the band with Jason Netherton (bass / vox) and Sparky Voyles (guitars) to be in Misery Index and several other bands. For "Stop At Nothing" Talley was replaced by Eric Sayenga who did an outstanding job, possibly outdoing Mr. Talley himself. Now for the new album we have another drummer but he is definitely not new blood. They held auditions and settled on none other than Duane Timlin of Forest of the Impaled, Broken Hope, Divine Empire and some others I can’t remember off the top of my head. He has been around forever and is very good and does an excellent job upholding his end of the music. One thing of interest I remember reading about this album is that they used the same guitars and amps that they used on their older albums. It definitely sounds different than "Stop At Nothing" which in my opinion is a good thing. While I liked the aforementioned album I thought that is was a little bit too clinical in its production. This one definitely has a rawer sound which I think suits the music very well. Actually my only complaint would be the sound of the snare drum which just didn’t sound right to my ears. This is a small complaint which can be easily overlooked though. As for the music… well like I said earlier if you have heard their older material then you know what to expect. To me it sound like a mix of the last three albums. For those of you unfamiliar with the sound I guess the best way to put it would be to imagine a Suffocationesque Death Metal band with more emphasis on breakdowns and groove and a definite touch of Hardcore (though thankfully not in the vocals) and a leaning towards the technical. The tempo moves from crawling to frantic and back again at the stop of a dime. To sum it up if you liked their last couple albums the rest assured you will like this one as well. I would also like to add that when listening to this album or any Dying Fetus album for that matter, remember that these guys pull that shit off live perfectly. To me that is one of things that makes them stand out. With these guys and Suffocation I used to wonder what the big deal was until I saw them live and it completely changed my view of both bands. Also to all the people who want to put these guys down because they are getting more popular and are on Relapse… stop being a douche-bag and judge them on their music… not their "supposed" image. And remember that they started out small like everyone else and worked their way up. Respect is due. You can find buy their albums and find information about them here: www.relapse.com.