Dying Fetus "Stop at Nothing" CD
[Relapse]
Sweet Christ this record sounds like shit. The production is horrendous. Throw the disc in and you're immediately greeted with razor sharp drum tones that flimsily click away like a machine, a tinny guitar tone that sounds distant and not half as heavy as it needs to be, absolutely no bass whatsoever, and burly vocal grunts that also feel somewhat distant and powerless alongside the guitars. Awful. I don't know what they were thinking, but any potential this record had went out the window with the hack recording job. But anyway... onto the music. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't expecting this to suck since the better half of the lineup jumped ship after the last record, and having been unimpressed by their last split 7" as well as their live show with the new lineup, I didn't get my hopes up. This isn't a terrible record. The songs are competent and there are parts that I totally dig. But as a whole the record suffers from too much moshy chugga chugga stuff and a lack of the technical flurries that tend to make their work more exciting. Of course there are still some complex runs here and there, and the performances are all really tight (especially the guitars), but the songs are too long and stagnant to hold my interest. When they speed things up and throw in a little bit of a thrashy vibe to the playing I start to perk up, but such moments are few and far between. Hell, I'd even like the chunky mosh grooves if the motherfucking recording had any power whatsoever... but no dice. I do like the layout for the most part, I will say that. The back cover (huge logo, posed band photo, etc.) is the only thing that's weak. The rest of the imagery is fucking awesome, and the background textures are a nice match for the somewhat minimal color scheme and dismal socio-political vibe of the lyrics and artwork. To my surprise the lyrics are actually still pretty good, despite all the lineup changes. They're not as good as they were on the last record by any means, but they still have something to say. "Societal advancement, an agenda of control, Forcing the elimination of hereditary flaws, Licensed breeding protocol, man's course decided, Incarcerating violators, Their spawn aborted, state required forfeit, Human perfection far beyond our grasp, Cut out random flaws, leaving glitches behind them, Talents that lay dormant, left withered in the womb, Pre-determined course, they take no chances, Sleep, submit, obey, accept it, Nature rejected, culture forgotten..." Ironically 99% of the lyrics were penned by new guitarist Mike Kimball, who may be the band's saving grace at this point, because if the lyrics on this record were as ineffectual as everything else I'd write them off completely. It's a damn shame the production is so horrendous on this thing, because I think that's going to be the final nail in their coffin for a lot of people. This would've been a solid (but not great) death metal record if the sound was thicker, warmer, and more natural. And I still think they should have changed the band name. I mean, really... (4/10)
Running time - 35:37, Tracks: 8
[Notable tracks: Institution of Deceit, Stop at Nothing]
Relapse Records - http://www.relapse.com

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