Dying Fetus - Descend into Depravity
 |
A rule of thumb states that it takes five years to become a master at anything. Dying Fetus guitarist/vocalist John Gallagher has been doing death metal for 18 years. He has certainly become a master at it, though sometimes that’s not immediately evident. Poor production has unintentionally made Dying Fetus’ discography charmingly quirky. Stop at Nothing is thin and desperate; Destroy the Opposition is crispy and perky; Killing on Adrenaline just sounds bad (though it has gotten a much-needed remaster).
On Descend into Depravity (Relapse, 2009), Dying Fetus has gotten perfect production. Unlike many other bands, Dying Fetus benefits from this. I can’t really tell its songs apart, but that’s because I get the feeling that each one attempts to be the definitive Dying Fetus song. The band found its style long ago. Now it just hones, hones, hones. Gallagher has been whittling away for years to get at some essence. As Descend shows, that essence is hard and dry.
I interviewed Gallagher recently and got an overwhelming sense of how innate death metal is in Gallagher. Before entering the studio to record, he practices guitar for six or seven hours a day. When he collaborates with bassist/vocalist Sean Beasley, they instinctively know what vocal patterns fit over what riffs. Death metal is Gallagher’s language. It’s how he talks to the world.
This wasn’t always the case. Early Dying Fetus had obvious goregrind seams. But over time, Gallagher has closed in an elusive alchemy of sound and silence. So many bands ape his stylistic innovations (sweep picking in riffs, half-speed mosh parts), but Gallagher is far upstream. He’s death metal’s bald-headed Kurtz, for whom a rifle is not just a rifle, and a riff is not just a riff. It’s a means to a pure and personal end. Those heads on his stakes are ours.
Buy:
Amazon (CD)
Amazon (MP3)
Relapse (CD, t-shirt)
Watch the video for “Shepherd’s Commandment” here.
