MichaelMcCoyII
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 Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2012 1:20 pm |
FETUS STENCH (Sweden) Interview and "Stillbirth" CD review by thegrimtower
By Eric May
THE INTERVIEW:
If you could, describe the process in making this album. What was the toughest part of that process?
What albums/bands are the most influential to your sound?
It was a fucking hellride. Everything that could go wrong - went wrong. We had to put our own cash into the recording so we had to make the product sound as good as possible for as little money as possible. Seeing as we have to stimulate our crack/alcohol addictions as well (two not-so cheap addictions) this was absolutely crucial. The toughest part was arranging everything by ourselves and to get everything done. There were a lot of disagreements and catfights but we overcame them as well. Looking back at the whole process and then listening to what finally came to be, all the blood, sweat and patience we sacrificed to complete the record was nothing but worth it. We are truly proud of what we've cooked up. No specific bands or albums as influences, as long as it's fast and aggressive, it's all good and inspiring
How do you feel about the state of death metal in 2012?
Really good/really bad. I haven't found any good NEW band in years (well, Tribulation kicks ass but I wouldn't really consider them as a new band), it seems like all the new ones do now adays is to repeat what Autopsy did like 20-25 years ago and that is fucking boring. It must be really liberating to play such death metal tho as it doesn't require any instrumental skills. And the people who are talented at what they do end up playing sweep picking and difficult guitar licks instead of creating heavy riffs and that's even more boring. But the older bands like say Vomitory, Cannibal Corpse, Dying Fetus, Unleashed etc. still deliver as usual. Thank fuck for that.
Do you think that bands are using too many core and technical elements in death metal these days? Or do you think that these elements help to give the music more structure, then say, back in the days of Entombed?
A band must always progress in some way and not remain the same. It is vital for a band to find an own sound and develop it as well. But when you begin to include technical parts for the sake of being technical instead of writing MUSIC, that's where you fuck up. I do not know where the "Death" in "Deathcore" comes from, but it's not from DEATH METAL anyways. That trend is over soon though, and the ones who took part of that "scene" will only remember it as an embarassing period in their lives. Untrue bastards.
Be honest. What did you guys think of Morbid Angel's last album, "Illud Divinum Insanus"?
To be honest, it's half-gold, half-shit. The "metal" songs on the album are really good, songs like "10 More Dead", "Nevermore" and "Blades For Baal" is exactly what one would expect Morbid Angel to sound like today. I can't understand why they had to fuck things up with techno-bullshit and rave, I think they did it just for the hell of it and to try to break new ground once again, it backfired horribly. But hey, I'm not the one to judge. Who knows how I'll handle MY midlife crisis.
With the advent of the Guitar Hero generation and Brendan Small's Metalocalypse, more young people are getting into metal these days. This is a good thing for the genre, but the kind of metal they are making is not the kind of music that anyone of us would be caught dead listening to. (Paint The Skyline for example.) What do you think of this "new" metal, and is it just a sign of the times?
It's a sign of times but it's certainly NOT metal. Those kids should grab a beer, get pissdrunk and listen to "Dismember - Like An Everflowing Stream" on Vinyl instead of playing video games.
With all this talk of apocalypse, what's the first thing that you would do "after the shit went down?
Rise as a satanic zombie and eat a banana.
Andreas Björnson, Fetus Stench
THE REVIEW
If you don't know who Fetus Stench is yet, as soon as you've given this thing a spin, I guarantee that you'll be familiar with them. It's been a long time since I've heard a band with as much groove, brutality and viciousness as what these gentlemen have to offer. The disc is nothing sort of beastly, with each and every song being not only bloodthirsty, but also different. The band isn't afraid to move beyond the basics of bland death metal, and to elevate their style to include tracks that don't all sound the same. This is the major difference between death metal and most deathcore.
Fans of Swedish death metal will eat this one whole, as it contains so much of the same style of riffing that we'd expect from bands like Bloodbath in their earlier era, or Hypocrisy, among countless others like Demonical, exc. Yes, resemblances can be drawn to many different bands, but these guys definitely make good use of what they have.
The drummer is an absolute fucking demon behind the kit. He damn near demolishes the kit through all nine of these tracks. If you can't tell that from the first couple of minutes on this disc, then perhaps you need to go slit your wrists and pray to Justin Bieber. But as for me, I'm going to worship at the same bloody altar of death that I've worshiped at before; and this band is just another great offering on that altar. Again, I cannot stress how much of a great drummer this guy is. In a genre where drumming is so important to the music, this drummer fucking shines with a black unholy light that you've got to witness for yourself. I've heard a plethora of drummers in my reviewing stint, and this guy definitely fucking sits close to the throne.
The vocals are the kind of bloodcurdling grunts/hollers that you would expect from Swedish death metal. But they're done exceptionally well and in the most brutal and demonic fashion. Everything goes right in line with the music, and there's no sign of amateurism. The guy's got some great fucking pipes and they're definitely going to remind me you of several other death metal front men. But that's not a fucking bad thing, because those front men that he'll remind you of are good death metal front men; like Peter from Hypocrisy, for example.
The guitar solos on this thing are pretty frantic, as with much of the music on here, but I'd expect nothing less from death metal. As I've stated, these guys really remind me a shit load of Hypocrisy and Bloodbath, two Swedish bands that I've played the living fuck out of, and if you like that shit, then you're going to like this shit too. Songs like "Meat Grinder Flesh Obliteration 4:29" and "Descending Into The Realm Of the Dead 5:32" as well as the eerie closer, "By Butchery Divorced 4:57" will further imprint into your skull that Fetus Stench is a formidable death metal band that certainly has a fucking place among the greats like Entombed, Cannibal Corpse, Carcass, Hypocrisy, Deicide, The Monolith Deathcult, Morbid Angel, Decapitated and several other acts.
If you also liked Revel In Flesh, another band that I interviewed a few weeks ago, you should definitely check these guys out as well. Honestly, this review doesn't do the album justice - but these nine songs speak for themselves. I honestly have no fucking idea how you couldn't like these guys if you like Swedish death metal. They do it well, and they fucking do it right. There's no bullshit to be found here, just brutality, thundering drums and the sound of devastation for damn near 40 minutes.
Highly recommended listening. These guys will rape your miserable carcass and inject the foul seed of true fucking death metal into it. Only if you don't like death metal, will you not like this bestial offering. But if you don't like death metal, then why the fuck are you reading this review?
Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to jam this fucker a couple hundred more times.
Highlights: All (9 Tracks, 37:00)
Rating: 10/10
Article link: http://thegrimtower.blogspot.com/2012/0 ... w-and.html
Fetus Stench links:
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/fetusstench
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/fetusstench
Reverbnation: http://www.reverbnation.com/fetusstenchsweden
Last fm: http://www.last.fm/music/Fetus+Stench
Abyss Records links:
Online Label & Online Music Store: http://www.officialabyssrecords.com
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/abyssrecordsofficial
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/OfficialAbyssRecords
Reverbnation: http://www.reverbnation.com/label/abyssrecords
Last fm: http://www.last.fm/label/AbyssRecords
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/MinionfortheAbyss
Other links:
To purchase FETUS STENCH "Stillbirth" CD go to: http://www.officialabyssrecords.com/pro ... s_id=12296
To preview a song go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-3a2lYHqd4 or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15ka94EBSLM
Last edited by MichaelMcCoyII on Fri Oct 19, 2012 9:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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