Fetish for the Sick

Picture this: Buying a load of CDs in the mid 90s, desperately trying to up the ante with your foray into the world of extreme metal. You've listened to bands like Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, Pyrexia and many others that were expanding on the brutality that death metal had to offer at the time. This is where Lividity comes in, with their perverted masterclass entitled "Fetish for the Sick", and your curiosity is piqued making you wonder just how depraved a death metal band can really get? The surprise you're in for will leave you yearning for more, because this EP is a perfect example of brutal death metal REALLY testing the water with depraved lyrics, concepts and artwork. Enter Lividity, a lovely little group from Illinois, who've risen from the sludge filled corners of society to spread their gore spattered tales of extreme perversion, hedonism and just out-right gornography.

Lengthy intro aside, Lividity were one of the many bands in the 90s that would really go the extra mile with their content. It's nasty, it's gloomy, and it's beautiful. Fetish for the Sick is what Tomb of the Mutilated could have been if they had gone a huge step further, but as we all know, Tomb is forever a classic anyway. Enough blabbermouth bullshit, let's take a deep dive into this audial assault! Looking at the artwork from the get-go, you know these guys really relish in over-the-top gore, but there's tons, and I mean TONS of sexual overtones here, a trope of which Lividity have never been a stranger to. There's nothing political or transcending about this, it's just pure snuff music, and it's perfect! The atmosphere is very lurid and downright creepy, setting the tone perfectly without the need to over-do things. The honest brutality (no pun intended) of the concept is endearing in its own sick way, and I believe this is where Waco Jesus really took their cues from.

The guitarwork engineers the gloomy atmosphere furthermore, playing a mix of brutal death metal, grindcore, some elements of hardcore are thrown in, and the biggest element is the sludgy, doom-laden leads and sections that are scattered around. The riffs generally go from hyperactive grinding parts to low end slam riffs, mid-paced grooves and hardcore-laden hooks right into Celtic Frost influenced doom riffs, all of which are seemingly done in rapid succession and it's a force that just drives home that Lividity have, and always will do whatever the fuck they want to create their sound. It's death metal that's intimidating but endearing. The bass rides underneath the riffs, but the tone is still noticeable and it's genuinely the murkiest, dirtiest bass tone you could find on a release like this.

The drums are just as chaotic as the riffs, with heavy emphasis on rhythmic parts as well as nicely balanced percussion that further compliments the aggro-perversity of the music. However, this is where the vocals come in, and boy, they are nasty! Yes, they're very much standard in terms of brutal death metal, but it's how they are presented that really keeps the unsettling vibe grounded. There's plenty of low guttural vocals, as well as a nice selection of raspy high screams, provided by Matt Bishop and Dave Kibler who utilize the dual vocal practice to create a voice for whatever depraved psychopath is in the EP's concept.

Lyrically, this is beyond anything you could honestly find at the forefront of brutal death metal in the mid 90s. Other bands were gore influenced, but not really to this extent. The lyrics relish in the sick and twisted, providing some of the most deranged, hedonistic lyrical content you could find. I've really no doubt that Lividity took a nose dive into seeking out low budget exploitation and gore movies to get their source of inspiration for these concepts, and I admire just how daring they really were.

Lividity pull no punches with creating death metal that makes its audience queasy and cringe out in terror, and this sentiment would further be passed on to fellow Illinois stalwarts in Waco Jesus. The only real difference between the two, is that Lividity focuses more on the gore whereas Waco Jesus were knee deep in the smut and scat side of extremity. But it's these two bands that would really bring out the darker, more perverse sides of brutal death metal, even after Cannibal Corpse did it in their early years. Fetish for the Sick is a must have for people who want to go into the darkest depths of extreme metal, and it's a groovy, gory fucked up good time as well!