Dying Fetus is an American death metal band from Annapolis, which was founded in 1991. Their lyrics are about politics, violence and religion, and used to be interspersed with gore elements.
In 1995 the first official album Infatuation with Malevolence was self-released and a tour through the eastern United States soon followed. In 1996 the second album Purification Through Violence followed, which was released under Pulverizer Records and again followed a tour through all of America with bands like Kataklysm or Monstrosity.
With their third album Killing on Adrenaline, which was released in 1998 under Blunt Force Records, Dying Fetus also achieved an international breakthrough. A major tour of America and Europe followed. In 1999 her debut album Infatuation with Malevolence was re-released with some bonus tracks. In 2000 Dying Fetus signed a record deal with Relapse Records, went on a US tour with Kataklysm and Destruction and released the EP Grotesque Impalement, a compilation of old songs to shorten the fans’ waiting time for the new album.
After 2000, Dying Fetus released their fourth album Destroy the Opposition, which was a great success and again led to an international tour. After that album and tour, there was heated debate within the band. Jason Netherton, Sparky Voyles and Kevin Talley left the band and formed Misery Index. Mike Kimball, Sean Beasly, Erik Sayenga and Vince Matthews joined the band as replacements.
In 2003 Dying Fetus’ fifth album, Stop at Nothing, was released, followed by several tours. In 2004 Vince Matthews split from the band and in 2005 Erik Sayenga left Dying Fetus as well. After more than a year of looking for a drummer, Duane Timlin (ex-Divine Empire) was announced as the new drummer, and bassist Sean Beasly took over the second vocals. With this line-up, their sixth album, War of Attrition, was released in early 2007. In the same year, Duane Timlin left the band and was replaced by Trey Williams. Guitarist Mike Kimball left the band in March 2008.
On September 18, 2009 the new album Descend into Depravity was released. It was released in full as a stream a week earlier. The music video for Sheperd’s Commandment was presented on September 21, 2009.
To mark their 20th anniversary, in July 2011 Dying Fetus released the EP History Repeats via Relapse Records. This contained a new song, as well as cover versions of Dehumanized, Napalm Death, Broken Hope, Bolt Thrower, Pestilence and Cannibal Corpse.
In contrast to the very technical metal of its predecessor, the sound carrier Reign Supreme, released in 2012, is more oriented towards the old style. According to John Gallagher, contemporary production was important. The album received good reviews almost without exception (Metal-Hammer: 6/7, Rock-Hard: 8/10, Metal.de: 8/10)
I took pictures of Dying Fetus when they opened for All That Remains and GWAR at Red’s in West Edmonton Mall in Alberta, Canada on November 22, 2004:
