#dying-fetus — Public Fediverse posts

Maybe war never changes, but Warside has. Between releasing inaugural EP The Enemy Inside, and recording their debut, three of Warside’s five members left the band. Now a quartet, the Lyon, France collective tromps into the death metal arena, brandishing Cognitive Extinction, their first long play. Down a guitarist, Warside reports Cognitive Extinction as having ‘a rawer, more direct sound.’ Though The Enemy Inside can’t be classified as polished or subtle, Cognitive Extinction embraces an even leaner, meaner aggression through twenty-eight minutes. Additionally, Warside weaves a broad theme into the album—the erosion of intelligence and critical thinking due to the proliferation of screens and dependence on technology. It’s an increasingly relevant theme in these crazy times, but is Warside’s warning enough to keep listeners’ gray matter from atrophying into pudding?

Though simply billed as ‘death metal,’ Warside skews towards the technical end of the spectrum. Dying Fetus, Misery Index, and Vomitory are cited as influences in the promo materials, and while elements of those bands exist on Cognitive Extinction,1 I also hear the frantic immediacy of Benighted and Aborted enmeshed with the tech-heavy grooves of more recent Cryptopsy and Suffocation. Technical without falling into technical death metal territory and bruising without earning a brutal death metal tag, Warside toes the line between extreme metal subgenres without fully committing to any specific one. Rather than wavering or wandering, though, Cognitive Extinction sounds confident, direct, and ready to peel your skull back to get a look at your cognition firsthand.

Despite adding some new members and shuffling guitar duties, Warside launches a savage assault that never relents. Returning from The Enemy Within, guitarist Vincent Morelle resumes six-string duties on Cognitive Extinction while former guitarist Jérôme dons the mantle of bassist. Joining them are duo Mathieu (vocals) and Thô (drums) from deathgrind project Festering Process, and together this foursome unleashes barrage after barrage of merciless death metal thunder. Tracks “Neurocide” and “Invasive Thoughts” meld Morbid Angel’s wicked melodies with Nile’s violent velocity, frequently coaxing involuntary stank-face. “Visceral” punches with Suffocation’s might, windmilling between stutter-stop leads and kick drum cannonades, while “Thirst for Rot” dive bombs into an early solo before hitting a swarthy Cryptopsy-meets-Decapitated groove. Throughout, Mathieu discharges fierce gutturals that remind me of Benighted’s Julien Truchan,2 primal and bloodthirsty without ever going full BREEE. All told, kinetic hooks, furious blast beats, and husky bass grooves carry the momentum of each track, with feverish solos offering brief detours from Warside’s otherwise unyielding onslaught.

Warside evokes death metal titans throughout Cognitive Extinction, yet clinging too tightly to these touchstones prevents them from fully realizing an identity of their own. In fairness, Cognitive Extinction works cohesively, with a consistent aural context that’s as bludgeoning as it is swift. And even though Warside sidesteps critical flaws, hooking an overcrowded niche with deathly wares can be a significant challenge. Genre greats can provide a strong template for writing compelling music, but emulation without innovation risks giving listeners an experience that drives them back to inspirations. Said simply, bands with unique sounds become reference points, while others get buried beneath the sands of time. In this regard, Cognitive Extinction feels like a half measure, where a blend of influences comes together to form a coherent album, yet lacks a wholly original voice.

Standout performances and sharp, economical songwriting distinguish Warside as an act I’ll follow closely, and help achieve a portion of the identity they need. Cognitive Extinction teems with talent and promise, and despite the abysmal dynamic range,3 the mix is well-balanced and allows listeners to appreciate what Warside does within its runtime. I’ve greatly enjoyed my time with Cognitive Extinction, and a couple of its gems have helped add some weight to my Heavy Moves Heavy ’26 playlist, but with so many killer death metal albums out this year, I’m unsure what lasting impact it’ll have. Time will tell, and in the meantime, I hope that Warside continues honing their blades to keep minds and interest sharp.

Rating: Good!
DR: 3 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Gruesome Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: April 17th, 2026

Unfortunately, the mighty Relapse stable now floats down the shitty stream for promos. As such, we are slow on the uptake with the latest platter of splatter from legendary underground gorehounds, Exhumed. Always searching for fresh inspiration for their deathly brand of precision butchery, tenth album Red Asphalt channels inner road rage via good old carmageddon mayhem and vehicular violence as its overarching conceptual theme. Otherwise, it’s business as usual for Exhumed, returning with a tight, signature blast of groovy, thrashy, blasting deathgrind, led by seasoned underground warrior Matt Harvey (guitars/vocals). Joined by right-hand man Ross Sewage on uber low vox and bowel rumbling bass, alongside drummer Mike Hamilton (Deeds of Flesh) and guitarist Sebastian Phillips (Castle Freak, Mammoth Grinder, End Reign). Red Asphalt marks their first album since 2022’s solid and well-received To the Dead, a welcome return for these ever-reliably vicious brutes. With a high reliability factor baring well for a good arse kicking, how does Red Asphalt fare against a bulletproof modern run of albums since their second coming on 2011’s All Guts, No Glory?

Kicking off with the blistering “Unsafe at Any Speed,” Exhumed pull no punches in a typically exuberant, brutal yet wickedly infectious style. The riffs rip and burn with reckless abandon, drums set a scorching tempo, while the dueling vox, trade-off solos, and gut-punching grooves land vital blows of awesomeness. It feels familiar yet fresh and the right amount of pungent. Striking a balance between the sharp melodicism and grooving charms of modern classic Necrocracy, mutated with the blunt force savagery of Horror, and a dash of the more primitive goregrind stylings of their early days, Red Asphalt finds Exhumed subtly tweaking their formula to remain vibrantly dangerous deep into their career. Through modern refinement and sharp, technical execution, Exhumed maintain their gritty, no-frills edge and slick but organic sounding production, while the grindy, blast-riddled attack and sick dual vox ensure these old dogs still pack a brutal, unhinged punch.

Careening recklessly from one gnarly, adrenaline-fueled incident to the next, Exhumed mostly jam the gears high and slam the pedal to the floor, weaving twisted cables of melody through mangled wreckages of deathgrind mayhem and gore-soaked grooves. “Red Asphalt” unleashes thrashy uppercuts and Heartwork-inspired melodeath flair to killer effect. More measured cuts (“Shovelhead,” “Death on Four Wheels”) detonate slower, crushing devices, bloodied riffs, and dicing solos to slamming impact. When Exhumed are not grinding and pummeling with deathly intent, their thrashy tendencies take hold, offering a trademark punky, turbo-charged counterpoint on numerous high-octane scorchers (“Shock Trauma,” “The Iron Graveyard,” “Symphorophilia”). “Shock Trauma” deftly incorporates screaming, emergency siren solos into an explosive barrage of searing deathgrind battery, showing Exhumed can still blast and brutalize with the best of them.

Performances are uniformly tight and deranged, Harvey again proving an elite riff meister, sharpening his tools of the trade to whip up a frenzy with Philips, including a generous bounty of killer, infectious riffs and tasty, slashing solos. The shredding is top-grade stuff, adding a wild and reckless melodic edge to the album (check the ripping axe pyrotechnics on “Death on Four Wheels” and “Crawling from the Wreckage”). Vocally, Harvey and Sewage sound as savage as ever, forming one of the best dual vocal combos this side of Dying Fetus, albeit a gentle push forward in the mix would have been welcome. At a taut thirty-seven minutes, Red Asphalt blasts by in an efficient, addictive fashion, by the time “The Fumes” engulf your senses to close out the album. Aside from a couple of stock moments, Exhumed’s songwriting sounds energized and inspired, nearly thirty years since they dropped their debut.

Red Asphalt stands up to scrutiny as another high-quality modern platter to add to Exhumed’s ever-impressive repertoire. Exhumed rarely miss, testament to their dedication and skilled craftsmanship in remaining a bulldozing force in the modern death metal arena, carrying the Carcass-inspired torch, yet transcending the influence of their forebearers. Exhumed’s timelessly fun and feverish brand of old school brutality, filtered through a modern lens, and packed with sharp riffs, sharper hooks, is a thrashing, grooving, blasting good time. Red Asphalt arguably edges the past couple of Exhumed albums, resulting in a bloody crash course in deathgrind lunacy, grisly grooves, and melodic smarts.



Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: N/A | Format Reviewed: Stinking stream
Label: Relapse Records
Websites: exhumed.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/exhumedofficial
Releases Worldwide: February 20th, 2026

New post: Gig Review: Slaughter To Prevail / Dying Fetus / Suicide Silence / Annotations of an Autopsy – O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester (17th January 2026) https://moshville.co.uk/reviews/gig-review/2026/01/gig-review-slaughter-to-prevail-dying-fetus-suicide-silence-annotations-of-an-autopsy-o2-victoria-warehouse-manchester-17th-january-2026/ #DyingFetus #SlaughterToPrevail #SuicideSilence

Despised Icon – Shadow Work Review

By Owlswald

Widely regarded as one of the original architects of deathcore, Canada’s Despised Icon hardly needs an introduction. But just in case you’ve been living under a rock for the past two decades, here’s a brief introduction: back in 2002, when MySpace was all the rage and everyone had a friend named Tom, five dudes from Montreal dropped their debut LP, Consumed by Your Poison. Heavily influenced by the likes of Suffocation and Dying Fetus, these Canadians continued to hone their crushing sound on 2005’s The Healing Process by injecting metalcore and hardcore elements into their deathly framework. This unique formula culminated with their third LP, The Ills of Modern Man (2007)—the crown jewel of their discography that made Despised Icon deathcore royalty. The rest, they say, is history. Fast forward 18 years and, following a hiatus and three subsequent albums, the group has now readied their seventh LP, Shadow Work. So, dust off that windbreaker and lace up your best pair of New Balance kicks; it’s time to dive into Shadow Work.

In typical Despised Icon fashion, the opening title track instantly rips one’s jaw from its joints with a strong, technical launch. Leading the assault is Éric Jarrin and Ben Landreville’s signature pitch-shifted guitar squeals (a staple since 2019’s Purgatory), which, alongside rapid-fire tremolo scales, synchronize perfectly with Alex Pelletier’s blistering rhythms and Sebastien Piché’s grinding bass to fuel the album’s heavy, frenetic passages. The dual-headed vocal attack from Alex Erian and Steve Marois sounds as strong as ever, alternating raspy screams, slam-style pig squeals and hardcore chants that add a sharp, aggressive edge. Guest spots from Matthew Honeycutt (Kublai Khan TX), Scott Ian Lewis (Carnifex) and Tom Barber (Chelsea Grin) compliment Erian and Marois’ delivery but ultimately land with mixed results. Shadow Work’s powerful first half (“Shadow Work” through “The Apparition”) proves Despised Icon can still execute with the same ferocity as on past efforts. Conversely, Shadow Work’s energy wanes toward the end with formulaic pit anthems (“Obsessive Compulsive Disaster,” “Fallen Ones”) settling into a cliché hardcore spirit, though the record’s strongest material warrants repeat listens.

The first half of Shadow Work delivers a powerful blend of technical proficiency and a dash of genre experimentation before the album settles into a more formulaic hardcore groove. “Death Of An Artist” is a straight-up, drum-driven banger that introduces new wrinkles like clean vocals, dissonant high leads and a tasteful thrash and death eeriness that adds fresh flavor to Despised Icon’s well-known formula. Similarly, “The Apparition” is a relentless burner, injecting elements of symphonic death and black metal while maintaining the group’s core sound. Across the album’s succinct 37 minutes, monolithic breakdowns are plentiful—tense builds frequently give way to gut-punching beatdowns replete with fret slides (“Shadow Work”), air raid sirens (“The Apparition”) and stutter-step riffing (“Death of an Artist”), delivering a seismic release and an irresistible urge to pit.

However, Shadow Work hits a predictable wall at its midpoint, slumping into an over-reliance on tropey, Hatebreed-adjacent, inspirational anthems. Characterized by pervasive gang vocals, two-step riffs, and cheesy lyrical themes, tracks like “Fallen Ones,” “Obsessive Compulsive Disaster,” and “Reaper” feel less about pushing Despised Icon’s established deathcore boundaries and more about catering to the masses, thereby detracting from Shadow Work’s initial aggression. While Scott Ian Lewis’ gruff, thrashy vocal textures on “In Memoriam” effectively add a new element and the raucous “Omen of Misfortune” or “ContreCoeur” offer relief, Despised Icon’s heavy reliance on clichéd, tough-guy hardcore vocal cadences and themes holds Shadow Work back. For instance, lines like “From the ground up, never gave up, from the gutter to the surface” (“Reaper”) leans too far into its hardcore roots. Even the otherwise stronger early track “Over My Dead Body” is hampered by a cheesy hardcore/nu-metal feel in its bridge, its jarring cadence and Honeycutt’s yelling of “bitch” further exposing Shadow Work’s central weakness.1

Shadow Work is a good record marred by frustrating dualities. The first half unleashes the punishing, technical ferocity and syncopated slams that cement Despised Icon’s legacy as godfathers of deathcore. Yet, Shadow Work’s potential is sacrificed in the latter half, by leaning too hard on formulaic, predictable hardcore anthems. By repeatedly prioritizing comfortable clichés over their trademark sound, Despised Icon ultimately delivers an uneven album that only teases at the complete savagery fans know these legends are still more than capable of delivering.

Rating: Good
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Nuclear Blast
Websites: despisedicon.com | facebook.com/despisedicon
Releases Worldwide: October 31st, 2025

#2025 #30 #CanadianMetal #Carnifex #ChelseaGrin #Deathcore #DespisedIcon #Devourment #DyingFetus #Hatebreed #KublaiKhanTX #NuclearBlast #Oct25 #Review #Reviews #ShadowWork #Suffocation

DYING FETUS (Estats Units) presenta nou single: "Into the Cesspool" #DyingFetus #BrutalDeathMetal #Grindcore #Setembre2025 #EstatsUnits #NouSingle #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

New post: Dying Fetus share new track “Into the Cesspool” https://www.moshville.co.uk/news/2025/09/dying-fetus-share-new-track-into-the-cesspool/ #DyingFetus

#DyingFetus foi qualquer coisa... #VagosMetalFest

Symphobia – Hideously Traumatic Review

By Alekhines Gun

Another day, another fresh debut by a slab of young hopefuls. Today’s offering comes by way of Indonesia in the form of trio Symphobia, dropping their first LP Hideously Traumatic after a sole self-titled demo the year before. At a concise two songs and sporting some charmingly ghoulish artwork, that demo was a vile little slab of promising violence, which leaned more into the modern slam trappings of Submerged than the usual brutal death proper Indonesia is known for. No member turnover and a short gap between releases imply a band with a musical vision and an eagerness to slot themselves into the next generation of woe-bringers; do they offer enough to get you back to therapy?

Symphobia have crafted a monument to brutal death of all varieties and walks of life. Trimming down the more overt slam clichés in the production of their demo (particularly the outlandish ping-pong snare) allows for a more matured1 take, walking a tightrope between solid deathly compositions and neanderthalic bludgeoning. Vocalist Jossi Bima does a dead ringer of an Angel Ochoa impression, but a talent for vocal phrasing (and vocal silence) means he actually adds to the percussive oomph of the riffs. (“Scattered”, “Convulsively”) Humam Aliy is a beast on the drums, working a limited set of ingredients into a well-concocted aural meal, with excellently placed sixteenth-note fills and masterfully selected double bass to give the illusion of dynamics and pacing even as the whole of the album never really lets up. The bass2 consistently makes itself felt with shreddage and twangy highlights, adding girth to an absolute smorgasbord of riffs.

Much like waves add texture to an otherwise flat and bland ocean, Hideously Truamatic offers a sense of the nuanced differences in brutal death strains of DNA to add personality to what threatens to be an overly homogenous listen. Do you like Misery Index? “Convulsively” has you covered. Do you think War of Attrition is the best Dying Fetus album?3 “Heinous” sports a riff worthy of a lost B-side from that era. The fingerprints of Pathology, Suffocation, Internal Bleeding, modern Pyrexia, and Cephalotripsy permeate the album, with the glue from highlight to highlight running through the eternal assault of …And Time Begins era Decrepit Birth. While Symphobia begin in familiar form, each time you think you’ve heard the best the album has to offer, the next song manages to come out swinging with a steel chair to top whatever offensive groove or thunderous breakdown came before it. Dodik Bhre offers up one riff-craft lesson after another, with a surprising emphasis on the occasional trebly runs instead of all-bass-all-bottom-end tropes. Songs like “Scattered” and “Abominable” stretch beyond the typical haze of blast beats and powerchord abuse, touching on the most straightforward moments of Defeated Sanity while lurching into a Disgorge-ian sense of mercilessness.

The only negative on such a balls-out assault of this caliber is a common one: the shadow of ones peers. Symphobia have grasped the ingredients of what makes all these other bands great, and distilled their essence into a blender of an album where the listener is tossed in to get slapped in the face with one meaty chunk after another. However, Hideously Traumatic comes across as a highlight reel of various stylings without forming into a cohesive identity for the band themselves. This is a love letter to the foulest and most pit-inducing of aural violence, and the letter is written in excellent handwriting and high-quality paper. I believe the best is yet to come, however, and if they can master the art of wielding their influences into a distinct final offering rather than being a mega-high grade tribute band, they will be ready to drop a slab of carnage to stand alongside the Brodiquins and Devourments of the world.

Just when I thought I was done with brutal death for a bit, Symphobia came out of nowhere with hammers and chainsaws to take my already abused ears to even more dire straits. Indonesia can be proud of its newest offspring, which continues to solidify the country’s reputation for a flourishing scene. That Hideously Traumatic reminds greatly of genre giants is hardly the worst flaw in the world. For now, seekers of euphoria-inducing savagery should find a high worthy of their time, with some truly traumatic moments indeed.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Comatose Music
Websites: Official Facebook | Album Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: July 11th, 2025

#2025 #30 #Brodiquin #BrutalDeathMetal #Cephalotripsy #ComatoseRecords #DecrepitBirth #DefeatedSanity #Devourment #Disgorge #DyingFetus #HideouslyTraumatic #IndonesianMetal #InternalBleeding #Jul25 #MiseryIndex #Pathology #Pyrexia #Review #Reviews #Submerged #Suffocation #Symphobia

"Ist das Sterben eines Fötus Deathcore"
Ich denke diese Frage werde ich morgen abend umfänglich beantworten können.
(Unterwegs nach Dresden um morgen in der Reithalle dabei zu sein)

#DyingFetus #DespisedIcon #Dresden #Deathcore