Dying Fetus @ Manchester Club Academy Review

With the extensive tour featuring Dying Fetus, Job For A Cowboy, Revocation and Cerebral Bore finally greeting UK shores throughout the middle of September, ‘The From Womb To Waste Tour’ is anticipated with great expectation.

First up was the Scottish death metallers Cerebral Bore. With only one album under their belt (Maniacal Miscreation (2011)) their set would solely comprise of tracks from that album. Like most other sets from recent tours Cerebral Bore’s setlist comprised of the same old tracks that have been played numerous times in the past. ‘Entombed in Butchered Bodies’, ‘The Bald Cadaver’ and ’24 Year Party Dungeon’ all made an appearance rendering the audience to a clear case of de ja vu. Yet despite the repetitiveness of Cerebral Bore’s setlist they were musically excellent. Somme’s guttural vocals were excellent and musicianship was played to perfection thundering in a truly wonderful performance. (7)

Next up was technical death metallers Revocation. With a slightly longer set than Cerebral Bore and more studio releases Revocation had slightly more flexibility in the nature of their setlist. However despite three studio releases Revocation’s setlist only comprised of tracks from 2011’s Chaos of Forms and 2009’s Existence if Futile. Yet some fan favorites still made an appearance such as ‘Across Forests and Fjords’, ‘Conjuring the Cataclysm’, ‘No Funeral’ etc. Musically Revocation were on superb form with numerous solos and technical work played to perfection. (8)

Next up was Arizona death metallers Job For A Cowboy. With ‘Demonocracy’ being released earlier this year and adapting a more technical death metal approach to their former deathcore style Job For A Cowboy had a slight buzz in anticipation of their performance. Unfortunately their performance was nothing but flat, with a complete unbalance of audio equilibrium ruining the experience. (5)

Finally, it was time for headliners Dying Fetus. It can be argued that the whole aspect of the ‘Womb to Waste Tour’ was in promotion of their latest studio release, Reign Supreme, which was released in June of this year. With that in mind one would expect their set to contain numerous tracks from the new album and that thought was indeed fulfilled. ‘Subjected to a Beating’, ‘Invert the Idols’, ‘In the Trenches’, ‘From Womb To Waste’ all made an appearance and showcased the more technical approach of Dying Fetus’ music as John Gallagher’s guitarwork showcased blisteringly fast solos played to perfection. With a career spanning a monumental 21 years and 7 studio releases the 13 song setlist comprised of tracks across this very long career. Fan favorites such as ‘Schematics’, ‘Your Treachery Will Die With You’, ‘Pissing in the Mainstream’ and ‘Kill Your Mother, Rape Your Dog’ featured as a encore were all played and showcased why Dying Fetus are regarded as an outstanding death metal band. This was further reinforced with their sheer musical talent. Each of the three members of Dying Fetus performed to a incredibly high standard; Gallagher’s guitar work and lead vocals were trademark to the death metal standard, Beasely’s bass was thumping and the addition of his guttural vocals added extra force to the brutality of Dying Fetus’ Music, Williams’ drumming was intense to say the least with incredibly double bass drumming and break neck speed adding awe to his playing ability. Dying Fetus showcased in their performance true musical talent rendering them a gem of the death metal scene. (10)