Dying Fetus

Dying Fetus has fused together a perfect mix of grindcore, death metal and hardcore on their Relapse debut. These lads have been doing their thing for a long time and it shows. The razor-sharp twists and turns in the songs easily match the technical virtuoso of such biggies as Cryptopsy or Nile. Dying Fetus have the upper hand on these bands in a way, though, as it's not just a solid death metal onslaught, there is catchy hardcore parts thrown in to keep things listenable for the whole album. This album also has some great lyrics about not buying into what society wants you to and thinking for yourself, along with the usual anti-war/anti-religion themes. The complaint is the vocals: more cookie monster vox, argh! Granted, they're pretty damn good, reaching sub-Suffocation pitches that no one thought possible, but when you actually have something to say, it'd be cool if people could understand it. Still, along with a handful of others in 2000, this is one of the finest extreme metal albums ever released.