Dying Fetus' first album was never anyone's favorite. However, when Killing on Adrenaline was unleashed two years after their debut, people's heads started to turn (if they hadn't already turned because of their band name and very, very readable logo). Signing a contract for one album released under Morbid Records, this (along with Grotesque Impalement) was how Dying Fetus gained the attention of Relapse Records two years later. That is, of course, after they made their own, short-lived label, Blunt Force Records, that lasted less than two years.
This album was the first appearance and finalization of the riffing style that Dying Fetus is known for. Groovy, chuggy, and brutal, Fetus riffed their way through this album without relenting, making it a landmark release in brutal death metal history. I mean, there's no denying it. After this was released, brutal death metal bands started popping up all over the place that were incorporating technicality into their sound such as Pyaemia, Dehumanized, Severe Torture, and Defeated Sanity. I mean, technicality has always been important in brutal death metal, but it was never a staple until the late 1990s, and two bands that I think heavily contributed to this were Dying Fetus and Viral Load.
There are several reasons why I like this album more than, well, the rest of their material. First, it's short, and I love short albums for their listenability. Whenever I'm listening to this, it seems like the album is taking forever because the first four tracks are all three to seven minutes long. After those, however, the next two actual tracks are spaced apart by two songs less than a minute long, giving the second half of the album a short amount of time. It other words, right when you start to think "wow this album's only on track four?" then it will start to speed up, and, before you know it, it's over.
Because on the second half, Dying Fetus show off their grindcore side. "Kill Your Mother/Rape Your Dog" lasts for only a minute, but has more notes in it than an entire Pig Destroyer album. That's an exaggeration, but you get the point, right? It's fast, it's technical, it's groovy, and it's campy. There is also a cover of Integrity's "Judgement Day," a glimpse of Dying Fetus' hardcore (and metalcore) influences. I really enjoy this cover because it's not just a straight cover. It sounds like a Dying Fetus song, and that's how covers are supposed to be done. Not so they all sound like Dying Fetus, but so that the band doing the cover makes the song sound like it should belong on the album.
I know what I said earlier makes the first half of the album sound boring. It's not. This is actually the half that I prefer. The other half is good mostly just for its convenience (and for its extremely brutal riffage). Each track is full of slamming riffs and technical wizardry. Not to mention the amazing breakdown at the end of "Procreate the Malformed" that varies in tempo, causing unpredictability. In the end, it's one of my favorite Dying Fetus breakdowns. The other three songs on the first half all have riffs that are memorable and different from each other, despite the fact that they are all similar in style.
Dying Fetus showed their incapabilities on their first album, and they had to make up for it. I'd say that they were successful. Killing on Adrenaline is full of flavorful riffs that are unique to Dying Fetus as well as technical flourishes that progress the music beyond acts like Devourment.
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