Review / 200 Words Or Less
Fatal Birth
Self Titled

Twelve Gauge (2012) Jon E.

Fatal Birth – Self Titled cover artwork
Fatal Birth – Self Titled — Twelve Gauge, 2012

Fatal Birth are a relatively new band. This being their first major release one could assume any number of things from the bands' artwork alone. Presented in a simple black and white sleeve With a dark picture of a hallways and a hanger lying on an otherwise empty floor the band gives off an idea of something sinister.

The record itself starts with a slow building riff followed by a demonic yell and sludgy trudge into the main part of the song and the band only slows occasionally afterwards. There are a couple of the songs that follow this formula mind you even with that they are not over a minute and half long at any point. The band refuses to overstay their welcome. Instead they take cues from early power violence playing nasty a fast as they can. So needless to say, the band is uninterested in subtlety.

The recording remains nasty and grimy throughout. Never allowing any type of light to shine through the music at all. The feeling remains angry and overbearing. Maybe a better word would be suffocating as you can feel the anger seeping through the songs. Overall the band use this to their advantage making the listener feel the anger that they as a band are professing in each song. So if you as a listener are looking for a new band to feed your pv addiction or just need something more angry than most hardcore bands this would be well worth picking up.

7.3 / 10Jon E. • March 12, 2012

Fatal Birth – Self Titled cover artwork
Fatal Birth – Self Titled — Twelve Gauge, 2012

Recently-posted album reviews

Sahan Jayasuriya

Don’t Say Please: The Oral History of Die Kreuzen
Feral House (2026)

For those of us who spent the mid-to-late 1980s navigating basement community halls, churches, and loveable, armpit-smelling dive bars, the name Die Kreuzen was a permanent fixture on the punk rock radar. They were the sound of the Midwest underground --too fast for the goths to do their spooky Bela Lugosi "shoo the bats away" interpretive dance, too technical for … Read more

Sewer Urchin

Global Urination
Independent (2025)

There’s a fine line between crossover thrash that feels dangerous and crossover thrash that just feels like a party. Global Urination doesn’t bother choosing because it does both loudly and without apology. St. Louis’ Sewer Urchin have been grinding since 2019, and on their latest full length they double down on everything that makes the genre work. They give us … Read more

Ingested

Denigration
Metal Blade (2026)

For a band that built its name on sheer brutality, Ingested have spent the last several years refining what that brutality actually means. With their newest release, Denigration, the band finds that continuing evolution. They’re still punishing, still precise, but noticeably more controlled and deliberate in how it all lands. From the outset, the record makes its intentions clear. “Dragged … Read more