Holy fuck, now this is a change of pace. Decrepit Birth’s last album, …And Time Begins, was a solid effort in the vein of Deeds of Flesh worship that established them as a capable group. Though, to be honest, I’m pretty sure that most of us weren’t really expecting much to come out of Decrepit Birth other than "they’re one of the better Unique Leader acts."

My foot is in my mouth. Decrepit Birth has more or less completely gutted itself and recreated a new monstrosity to terrorize the legions of drooling death metal fans out there. Gone are the majority of the session line-ups from …And Time Begins. Original members Matt Sotelo and Bill Robinson essentially took on the job of rebirthing the band from the ground up, enlisting the aid of Odious Mortem and Element drummer K.C. Howard (and later grabbing fellow Odious Mortem members Dan Eggers and Joel Horner; essentially making 3/5 of the band also 3/5 of Odious Mortem). The brutal vocal approach of Bill Robinson is still very much intact, as is the brutal nature from …And Time Begins. But that’s where the sound comparisons to the last album end.

Diminishing Between Worlds sees Decrepit Birth completely revamping their musical style to deliver what can only be described as a brutal death metal amalgam of Death, Atheist, Spheres-era Pestilence, and Cynic. If it wasn’t for Bill’s brutal vocal delivery and the intricacies of K.C. Howard’s drumming, you would have sworn that Decrepit Birth was really a new, heavier death metal project between Chuck Schuldiner, Roger Patterson, and Paul Masvidal. The new riffing is technical in a completely progressive and melodic way, heavy with that early 90’s jazz-influenced death metal feel. And K.C. Howard’s drumming shines as much as it did on his Odious Mortem and Element outputs, demonstrating yet again why he is one of death metal’s best drummers today.

Decrepit Birth didn’t just gut their lineup and general sound, either. They even gutted the title track of their last album! "…And Time Begins" is on Diminishing Between Worlds, completely revamped, rewritten, and rerecorded. And boy, does it kick ass.

Needless to say, if you were on the fence about Decrepit Birth, Diminishing Between Worlds should be the album to knock your fat ass off it. It’s extremely well played, well written, and is generally the shotgun blast to the face that Unique Leader Records and the brutal death metal community have been awaiting for a long time. It’s easily one of the best releases of the new year. Fucking excellent.

Review byNecro-tron