UMUR "Killing On Adrenaline" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US, Maryland based death metal act Dying Fetus. The album was released through Morbid Records in July 1998. Dying Fetus formed in 1991 and released two demos (compiled on the "Infatuation with Malevolence (1995)" compilation), before releasing their debut full-length studio album "Purification Through Violence (1996)". There has been one lineup change since the release of the debut album as drummer Rob Belton has been replaced by Kevin Talley.

Stylistically the material on "Killing On Adrenaline" pretty much continues the brutal and technically well played death metal style of "Purification Through Violence (1996)". It´s brutal death metal with both blasting deathgrind parts, mid-paced brutal grooves, and ultra brutal groovy breakdowns spiced up with the occasional lightning fast guitar sweeps. The two vocalists compliment each other well with John Gallagher delivering deep processed unintelligible growling and Jason Netherton delivering slightly more intelligible growling with an added aggressive edge.

The material on the 8 track, 34:31 minutes long album is well written and pretty memorable for the style. It´s not easily accessible music, but once you´ve gotten used to the crushingly brutal assault on the ears, hooks begin to appear in the form of recognisable riffs and rhythms and the occasional catchy vocal phrase. Don´t expect to hear anything even resembling a melody here though. This is a brutal punishing listen from start to finish. To my ears all tracks on the album stand out as high quality material, and therefore it doesn´t make much sense mentioning specific tracks over others. Just know that regardless of which track you chose to listen to you´re in for a face meltingly brutal listening experience, that´s definitely not for the faint at heart.

"Killing On Adrenaline" features a powerful, detailed, and brutal sounding production. The snare drum has a bit of an odd sound to it, but it actually suits the music well. So upon conclusion it´s an album featuring a powerful sounding production, memorable songwriting (for the style), and high level musicianship too (this is technically demanding music). Brutal death metal can at times be a one-dimensional affair, where one track flows into the next without the listener even noticing, but that´s not the case with "Killing On Adrenaline", which is one of the gems of the genre, and that´s mostly due to the consistency of the songwriting and Dying Fetus ability to incorporate memorable elements to even the most fiercely brutal music on the scene. When you add to that strong musicianship and a well sounding production, you´ve got a winner. A 4.5 star (90%) rating is deserved.

J-Man Two years after their flawed, but promising, debut full-length, Dying Fetus returned with Killing on Adrenaline. This album is often regarded as a large improvement over their debut, but I tend to hold both of them equal. This album suffers from many of the flaws that plagued Purification Through Violence, but it also has that level of "charm" that made their first CD worthwhile. I have a major issue with the production on Killing on Adrenaline and the overall lack of variation deteriorates my enjoyment further. Although this is far from the perfect death metal/grindcore hybrid, it's another solid effort from Dying Fetus that fans of the genre should take a look into if they haven't already.

The music on Killing on Adrenaline is almost identical to that of Dying Fetus' debut. That means you should expect a grindcore/death metal hybrid like Napalm Death or Terrorizer. This is a very raw album, and polish was certainly not high on the priority list of Dying Fetus. While I appreciate the stripped-down approach, the album is prone to getting a bit monotonous about halfway through. For an album that was originally under 35 minutes, that's certainly a bit of an issue. There are a handful of memorable riffs throughout, but a good deal of the album is fairly unremarkable. Fortunately, there are a few things that make Killing on Adrenaline somewhat worthwhile. The lyrics are slightly more serious this time around, but they're even more enjoyable than they were on Purification Through Violence. The musicianship also feels tighter and more precise, and although I have some gripes about the raw approach, the talent that Dying Fetus possesses is unquestionable.

My biggest issue with this album is ultimately the weak production. This has the same terrible sound that plagued the first album. The drums (especially the snare which sounds like a piece of plywood) sound really weak and detract from the overall quality of the music. A good production would've done this album wonders.

Killing on Adrenaline is another solid, but not outstanding album from Dying Fetus. If you liked their debut, this is in a similar vein and almost equal in quality (in my opinion). The superior way to purchase this album nowadays is in the 2011 Relapse Records reissue which has 2 bonus tracks (one live performance and one demo) as well as a great essay. Still, this extra material isn't enough to change my rating above a 3. There are certainly great things to be found on this CD, but they are often covered up by a weak production and a general lack of variation. Still, fans of Dying Fetus and death metal/grindcore should definitely get a kick out of this one.