Sometimes bands sound better on paper than they do in execution. The allure of “a combination of X with Y + brutal death metal = THE GREATEST BAND YOU WILL EVER HEAR!” is pretty impossible to dismiss at first, but once the reality sinks in — that, yes, the band combines these elements, but for no particular reason — they become easy to ignore. Decrepit Birth appear to be this kind of band, what with combining melodic death metal, brutal tech-death, and prog in equal parts. But even though their last album, Diminishing Between Worlds, occasionally tilted into the territory of riff salad, the combination felt more organic than novelty. The impressive thing was that while there was no shortage of palatable, melodic riffs, they were also alarmingly heavy.

The band’s latest, Polarity, is where all that gels. Moving beyond the “OMG!” factor of being a successful hybrid of several genres, Polarity is the sound of a band coming into its own. Decrepit Birth are way better in reality than they are on paper, which is really saying something.

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I have only nice things to say about Decrepit Birth. Their music is br00tal, their influences are fucking legendary (Vader, Suffocation, Deicide), and there isn’t a single generic breakdown on either of their records. Singer Bill Robinson was the only member of the group ready and willing to sit down for an interview at this summer’s Dirt Fest (my review here), so I took him to the only comfortable place I knew of outside of the heat: the men’s bathroom. Although the smell of tour shits filled the air, the insight Bill gave me into the band and his life-style was nothing short of inspiring. He is homeless by choice and definitely looks it, but you would be surprised to know that he is cleaner then everyone on the tour combined. Living in the terraces of Santa Cruz, CA and growing herb for a living is not really the way I pictured the front man of a death metal band. But Bill does it, and does it well. He loves it so much that he feels the band is actually a sacrifice he makes for himself, and genuinely misses being away from the field he resides in (I slept in a field once  – it wasn’t by choice, and had everything to do with Jagermeister.).

Along with Bill’s love for weed comes hatred for the police. The pigs. All of the dick-knuckles in blue who cuffed and arrested more than two dozen people that very day (seriously, waaaaaay too many people got busted with pot and open containers in the parking lot). I’m with Bill on this one. All the fucking way. As far as Decrepit Birth is concerned, recording on a new album should begin sometime in the next eight months. As for the rest of 2009, with Summer Slaughter now officially dunzo, the guys will be embarking on a tour in the fall. Be there or be square, fuckers. Read on for full details…

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