Even though this is the first time I come across the name LAY DOWN ROTTEN, their biography mentions that their great work has brought them to the forefront of German Death Metal. Hell no, I never trusted a damn bio note. Especially when it comes from Metal Blade, the label that tried to convince us that every shitty Metalcore band it signed was the future of "melodic Death Metal. Anyway, let's lay down some rotten tracks.

The German death metallers were formed back in 1999 as a solo project by vocalist Daniel Jakobi. It didn't take him long until he found some members to complete the line up. Until now, the band has released two demo CD's and three studio albums. Reconquering The Pit is the band's debut album for the German label Metal Blade and I hope they are just as good as they claim they are.

So what are LAY DOWN ROTTEN all about? The German deathsters play a mixture of 'modern' Death Metal with some Thrash Metal (call me DEW-SCENTED) touches. To tell you the truth, this polished relentless Death/Thrash Metal did not amaze me since I believe that you have to be either really brutal or have your own sound to achieve something. I am not trying to say that this is an awful band, but it just falls in the mediocrity pit. The guitars are really good and there are some riffs that will definitely stick into your mind, but LAY DOWN ROTTEN play music that I have heard before from several bands, and I can say that I have heard this music being played better.

As you can see, LAY DOWN ROTTEN latest full-length offering is suggested only to people who are die hard fans of this genre and have not been bored (yet) of the pretty similar sound some bands may have. The rest of you can look for something else.