STILLBIRTH is about to unleash their fifth album, "Annihilation of Mankind" on August 31^st 2018 via Unique Leader Records. Hailing from Hagen, Germany and formed in 2002 STILLBIRTH is self described as death metal, grindcore, beat down funk and surf, these guys are fantastically overly efficient at creating shin cracking, head bashing, eye gouging death metal. The vocals are low pig grunts, deep throated gurgling with a pounding death rattle drum style, and dropped tuned rhythmic convulsing guitar and bass. Lets top all that off with some death-core attributes. Nothing wrong with adding an appropriate 808 at just the right time. The albums opener "Fictional Entertainment" begins with an abrupt stomp and a low-fi lead before slamming into fast paced thick grinding. And the lowest toned vocals I have heard. The track repeats the low-fi lead riff as a breakdown. These break downs are more like random intermissions than transitions which aids in a unique designation for STILLBIRTH.

"Psychological Manipulation" opens the door to a pit friendly sensory assault with a fast open riff consisting of power chord slides. The vocals show some diversity as some parts are more of a metal core scream tag teamed with the low end pig grunts.The center of the track has fast rolls that sync the guitar,bass and kick, while the drummers top half is just as busy making his way around the kit with accents that liberate the simplicity of the triplet rolls, yet give a false sense of time. There are some tracks that use audio sample intro's, such is the case with "Plague of Warfare." There are sporadic moments of what sounds like a high pitch oscillator making an ear splitting sound. The guitar line splits away from just operating on the low end and dives higher in pitch as the riffs tail is a higher pitch scaling run down. There are some interestingly timed chugging successions that are followed by intense blasting. The 808 drop works great and helps bring out the plunge into the deep groove.

"Annihilation of Mankind" is no doubt intense, heavy,thick, and violently dominant. The vocal sound is pretty cool, but it stays the same throughout and gets a little repetitive, but not enough to stop me from putting it on repeat. STILLBIRTH has a defined sound with no hesitation. The production value is top notch and rattles the walls in my house and the windows in my car. While some death fans will be turned off by the appearance of electronics, despite how rare, I think its time to break out of the box and embrace the overall effect it has when applied correctly. STILLBIRTH has a sharp and militant style of uniform tightness to their music. Well skilled and rehearsed. For fans who love the low of the low end, the fast pace that hits hard like a punch to the throat, "Annihilation of Mankind" is where its at.  Also take a long look at the album artwork. Likely one of the most strange and obscure depiction of monsters with very fine attention to detail.