Album Review: Fornicate Within Fire by Divide
Released in 2017, Fornicate Within Fire is a relentless slab of German death metal that grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go. Hailing from Germany and self-released under the "Not On Label" banner, Divide delivers an unapologetically raw and visceral experience. This isn’t music for the faint-hearted—it’s heavy, it’s chaotic, and at times, it feels like pure sonic warfare. But if you’re into that sort of thing (and let’s face it, you probably are), this album has some serious teeth.
The tracklist includes four brutal cuts: Incendiary, Fornicate Within Fire, Anthropicide, and Of Debris and the Grave. Each song punches hard, but two tracks stuck with me long after the first listen—Incendiary and Anthropicide.
Incendiary kicks things off with a blastbeat assault that feels like being hit by a freight train. The riffs are razor-sharp, slicing through the mix with precision, while the guttural vocals sound like they’re clawing their way out of the abyss. There’s something about the pacing here—it never lets up, keeping you on edge the entire time. It’s not just noise; there’s a method to the madness, a groove buried deep beneath all the chaos. By the time it ends, you’re left breathless, wondering what just happened.
Then there’s Anthropicide, which takes things down a darker, more sinister path. The opening riff crawls rather than charges, setting an ominous tone right away. When the vocals kick in, they’re utterly menacing, growling out lyrics that feel like a sermon from hell itself. What makes this track stand out is its dynamics—it shifts between moments of crushing heaviness and eerie, almost haunting passages. It’s the kind of song that gets under your skin and stays there, lingering in your thoughts long after the final note fades.
One thing worth noting is how DIY everything feels. From the production quality to the fact that the band didn’t even bother with a label, it’s clear these guys are doing it for the love of the genre. And honestly? That authenticity shines through. You can tell they poured every ounce of themselves into this record. Sure, the production could’ve been cleaner, but would that have made it better? Maybe. Or maybe it would’ve stripped away the grit that makes Fornicate Within Fire so damn compelling.
If I had to sum this album up in one word, it’d be “unrelenting.” But what struck me most wasn’t just the music—it was how human it felt. Amidst all the brutality, there’s a heartbeat driving it forward, raw and imperfect yet undeniably alive. In a world full of polished albums trying too hard to impress, Divide reminds us that sometimes, the best art comes from simply letting loose and burning everything to the ground.
Random thought: If this album were a person, it’d probably scare the crap outta you—but you’d respect the hell out of it anyway.
