Having been signed to labels with names like United Guttural and Corpse Gristle, it should come as no surprise that Lone Star State death metallers Devourment traffic in the same nihilistic sonic filth as their slam death metal forebears Cannibal Corpse and Suffocation. Despite splitting up and re-forming multiple times since emerging in the mid-'90s, the band has remained at the forefront of the brutal death scene, issuing genre-defining albums like Molesting the Decapitated (1999), Unleash the Carnivore (2009), and Obscene Majesty (2019). Founded in1995 in the wake of the breakup of Dallas-based death dealers Necrocide, the group cycled through members and issued a series of demos before settling on a lineup consisting of Ruben Rosas (Vocals), Bryan Wynn (Guitars), Kevin Clark (Guitars), Mike Majewski (Bass), and Brad Fincher (drums). In 1999 they inked a deal with United Guttural and released the aptly named Molesting the Decapitated. The album's unrelenting blastbeats, caustic riffs, wretched subject matter, and larynx-shredding vocals found favor in the metal underground, but the band's ascension was diverted when Rosas was arrested shortly after the album's release party, and given a two-and-a-half year sentence. During this time the group fractured but re-formed in the early 2000s with Braxton Henry taking over guitar duties from Bryan Wynn and former demo vocalist Wayne Knupp filling in for the incarcerated Rosas. The band recorded an infamous one-off single titled "Babykiller" for a compilation album named Southern Uprising, and also issued their own compilation, 1.3.8., which featured all of the tracks from Molesting the Decapitated, three cuts from their demo, and the aforementioned single. A couple of iterations of the group made a go of it upon Rosas' release from jail, eventually coalescing into a lineup featuring Majewski, Rosas, Eric Park, and Chris Andrews, all of whom appeared on the band's long-gestating sophomore effort, 2006's Butcher the Weak. Founding member Wayne Knupp passed away the following year from complications relating to substance abuse. 2009's punishing Unleash the Carnivore was recorded with the same lineup and featured cover art from acclaimed death metal artists Dan Seagrave and Pär Olofsson. After completing the tour in support of the album in 2010, the band inked a deal with Relapse Records and began work on a follow-up. The resulting Erik Rutan-produced Conceived in Sewage was released in 2013. The following year saw the departures of Majewski and Park and the arrival of bassist Dave Spencer and the reinstatement of drummer Brad Fincher. The revamped lineup headed into the studio with producer D. Braxton Henry in 2018 and emerged the following year with the group's fifth full-length outing Obscene Majesty. ~ James Christopher Monger