Merging brutal physical power with an unerringly precise attack,
Decrepit Birth are a technical death metal band from Santa Cruz, California. The band's story begins in the mid-'90s, when vocalist Bill Robinson met guitarist
Matt Sotelo, and the two discovered they shared an ambition to create truly uncompromising music. In 2001, things got serious when Robinson and
Sotelo teamed up with bassist
Derek Boyer and began assembling material. By 2003, the band had developed a reputation for their striking live shows, and they released their debut album,
... And Time Begins, with the three musicians joined by drummer
Tim Yeung.
Yeung didn't last long with the group, and in 2004 K.C. Howard became their new drummer. After extensive touring,
Sotelo began writing material that gave
Decrepit Birth a more melodic sound without cutting back on their ferocity. The result was their second full-length album, 2008's
Diminishing Between Worlds. While
Joel Horner was playing bass with the band by this time, he didn't appear on the album, with
Sotelo playing bass and keyboards as well as guitar. By
Decrepit Birth's standards, their next album was completed quickly, with
Polarity released in 2010 by respected metal label
Nuclear Blast; the Robinson/
Sotelo/
Horner/
Howard lineup was supplemented in the studio by guitarists
Dan Eggers and
Ty Oliver and drummer Lee Smith. By the end of 2010, Sam Paulicelli became the group's new drummer, replacing
KC Howard, and Sean Martinez took over from
Horner on bass in 2013. While
Decrepit Birth toured hard in support of
Polarity, the group took a break after
Sotelo became a father for the first time and wanted to stay home with his young son. However, he didn't stop writing new songs while on paternity leave, and with
Sotelo and Martinez recording in their respective home studios and Paulicelli cutting drum tracks at a studio in Canada,
Decrepit Birth returned in 2017 with the album
Axis Mundi. ~ Mark Deming