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Lay Down Rotten was spawn in 1999 as a solo project by vocalist/guitarist Daniel Jakobi. He wrote the first few songs on his own, then decided to the material was strong enough to form a band. After showing his songs to some fellow musicians, Timo Claas, Johannes Pitz and Daniel “Mini” Benner joined the band in May 2000, turning Jakobi’s solo project into Lay Down Rotten.
In November 2000, the group recorded its first 4-track demo CD entitled, Colder As Cold. Not long after, in July 2001, the band began recording their second demo CD, Way Of Weakness. The band self produced the demo and completed it within four months. In September 2001, bassist Johannes left the band for work reasons. The band found a replacement in Uwe Kilian within the same month. In 2002, the group kept writing new material, motivated by the good reactions earned by their live shows and demos.
In April 2003, the band entered Desert Inn Studios in Edingen, taking just two weeks to record their debut album, Paralyzed By Fear. After the album release through Remission Records in October 2003, the band went out on the Grind’m’All Tour with Meatknife and Gorezone, spanning ten dates across Germany. Shortly after the tour, the band decided to add a second vocalist to its ranks in the person of Jost Kleinert, with the intention of delivering a better live performance, and taking some weight off Daniel Jakobi’s shoulders in the process. After breaking Jost in, the band concentrated on the song writing for the new album, Cold Constructed, which was recorded once again at Desert Inn in July 2004. The metal press went raving mad, motivating the band to pursue their music even more aggressively. Lay Down Rotten played as many shows as possible in order to promote the album while continuing to work on new music.
In November 2005, the band completed the pre-production for the Breeding Insanity album, which was also recorded at the Desert Inn Studio that December. This album brought Lay Down Rotten to the forefront of German death metal scene, opening entirely new doors for the band, one of them being the signing of a deal with Metal Blade Records.
Shortly after signing the contract the band started working on new songs again. During the songwriting process, Daniel Benner decided to leave the band due to musical differences. Luckily, the band found a new lead guitarist in Nils Förster (When Sorrow Ends) as soon as April 2007, who had already been involved in the studio work for Breeding Insanity, as well as stepping in at a few live shows in the past.
In June 2007 the band returned to the Desert Inn studio to record its Metal Blade debut “Reconquering The Pit”. Daniel Benner and Nils Förster split the recording of the lead guitars between them. After the November 2007 release and with excellent press reactions under their belt, Lay Down Rotten played around 100 shows across Europe, including various festivals such as Summer Breeze Open Air, Fuck The Commerce, Party San, Neurotic Death Fest, Way of Darkness, etc., a tour with Hatesphere and Dismember, and a second tour with Neaera and Legion of the Damned, among others.
In December 2008, the band ensconced itself at Desert Inn Studio again to record the new album, Gospel Of The Wretched, which was mixed and mastered by scene icon Dan Swanö. Death metal veterans Martin van Drunen (Hails of Bullets, Asphyx, Pestilence), Marc Grewe (Morgoth), Dan Swanö himself contributed guest vocals to the album. The band is currently gearing up for the album release and next summer's festival season (Legacy Festival and Death Feast Open Air, among others).
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