LAY DOWN ROTTEN were formed in 1999 as a solo project by vocalist/guitarist Daniel Jakobi. He wrote the first few songs on his own, then deciding to carry on as a band. After showing his material 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, which was met with very good reactions. In July 2001 the band began recording their second demo CD, WAY OF WEAKNESS. Being a self-produced affair, the band took around 4 months to finish it. 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 releases. Due to a lack of money the band couldn't afford to go into the studio during that year, so they kept rehearsing and saving.

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 back in the process. After breaking Jost in, the band concentrated on the songwriting for the new album COLD CONSTRUCTED, which was recorded once again at DESERT INN in July 2004. The album had the impact of an atom bomb. The metal press went raving mad, motivating the band for new deeds. LAY DOWN ROTTEN played as many shows as possible in order to promote the album properly, while always working on new material at the same time.

In November 2005 the band completed the pre-production for the BREEDING INSANITY album, going back to the DESERT INN Studio as soon as December to lay down the rotten tracks. In addition to the regular CD the album was made available as a limited-edition double CD including three cover versions as well as two CD-Rom video tracks. The cover artwork of BREEDING INSANITY was done by Björn for Killustrations, who had already worked with the likes of DEW-SCENTED, ABORTED, DEBAUCHERY, OBSCENITY and AVULSED. The album brought LAY DOWN ROTTEN to the forefront of German death metal, opening entirely new doors for the band, one of them being the signing of a deal with METAL BLADE Records, one of the most renowned labels in the metal world.

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 bonecrusher Gospel Of The Wretched, which was mixed and mastered by scene icon Dan Swanö. Death metal heroes Martin van Drunen and Marc Grewe, as well as Swanö himself, contributed guest vocals on the album. The reviews for the record turned out great. A lot of club and festival gigs followed (Legacy Festival, Death Feast Open Air, Full Force, a.o.). A successful tour with German Death Metal veterans DISBELIEF was done as well. By the end of the year LAY DOWN ROTTEN shared stages with all the big names of the genre and almost all of their personal heroes. They managed to establish their name both inside and outside their home country.

Early 2011 guitarist Daniel Jakobi decided to leave the band due to the lack of time the band demanded caused by his job and other musical projects. A replacement was found quickly, Daniel "Kensington" Seifert stepped in on second guitar and is so far doing a great job.

LAY DOWN ROTTEN started to write new songs right away, taking advantage of the "fresh air" their new band member brought into their rehearsal room. In September 2011 they entered DESERT INN Studio, where they already recorded their previous albums, and nailed down their new record MASK OF MALICE. Be prepared for a heavy Death Metal storm!