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The Human Abstract
was a serendipitous discovery for
me that come from the magic world
of social networking (see MySpace).
I must admit that I am not a fan of
the hardcore/emo scene, so I was very
skeptical when I read some web references
about them. But quite quickly this
skepticism was swept away. The Human
Abstract may have all "image
identity" features of all these
bands, but the core of their existence,
which always is music (and must remain
music), reveals another reality, more
appealing to the metal fans.
"Nocturne"
is their debut CD, released from Hopeless
Records, and runs for more than forty
five minutes. And please believe me
when I say that every single track
from the twelve that are listed has
something significant to say. Take
for example the opening "Harbinger"
with the marching introduction and
the excellent power/thrash riffs or
"Nocturne" with the blast-beating
drumming, the absolutely unexpected
breaks and the emotion-driven dual
lead guitars. Their music is an amalgam
of progressive and metalcore music
in the first layer. However underneath
this layer, you may find familiar
ingredients that come from classic
forms of metal, such as thrash and
death, and hardcore. Now if you add
all these, you might believe that
you’ll get the mathcore formula,
but in the end you don’t. Pure
metalheads will be astonished with
the dazzling parade of thrash metal
riffs and the technical integrity
that the band demonstrates in "Crossing
the Rubicon", while "Mea
Culpa" is the proper field for
Nathan Ells to show his clean vocals
abilities (not to forget to tell you
about the epic middle part).
I must declare my
amazement for the fantastic work in
the guitars, courtesy of A.J. Minette
and Dean Herrera. These guys are awesome,
either they deliver fast’n’sharp
riffs, or offer us serene moments
with their acoustic guitars. As I
said these guys are young, but seems
that their profile is built on classical
studies and this is shown in the use
of acoustic guitars and pianos. Check
out the closing part of album’s
highlight "Channel Detritus"
or the instrumental "Desiderata"
that prepares the ground for "Vela,
Together We Await the Storm"
(yes, they kept the best for the end).
If I had to moan
for something I would claim a more
solid performance by Nathan Ells,
who undoubtedly has a wide range of
vocal styles. But I think that he
needs to throw out some "college-like"
screams from his performance and to
limit this range. The production by
Jamie King is fairly good, but I believe
sometimes that the lead guitars and
the bass deserved more attention.
Get out and seek
for "Nocturne" and you will
not regret it. Consider that they
are persuasive enough for an old mind
like mine that reacts to changes and
(so-called) innovations. It’s
an impressive debut and I am very
positive that they will attract our
interest in the future. Too bad that
was a late discovery for my 2006 favorites. |
