Humangled – Odd Ethics

This EP is short and sweet, probably not more than 15 or 16 minutes, so I’ll just cut to the chase as well.  I really, really dig this.  Humangled is a band from Pisa, Italy (as in, I’m assuming, Leaning Tower Of), who have been active off and on since 1996.  From the bio I read mostly off.  Which is a shame because this release is really good.  I really wish there was more of it.  I’m really saying really a lot.

The EP comprises just 4 tracks, and they are very interesting.  I know many of you like to have your metal jammed into some sub-genre, but Humangled really doesn’t allow for that.  If I had to call them anything, it’d be melodic death, but that doesn’t do justice to what they are laying down.  There are some traces of 90’s alterna-metal, Helmet actually came to mind at times, as well as just some solid heavy rock.  Whatever the case, it’s an interesting blend and one that I would like to hear a lot more of.  Which means I’ll be checking out the back catalog.

A lot of metal bands have the “good cop, bad cop” vocals going.  These guys seem to have the “bad cop, fucking nightmare cop” formula.  Which is kinda cool, again because you don’t hear anyone else doing that.  Just another little twist that caught my attention.

This is very well written music.  It skips around a little bit like Dillinger Escape Plan, but not in the jarring way that those guys do it that always makes me want to find them and punch them.  But it is not music that just plods along at the same tempo and the same time signature and the same blah, blah, blah, either.  This is music that is interesting and is going somewhere and definitely needs to be heard.  So check it out and you can thank me later.

- ODIN