Labels: Shove Records/Hasiok Records/Counteract Recordings
Formats: Vinyl/Digital
Release Date: 18 Jan 2018
Tracklist:
1. Photic
2. Pelagic
3. Aphotic
4. Bathyal
5. Abyss
6. Demersal
7. Hadal
8. Benthic
Here's some heavy and crusty sludge from Berlin, Germany. Humanity Is A Curse is a fairly new trio and "Raging For A Lighthouse" is their debut release, as far as I'm aware. They call themselves "Immigrant Punx" and they're part of a growing breed of socially aware heavy bands that are coming out of Germany right now. The album has been released digitally and on both black & white/grey marble vinyl.
Why is it that my caffeine-fuelled Sunday mornings always seem to lead me to something dark and heavy! Humanity Is A Curse is certainly a band that fits that description and seeing as I’ve found time this morning, I’m getting round to writing this review up properly. I love bands like Hexis, This Gift Is A Curse and Ancst, so when album opener Photic begins, I can’t help but imagine Humanity Is A Curse playing alongside them. It’s fast and has great guitar sound that reminds me more of blackened-hardcore. The vocals are manic, as is the low-end rumbling bass the percussion. It definitely is raging! Pelagic shows the band’s slower and murkier side before turning the speed pedal up again. Ultimate headbanging fodder and if I hadn’t ruined my neck sleeping funny last night, I’d be all over it. as you’d expect with a crust band, they don’t hang around or ponder over their songs.
Aphotic follows instantly on and picks up even more momentum as it flails. Humanity Is A Curse manages to fit a surprising amount of atmosphere into their music and this is a great example of that. The sound of crashing cymbals and screeching feedback are the staples of Bathyal, which ups the ante in terms of volume. The recording/mixing done at Hidden Planet Studios and unmistakable Audiosiege mastering have both made this untouchable. The second half of the record begins with Abyss, which is a really apt song-title as that’s where it leads you to. It’s another slower number and that just gives it more of a destructive feel.
When reviewing records, I’ve always tried to convey my passion for the music (for the most part) and this is one record that truly ignites that passion (don’t worry, I’m not being paid to say that!). Demersal contains some catchy lead work amongst the black atmosphere. Again it’s more akin to hardcore during the earlier verses but there’s no escaping the band penchant for grinding/crusty intensity either. Penultimate song Hadal follows suit with subtle black metal textures and yet more urgency. Album closer Benthic is grimy and dirty (in the best possible way) and uses those textures to bring the album to a murky end. This album sounds way too good. If you’re into the bands I mentioned above and heavy music in any form, give these guys a listen.
You can stream and purchase "Raging For A Lighthouse" digitally and on both vinyl colour-ways from the band below:-
Humanity Is A Curse - https://www.facebook.com/humanityisacurse/
Shove Records - https://www.facebook.com/Shove
Hasiok Records - https://www.facebook.com/hasiokrecords/
Counteract Recordings - https://www.facebook.com/CounteractRecordings/
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