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INHUMAN
Course Of Human Destruction

Self-released (2013)
Rating: 6.5/10

One of at least eight bands with the same moniker, this particular Inhuman hail from Costa Rica and are best described as brutal, often technical death metal dished out in that old school vein. The band consists of four members; vocalist Sergio Muñoz, guitarist Jonathan Sanchéz, bassist Carlos Venegas and on drums, Jonathan’s brother Freddy, or “Coco” to his friends.

Course Of Human Destruction is a devastating debut album by an extremely mature combo, a full-length which combines dry, hoarse guttural vocals with twisted, disorientating bass-lines, jarring guitar assaults and staggering drum dynamics.

Once thrown in a blender, those separate instruments join to make a fierce piece of work that is at once infectious but also brutal. Never does it attempt to alienate the listener though, often preferring to remain steady as a mid-tempo to fast beast. The only issue is that the often peculiar bass segments tend to override the opus, and when they come in it’s no longer a surprise, but more of an irritation. Even so, the swirling guitar solos, trigger drums and above average vocals (mind you, how original can anyone get within a death metal framework?) more than make up for any flaws this opus may have.

Of course, when the band plays fast it’s not just an unintelligible blur. Far from it, the title track a prime example of those frantic drums and staggering guitars, but again these are interwoven with more varied arrangements.

Although I’ve always preferred the weirder aspects of technical death metal, with bands such as Gorguts, Inhuman still provide enough meat to chew on and are clearly on the path to further extraterrestrial landscapes.

I am hoping these guys stand out from the crowd, as there is a lot of this stuff around. It’s always important with technical death metal to find a middle ground between the bewildering and the accessible, and I think Inhuman have achieved that here. For instance, ‘I Can Smell The Death’ and the pounding closer ‘Vengeance’ are all death metal winners that should be lapped up by those who have a craving for this sort of stuff. Strangely however, when the band adopts a simpler approach – as on the effective grind of ‘Shame On You’ – they seem to be more comfortable in their skin.

I’ll certainly be keeping an eye on these guys, but they’ll need fresher tactics for album two if they are to gain any sort of reputation within the scene. There’s no problem with setting aside 40 or so minutes of my time to listen to Inhuman, so I hope you do the same – especially if you’re into slightly unusual structures within that classic death metal framework.

Whether it’s enough to put them in good stead I don’t know, but there’s enough twiddling on offer here to keep you amused. Course Of Human Destruction isn’t quite the obscure tech-fest I was expecting despite its flashes of brilliance, but it’s still a minor work of art.

Neil Arnold

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