HUMAN

The dense jutting drumming that begins this album sets the pace for this half hour train wreck of technical death metal.

This is where they began implementing jazz breaks and disjointed shifts in a very maddening pace. It comes off very well. Making this one of their most adventurous releases, yet. The angular guitar solos rip and trade, dance and trot, rip and wail.

Each track, even at their relatively very short running time (almost less than four minutes on average per song.) has multiple sections and breaks, disjointed and fiery soloing, and deep complex compositional approach. The drumming is thick and crunching. The entire rhythm section blisteringly ruptures forth with fiery vitriol, as multiple guitars interchange rhythms and leads in fantastic dissections.

Together As One slows it down a bit, but the blood boiling rush is found. True, no song on here will have the same theme all the way through, it is quite choppy and swinging. The furious riffing explodes angrily. Chuck's vocals keep getting more skillfully profound as the years go on, and they reach a fine mid ground, here. They are still regular death metal vocals, and haven't evolved into his brilliant death screech, yet, but they fit the music well, and never offend. Even at his vocally early formulated years, he had the edge on most death vocalists.

Lack Of Comprehension shows the only real break you get so far, from the brutal onslaught, even then it is only half a minute of atmospheric darkness. Afterward, you get hellfire in the shape of rigorous riffing and guitar line wails. Not to mention this song gets damn evilly groovy. I am amazed at Death's ability to groove and strut so defiantly and whimsically.

Cosmic Sea is the lone peak of calm, here. With melodic soaring solo lines, a bass solo, commencing ethereal ravaging. It builds ferociously, until the entire aural sky is blotted out by demonic wails from every direction, your ears will be suffocated, in the albums highlight.

Vacant Planets brings everything back to the vehement death dance, they've so commendably taken up. This brings me to the main criticism I have of the album.

With the massive rapid changes throughout the album, it still seems to not have very much diversity or deviation from their main, although quite complex, mold. Everything is brutal and violent enough, technical to extremes, and the short running time helps this quite a bit, but they ride the same main atmosphere for most of the album. They also haven't mastered their new form of focused chaos, in this stage. For this, Human is the beginning of Death's masterful peak.

Best Moment - Cosmic Sea

Worst Moment - It is all very solid

**** stars

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