TRANSHUMAN

Believer has created their magnum opus with Transhuman. From album artwork to lyrical content to musical approach, the band has created a prog metal tour de force wrapped up in a concept album that explores the evolution of the human species as we go down the road to integration with technology on a biological level.

The band still plays their unique style of technical thrash, but the guys manage to pull a few new tricks. First, there are melodic male vocals this time around. Vocalist Kurt Bachman still has his snarling growl, but he has added sustained notes and melody to his vocal arsenal, and he has never sounded better. Also, keyboardist Jeff King has a huge presence on the album, giving the music texture and a more melodic sheen. Make no mistake, this is still a metal album with double bass drum workouts by drummer Joey Daub, heavy guitars, and menacing vocals, but there is a welcome diversity this time around which stretches the band beyond the technical thrash genre. Transhuman sees the band at the intersection of Meshuggah (extreme technical metal) and OSI (heavy electronic prog). You'll just have to listen to hear what I mean.