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 The debut release from Human Abstrakt is here! Nine songs of grandma-scaring metal. You can order online using your credit card by using this button:or get it from Amazon.com or Vinal Edge.Or use the contact form to send an email to get the address where you can send a check or money order. Human Abstrakt is also featured on a compilation album from Extreme Metal Records. Go here to get it.
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| From Adrian Bromley at Chronicles of Chaos Last time reviewed Human Abstrakt it was in CoC #55 for a two-song demo they had submitted, and I was less than impressed with the submission, only taking a liking to the song "Vice". But what do you expect when you are set to review a release with only two songs? It can be hard to really get a good feel of a band after two songs. I am glad to say that their new release features nine songs and is truly leaps and bounds above the last submission. Now a three-piece, Human Abstrakt has strengthened their sound, managing to mesh together a very powerful mix of darkened thrash metal and power metal, kind of along the lines of Nevermore or early Queensryche. You can hear the creative juices running wild on this album, most notably on songs like strong opener "Dissention", "Blind Disciples" and "Prosperous Fool". I have been listening to this record on and off for the last few weeks and every time I come back to it I hear something different within the walls of their creative musical energy. And to think I once was ho-hum about this band. Thanks for sticking to your guns, Human Abstrakt, and coming back a few CoC issues later to kick my ass. This review can be found here. |
| From Damian at Metal Side The style of this trio from Georgia is not so easy to define. Their music can be compared to the recordings of such bands like Atrocity („B.L.U.T.”), Morgoth („Odium”) or Meathook Seed („Embedded” ) although the similarities aren’t too big. The honnest conclusion would be to say that Human Abstrakt created the original style and such opinion is justified. You can find here the elements of thrash and death metal as well as industrial or metalcore, but the band blends them really well that’s why the result is very intelligent mixture which is simply very interesting. The compositions are memorable, based on technical, cold–hearted riffs. Human Abstrakt was able to create very dark atmosphere without any keyboards, violins, female vocals. The music is heavy as well and in many parts really intense. The tracks are well–composed, each riff has the proper place, the structures of the songs are diversified so you cannot find even one reason to be bored hearing this album. Strong (although clean not guttural) and interesting vocals are the last (but no less important than the previous) reason why you should look for this band. Human Abstrakt gave us the true proof of the talent. |
| From goden at Eternal Frost Hot on the heels of their 2001 promo CDR, Georgia's own Human Abstrakt was quick to record and release Psychological Blindness, the band's debut full-length. While the promo had some minor black metal elements with respect to the keyboards, that has been done away with completely in favor of the crunchy stop/start guitar work. The easiest way to describe Human Abstrakt is to compare them to middle-era Meshuggah, though these guys concentrate more on chugging riffs than speed with a higher does of heaviness. The riffing is excellent, sometimes technical sounding, but mostly just crushing power chords in the aforementioned stop/start vein. Mark Nunn's drumming is on par with the rest of the band's skills, with the focus on driving, choppy rhythms and oddball timings. Though not death growls, Danny Carwile's singing style is really good, bringing to mind Gus Chambers of Grip Inc, but with a lot more variation. I've listened to this CD in its entirety at least 20 times since receiving it and have yet to become bored with it, so that should tell you something about how good these guys are at what they do. This is a self-released effort and teh packaging is minimal but includes lyrics and all the other usual important information. Human Abstrakt isn't for the die-hard death metallers, but definitely for those looking for someting a little different. The review can be found here. |
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From Unbelievably Retarded Finally, something decent to review for Unbelievably Retarded! Human Abstrakt is a band from Atlanta, Georgia that plays technical metal in the Meshuggah vein, which in my opinion is a welcome change from the usual metal fare being released these days. I say in the Meshuggah vein, by the way, because these guys are not Meshuggah clones. Most of the songs on this album are wholly original, and have that Meshuggah sound without ripping off aforementioned band. Danny Carwile's vocals are bellowed, clean vocals, almost Meshuggah-esque in quality but original nonetheless. In fact, this album could almost pass itself off as a Meshuggah record, though it won't because 1) Psychological Blindness can easily stand on its own merits and 2) this is Human Abstrakt's debut album. Hell, even the lyrics (which are always an Achilles' heel with most of the CD's I get sent to review) are decent. Good music, good vocals, good lyrics...what do you think that spells? If these guys don't get signed to a label soon (and not one that screws its signees by releasing rarities and/or "live" albums, like Earache or Nuclear Blast), I'll personally shit my pants in agony. The things I do for my readers... |
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From Music Extreme Here we have nine powerful tracks from this brutal trio. The music has elements of bands from death metal style as well as from modern bands like Machine Head. The main thing here are the bestial guitar riffs around which the songs are constructed. There are many dissonant melodies and licks that give an eerie feeling to some of the tracks (check for example the solo in "Inspiration" to see what I am talking about). The drums are crushing and at the same time give a lot of room to the other instruments prefering to do a good rhythm instead of a fast part that maybe could ruin the song. The sound of this release is specially good on the guitars (I would mix a little bit louder the bass drums which are a little bit low here). There are many mid tempos here that are extremely hevy (I think that the heaviest parts of this albums are some of this mid paced parts). Heaviness guaranteed. Favorite tracks: "Dissention", "Form My Need" and "Inspiration" |
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From Live 4 Metal Human Abstrakt: This progressive metal trio from Atlanta, Georgia was prominently displayed in the upper left hand corner of page 114 of the November 2002 issue of Metal Maniacs (think you can find it on your own now?). Readers of the Maniacal Mail section were told that the band is a “hard-hitting three-piece from Atlanta, GA” and that you should “think if Meshuggah and Fear Factory had bastard children.” After reading such a graphic description, do you really think I could pass up the chance to check these guys out? Of course you don’t. The band was more than happy to send me a copy of their debut CD, Psychological Blindness. I liked it enough to give it several spins in my car’s CD player; it was my work commute companion for a couple of days recently. The album is jarring and strangely soothing at the same time. The depth and intensity of the work didn’t grab me until my second journey through Human Abstrakt’s sonic jungle. The Meshuggah delivery was certainly apparent though. My second trip got me firmly stuck in their non-traditional, thick grooves. The album’s nine selections fit snugly together and, like Human Ritual, I found it best enjoyed as a full meal, rather than individual snacks. The delivery is tight and the sound is mega low end and down tuned to the hilt. I felt like a few of the songs needed to breathe more; more breaks from the wall of the sound approach would have made things even better. “Inspiration” is a compelling piece precisely because of the musical variation present in the arrangement. The depth of the Human Abstrakt is not immediately obvious, but once you get past the aggressive delivery, the ride becomes fairly adventurous. If you’re a Meshuggah fan, chances are that you will also appreciate Human Abstrakt. I know I did. |
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From Klokradio Power Hour Human Abstrakt are one of those bands whose music is hard to describe. Listening to their “Psychological blindness” album I hear metalcore but also industrial influences, some pounding death metal parts but some power metal stuff as well. But if I was forced to name one band as a reference it may be Fear Factory in their earlier days, but this is only meant to give you some direction. |
| Here's a review from Explosion Cerebral. This review is in Spanish, and you can get directly to it by clicking here. |
| This review is in Danish, so I won't post it here, but you can find it here. |