The Human Race Is Filth – Cognitive Dissonance
The Human Race Is Filth is a Pennsylvania-based band formed as a duo in 2017. They expanded to a trio in 2021, though they did this at a time when everything was locked down by a pandemic. Their sound is not easy to describe, so suffice it to say they cover a lot of ground, ranging from Death to Sludge to Hardcore Metal, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. Dissonant noises and harsh vocals combine and are surrounded by dark, heavy riffs, chaotic drumming that goes from blast beats to polyrhythms in the blink of an eye, and thundering bass that bridges the gap between the power and the chaos.
Band Members:
- Paul Folk – Guitars/Noise
- Kasey Harrison – Bass/Vocals
- Brett Rebman – Drums
March 10, 2023
Tracklist:
- Life Of Tyrants
- Apes With Christ
- Electronic Caterpillars
- Bastardized
- Cloaked In Shame
- Hopes Wavered
- Propagating Technology
- Vomiting Strings Of Human Decay
- Tribal Injections Of Division
As a fun way to start a dissonant Death Metal track, a toddler, one of the band members’ kids, says the band’s name as the opening instrumental, “Life Of Tyrants,” introduces us to the album. Wild screams and squeals weave through tribal drumming and creepy, distorted wails. This takes us to “Apes With Christ,” a guttural grunt-fest with down-tuned, heavy guitars laced with dissonant leads. The drums are blast beats on blast beats, and the bass will leave you shuddering.
Wildly guitar tones open “Electronic Caterpillars.” The riff is massive, trying to crush you under its weight of it. The riff goes from constant brutality to an intense chugging pattern, then to a melodic tempo, shifting gears with the rhythm. The vocals don’t change, though. They are consistently dark, harsh, and accented with seriously twisted noises. Kasey’s growls, coupled with Paul’s noises, are more than a little disturbing.
“Bastardized” is a doom-laden lover’s dream… until the rhythm/riff combination kicks in and slays the calm through the lyric sections, returning to the doom tempo for the instrumental passages. The shifting back and forth are such wildly contrasting segments the conflict is palpable. It has the feel of two songs fighting each other for dominance.
Returning to straight-up brutality, “Cloaked In Shame” is massively heavy. The rhythm feels like it’s running at 220 BPM the whole time; it damn near wearing you out just listening. There are a lot of notes in two and a half minutes. Then, “Hopes Wavered” clocks in at under two minutes but feels it might have the same number of notes as the longer songs. It is fast, furious, and aggressive, leaving you drained by the time it’s over. The following songs do the same thing. Both right at two minutes, “Propagating Technology” and “Vomiting Strings Of Human Decay” hit you hard and fast. Though the latter does have a pretty melodic opening phrase.
The album concludes with “Tribal Injections Of Division,” four minutes of a chugging riff and powerful rhythm. This album will wear you out listening to it. It feels like the whole thing is a violent onslaught of aggression meant to help you expel whatever demons have taken root in your mind. You get pummeled by the massive weight of the crushing riffs, overrun by the heavy rhythms. The whole thing feels cathartic, like once you get through the disc, you can walk away free, having escaped the mundane existence of life.
MZ Ratings:
- Musicianship
- Guitars – 8
- Rhythms – 8
- Vocals – 8
- Songwriting – 8
- Production – 8
- Overall – 8.00
