The newest release from Shards of Humanity is like a colossal thunderstorm of extreme metal music mercilessly sweeping across the metal world. These Memphis, Tennessee based death/thrash metal practitioners hold nothing back with the release of their sophomore full-length album, “Cold Logic.”
Shards of Humanity is yet another tremendously talented extreme metal band that is working with Unspeakable Axe Records. “Cold Logic,” is an album full of savage technical riffs and bombastic drum parts. The songs on this album convey such raw ruthless aggression and the music never sounds cluttered in terms of production value. I notice that the band utilizes their technical talents efficiently throughout the album, and you do not hear them trying to overload listeners with unnecessary sections in an attempt to arrogantly showoff. When this band writes a song, they get straight to the point, while unleashing a blizzard of extreme sounding chaos.
Out of the ten tracks on this album, I do believe that selecting a favorite will be quite a challenge. From the opening track, “Cosmic Shield,” to the final song, “Mechanical Phosphene,” the band continuously constructs razor sharp pieces of death metal full of malice and apocalyptic sounding landscapes. The lead guitar playing is exceptional and does not fall into the modern metal stereotypical style where the solos sound repetitive and unimaginative. Songs like “Moths of Zeta” and “Bathing Raw in the Blood of Pigs” are brutal offerings full of devastating instrumental compositions accompanied by some haunting vocals.
Another track that stood out on the album and proves that this release is strong from start to finish is, “Demonic Crystallized Intelligence.” The song is a firestorm of adrenaline pumping death metal and then transitions into a slow mind-warping riff section that reminded me of classic Morbid Angel. Overall, fans are going to gravitate towards this band’s unique and dynamic approach, which really stands out compared to all these other metal bands who sound the same and act as though they are the future of heavy metal. If I was given a dollar every time a band claimed to the be the next greatest metal act, I would be able to buy an island.
“Cold Logic,” is another Unspeakable Axe Records release that I highly recommend you check out, because the quality of the recordings and the overall talent is just down right impressive. Right now the top extreme metal music acts are on Unspeakable Axe, so if we are looking at the future of extreme music, then there is one label that I feel I can trust in terms of fostering and promoting solid extreme musical creativity. Shards of Humanity will hopefully be unleashing more punishing releases of inhuman brutality for many years to come.
Listen to "Moths of Zeta" below:
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Unspeakable Axe Records Bandcamp:
I have enough toilet paper! So I'll read your excellent reviews instead. Bubba even had to admit Shards of Humanity are pretty good. Coming from him that is praise indeed.
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