18 minutes and 5 tracks, out of which one is an intro. Not much?! Well, this EP contains more hits (on drums and strings) than a regular 70-minute long doom metal album. Yes, we are enjoying some brutal 'n' slamming death metal here. Human Prey's 'Return of the True Kings' EP was unleashed four years after the debut album and 2 years after another EP, so maybe another full-length album was anticipate for. But yeah, 18 minutes were given...

One riff accompanied by mutating drum beats are what the 1½-minute long intro consists of. It casts an aura of suspicion whether there is much in vein of variety to expect from the rest of this extended play. I can happily tell, that yes, there certainly is; this is surprisingly diverse experience after all.

The guitars are heavy-handed riffing and tremolo picking alternating. Often, there's just one or two note riffing, but also some hummable ones in brutal US death metal vein. The drum beats change a lot, from blasting to slow hammering, including a huge variety of tempos and thwacking patterns. Generally, the music is very much rhythmic and containing a few melodic bits (I do count a hummable riff as a melodic one in my books). Do not expect to hear a guitar solo.

The guitars sound crunchy and stodgy plus tearing, the kick drums triggered yet still punchy, but other drums nicely organic, and the bass guitar is mauling and pounding. The vocals are beastly; raspy, rattling growls, piggy-piggy squeals, industrial-tinged reverbed cleans and other unpleasantries await here, everything being pretty much gibberish. So, them vocals are basically instruments. The production job is good as it makes everything well audible, and is both heavy and even airy.

It all does end quite abruptly, though, with intro's riffing and drumming reprising. It's a shorty, but a big, sound beating. Sadly the CD edition does not include any lyrics (nor does the Bandcamp version), and only a 4-page booklet. However, if you're looking for it, head over to the labels' websites as it's pretty cheap over there (European one at least).

Rating: 7+ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
11/05/2023 10:22