SUFFOCATION — Human Waste (review)

SUFFOCATION — Human Waste album cover EP · 1991 · Brutal Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Human Waste" is an EP release by US, New York based death metal act Suffocation. The EP was released through Relapse Records in May 1991. It´s the band´s first label release and it contains 6 tracks and a playing time of 23:14 minutes. As a funny anekdote "Human Waste" was actually the first ever CD release on the now prolific Relapse Records. Suffocation was formed in 1988 and released the "Reincremated" demo in 1990. Only the closing title track on the EP is culled from the demo. In fact it´s the exact same version of the track which is featured on both the demo and the EP. The remaining tracks are new original material.

The music on the EP is brutal and technically well played death metal. Mostly fast-paced but also featuring some ultra heavy slower parts and some brutal mid-paced grooves (the occasional thrash metal oriented riff thrown in too). The musicianship is on a high level and already this early in their career Suffocation showed that they were one step ahead of most of their contemporaries when it came to technical precision playing. Frank Mullen´s vocals are deep and brutal growling. They are only partially intelligible, but quite effective. Especially when you´re occasionally able to catch a phrase. The material is generally well written and not completely devoid of hooks, but it´s certainly not easily accessible music, and initally it does come off as a bit one-dimensional.

Several of the tracks have since become steady parts of the band´s live set, with "Infecting the Crypts" probably being the most often played. Suffocation opted to re-record "Infecting the Crypts", "Jesus Wept", and "Mass Obliteration" for their debut full-length studio album "Effigy of the Forgotten (1991)". "Catatonia" was also re-recorded later on for the "Despise the Sun (1998)" EP. Probably as a concequence of the rather raw and unpolished sound production on the EP (it´s a self-produced affair). "Human Waste" is often mentioned as Suffocation´s second demo. The "Reincremated (1990)" demo also featured a raw and relatively lo-fi sound quality, and although "Human Waste" does feature a sound that´s a bit more professional, we´re still exposed to something really raw, intense, and brutal.

"Human Waste" is a promising first release by Suffocation and the birth of one of the most groundbreaking and influential acts in the death metal genre. It put the band´s name firmly on the map and although it´s not a perfect release, it showcases that Suffocation already this early on had a vision and a musical style that was convincing and well thought out. These guys intended from the start to be the most relentlessly brutal band in the world, and with "Human Waste" they proved beyond any doubt that they were definitely among the elite of death metal acts in the most brutal end of the scale. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.
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