UMENNESKE — Pile of Bodies (review)

EP · 2021 · Death Metal

3/5 · 2022-08-28
siLLy puPPy

Formerly known as Golgotha from 2015-17, the oddly named UMENNESKE officially formed in 2017 in Acapulco, Mexico joining the ranks of countless modern day extreme metal bands smitten by old school death metal. This trio of Lenny Hammer (guitar), Zoel RM (vocals) and César Chavelas (drums) has so far only released this four song EP affectionally titled PILE OF BODIES. Despite the cover looking like something from the second wave of black metal, this is old school death metal all the way.

This EP is really like a blast from the past and Morbid Angel and other Tampa scene bands like Obituary and Deicide and seem to be the death metal heroes of worship with the classic chugging guitar riffage accompanied by quickened bass and drum wizardry. As with the majority of old school death metal, the drumming doesn’t quite get to the ferocity of blastbeats but rather unleashes a steady yet brutal beat.

From the Morbid Angel camp are the classic guitar soloing antics that result in a squealing effect. Originality is not UMENNESKE’s strongest suit as this entire EP sounds as if it could’ve been some lost relic from the early 1990s from any of the aforementioned bands but despite the cloning process still evokes the era with the musicianship at the same level of the old school death metal bands of yore.

I would imagine for a location like Acapulco more famous for a destination of cruise ships and tourists flocking to warm sunny beaches that a band like UMENNESKE is a welcome addition to the otherwise calm and placid existence but for anyone well versed in the the lengthy history of the diverse world of death metal, this won’t really get your juices flowing as far as seeking the next chapter of the death metal universe. All is played well and this is a great listening experience but average at best and indistinguishable from a gazillion other bands of the same retro approach.

1 year ago
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siLLy puPPy wrote:

1 year ago

Well as it turns out.... the name is more interesting than the music!

UMUR wrote:

1 year ago

Yeah inhuman is probably a more correct translation, but that would as you write translate to umenneskelig in Danish. Umenneske does not exists as a word in the Danish language. Maybe it exists in Norwegian or Swedish. I´m not sure.

siLLy puPPy wrote:

1 year ago

When i put UMENNESKE in a Google translator it comes out as INHUMAN however if i reverse translate it changes to UMENNESKELIG. Perhaps it's an older Danish word? Strange word but Scandinavian languages do sound weird to English speakers.

UMUR wrote:

1 year ago

Not that the precise word exists in Danish, but the name is Danish and means un (maybe non)-human. The word Menneske means human in Danish, and the u (although umenneske doesn´t exists as a word), would pretty surely be un or non.