Perfecitizen - Humanipulation
Musically, the work is a mix of death metal and grind, very similar to early Aborted and Cattle Decapitation. It is pretty short, clocking barely 30 minutes so don’t expect any epic rides. The music is fast, heavy, and refuses to let up right from the title track all the way to the closing ‘Flashback = Hope.’ Fans of gore grind or even grind in general will appreciate the thick chugs on overdrive with jazzy sections to break up the sledgehammer of music, such as on ‘Propaganda,’ whose stop and go pace is a nice break for the typical death grind fare presented on ‘Motivation.’ These jazzy bits almost make the work sound ‘djentish,’ which might appeal to fans of groups like Jinjer.
While Perfecitizen may have a pretty standard instrumentation down, their vocal work is quite varied and really is the highlight on the album. There is the typical growl and squeals that is mandatory with death grind, but lots of clean vocal work too such as on ‘Mental Obesity’ which again, uses the quiet moments to add some progressive elements, such as even a robotic style spoken section before going back to the bellowing. ‘Blind Ignorance’ is the highlight of the album simply due to the female vocal work- whether she is a guest or a hidden band member her vocals along with the male harsh and clean ones will make the track stand out among all the rest. As a result, those who like a bit more depth to their music may be drawn to these more interesting tracks, but those who just like the brutal side of death grind might feel they are an unnecessary filler. At least Perfecitizen includes them to try and reach a more varied audience.
The only downside is that this album feels short. “Humanipulation” has a lot to say and just 3 more tracks probably would have helped a lot- there’s a lot going on in some of them musically, especially with the jazzy parts and the group could have expanded more on that sound to create a well rounded album. Instead, fans are given a jazz infused gore grind like a razzleberry pie that doesn’t have enough blackberries in it, so the balance is slightly off, and one is left wanting more. Hopefully in future work listeners are given more of the varied approach to death grind that helps Perfecitizen stay a notch above the average group while still delivering their socially critical message.
3.5 / 5 STARS
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3. Misunderstanding
4. Propaganda
5. Mental Obesity
6. Motivation
7. Injection
8. Flashback = Hope
