Annulation
Human Creatures
6.1
So I've got this idea, right? I think I'm going to set up a webcam or at the very least, a mirror, and watch myself as I listen to albums I have to review. Then I could either describe the faces I'm making, or simply post pictures of myself as I listen to the CD.
Annulation, whom I gather are Swiss or German, is a generally uninspired act which consists of a lot of boring chugging thrash garbage as well as some downright wonderful material. Occasionally they have some good build ups, like on "Fuck All", an otherwise bad song in which the singer continually repeats "Uno! Duos! Tres!" and actually garbles out "Mother-fucker! Fucker! Fucker! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" over an unoriginal thrash riff. It's hard to tell if Annulation's consciously trying to be as humorous as they are, or if it's completely unintentional and I should feel bad about laughing at the air-raid siren sounding guitarwork on their title track, which also contains some misplaced industrial production. On the contrary though, when the band breaks away from their unbearable boring songwriting and expands into the occasional ambient territory, I feel like I've completely misunderstood what Annulation is trying to accomplish. "Confused" has some great structure, and "Crow Song", to be honest, is strong doomy track that could garner comparisons to older Amorphis. I'd be more than pleased if Human Creatures sounded like this the entire way through, but sadly, no such luck. "Radical Shit" is more than appropriately titled. Effectively utilizing their simple rhythmic riffing, there's a clean sung refrain that's well-executed and a melancholy bassline at the end that reminds me or something you might hear on a Blood & Time album.
And uh, there's a live cover of Sepultura's "Roots" at the very end, again making me question how serious they are.
During the course of listening to this album, I've rubbed my temples, cringled, leaned on the end of my chair, and rapidly gyrated my leg in correspondence to some of the drum beats. I'd love to dismiss this album as terrible, but I'm afraid it's going to go into the pile of albums I simply don't feel I understand. Too monotonous in general for real praise, but at times, too excellent to totally overlook. Human Creatures starts off as bland and poorly done thrash but manifests into something truly interesting. I'll keep my fingers crossed for their next album.
