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With but a bit of patience and a willingness to wade through wave after wave of underwhelming works, one can wander the wide world of Bandcamp and wind up with a wide array of wonderful finds for a grand total of $0.00. My point: it's downright insane how much unknown Name Your Price greatness is lurking out there, just collecting digital dust in the darkest depths of the underground. Belgium's Humanity Defiled are among my favorite of such victims of underrepresentation, but if death metal riffs for days at potentially non-existent prices is your thing, now's your chance to stop being the problem and begin your new and improved existence as part of the solution!
A one-man project conceived with the intent of channeling mastermind Iwein's own feelings of negativity, the name of Humanity Defiled's game is Riffs. With song titles like "We Deserve an Unspeakable Death" and "War Will Be Our Heritage," Mankind is the Disease is every bit as cheerful as one might presume it to be, but oh my sweet baby Satan isn't the rage therein just righteously rifftastic. Iwein tears the world a new one by way of blistering fretboard savagery and scathing lyrics, opting not to bow his head in defeat but instead forcing those bearing witness to his pain to bang their own heads in enthused enthrallment.
When I say that the guitar sound is savage, I'm talking Hypocrisy and Bloodbath blended together and sprinkled with a dash of Slayer, delivered with a serrated guitar tone perhaps best described as 'pitch-corrected bandsaw.' At its chuggiest, Mankind is the Disease recalls the lethally thick tones of Slugdge's rhythm section, and the lead work is comprised of pick-squeal dive bombs that hearken back to the glory days of old school death metal without ever getting overly noodly. Simply put, this killer EP is nothing but to-the-point, in-your-face, no-frills death metal, the kind that unites meatheads and fretboard wizards alike in the great circle of mosh life.
Speaking of metalheads uniting, the vocals on this EP are manned by a miniature army of mic slingers. While previous Humanity Defiled projects have typically featured Iweins death growls, Mankind is the Disease features different - and sometimes multiple - vocalists on each track. Stylistically there are several similarities to the screamers' sounds, with everyone largely favoring deep 'n dirty guttural growls, yet each player brings their own piece to what is otherwise very much Iwein's game, and everyone's the better for it...
...or are they??? Fancy a vulgar display of powerful riffs without a mouth for war? Mankind is the Disease includes instrumental versions of each track, and said songs still slap even sans screams. There's an audible sincerity to Iwein's playing, and the absence of inhuman roars allows the instrumental tracks to feel - wait for it - all the more human.
All in all, Mankind is the Disease is a wicked fun little EP, well worth whatever price you may name. It's the kind of find that institutes inspires you to pick up your own axe and shred the world around you, and the kind that highlights the exciting potential to be found in Bandcamp exploration. Between the riffs and the pricetag, there's nothing and no way to lose with this or any other offering by Humanity Defiled, and anyone even remotely interested in banging their heads whilst pinching their pennies absolutely needs to head over to Iwein's neck of the Bandcamp woods.