Igneous Human – Pyroclastic Storms (2/5)

01. Birth 6:11 02. You Better Be Dead 3:43 03. Quake 5:46 04. Redemption 4:42 05. Mute 3:42 06. Pyroclastic Storms 4:36 07. Deceived 4:12 08. Demonride 3:23 09. Hate 4:29 10. Tears 2:20

Here’s a question: what’s the first thing you think of when you hear the term ‘metal’?
a) A chemical element, compound, or alloy characterised by high electrical conductivity.
b) Some chaps with terrible hair-dos, wearing spandex pants stuffed with socks and strutting to squealy guitars.
c) RAAAAARGH, RAAAAARGH, RARARARARARRRGHH, CHF-CHF-CHF-CHF-CHF-DM-DM-DM-DM FWWWWOOOOOOAAAAARRRRGGGHHH.

If you picked C, then you might enjoy Sweden’s Igneous Human, and their debut album ‘Pyroclastic Storms’. The stereotypes that people have about metal – you know, those ‘it’s all just noise!’ and ‘you can’t even understand what they’re saying!’ ones – are pretty much spot-on when it comes to this band. But hey, that’s never stopped metalheads enjoying this style before. The problem with ‘Pyroclastic Storms’ is that… well, it’s just not as good as other similar offerings out there.

‘Birth’ kicks the album off, but not with the bang that you expect a band to make in an opener. The most notable idea about it is that it seems to share a chord progression with the castle levels from the original Super Mario Bros., but unfortunately, it doesn’t make it as enjoyable as said computer game. One remains nonchalant until the four-minute mark, when something that you might be able to whistle to or hum on the bus to work finally graces the album. The accompanying guitar solo is a little wonky, but still makes for a more interesting listen than the rest of the track. ‘You Better Be Dead’ is reminiscent of System Of A Down, but the difference is that that band were confident in their tongue-in-cheek, ridiculous ideas; the guitars on this effort sound like little more than a scourer tackling some stubborn, dried-in food. It’s a flaw present in a notable percentage of the album; there’s too much reliance on old blueprints as they allow the instruments – especially the guitars – to fall into the vast obscurity of every sub-standard downtuned band ever, never challenging the listener or fully expressing the outside-the-box ideas they occasionally flirt with. ‘Redemption’ shows a little bit of variation with its organ-and-lead guitar intro, before turning into ‘Black Betty’ with growling vocals. As the good ship Igneous Human ventures dangerously close to the frostbitten, lovelorn waters of gothic metal, one notices a spark of avant-garde inspiration about them, but their reluctance to provide anything more than melodeath-by-numbers means they don’t break any barriers.

This desire to break free is further emphasised by ‘Demonride’’s interlude, in the form of a Spanish guitar solo (perhaps they should add ‘…The Punishment Due’ to the end of the song title). Sadly, it does little to distract from the otherwise generic sounds of this album. The same could be said for outro piece ‘Tears’, a two-minute long instrumental coda that sounds more suited to folk metal. A nice tune in itself, it’s just a shame that it isn’t wrapping up a majestic mindfuck of an album, and instead sits like an anachronism, awkwardly jammed in as if giving the record some depth as an afterthought.

Am I being too harsh? Maybe, and that’s why I’d like to say that ‘Quake’ is an awesome track, instantly grabbing your attention with its demanding, mournful stomp. But vocals are undoubtedly where the most emotion is conveyed in a song, and really, how much can one get across through angry growls? Even Phil Anselmo, the vocalist of Igneous Human’s influence, Pantera, had a sense of integrity whether he was screaming his balls off or crooning about running out of weed. It seems that a lot of today’s bands are under the impression that finding a harsh, throaty singer and twiddling the tuning pegs down a bit automatically turns you into Phil, Dime, Rex and Vinnie. It doesn’t. But for those who still get thrills out of this sort of thing, it’s worth a spin.

Pyroclastic Storms is available to download at Play.com

Genre : Death Metal

Article by Andy McDonald