Heavy metal is, of course, very serious business. When subject matters regularly consist of murder, depression, grief, rage and all the other poisons of the world that make the flowers of your mind wilt, it makes a lot of sense for much of this music to be seriously made and seriously consumed. Sex ed is a very serious class, but it’s still funny watching a teacher uncomfortably squirm and blush as they roll a condom onto a banana in front of a bunch of 13-year-olds who can’t stop giggling or being shocked by what they’re seeing. The point is that levity is necessary among the bleakness of our typically miserable music and every class needs its clown.
First of all, this is apparently part three of a concept album run that started with Revive The Throne back in 2020 (the #5 album on my best-of list that year, I might add). I bring that up because what the hell brutal slam band makes concept albums, let alone a trilogy? This is already an absurd endeavor. If you’re looking for a more obvious example of them understanding their audience’s desire for their over-the-top approach to death metal, the opening sample on the first song, “The Hunt,” ends with a roar from The Predator. The late stretch of the album is no slouch either as “Tribunal of Presence” opens with a killer clean guitar lead from guest musician Todor Manojlovic, which is already seemingly out of place before someone yells “pussy” and the death metal kicks back in. The cock-rocky style of the lead gets carried into the opening passage, however, and absolutely rips.
One of the most entertaining aspects of the album that the band surely smirked at while recording is their deployment of a cowbell. Fret not; this doesn’t turn into incessant banging like that Will Ferrell skit. In fact, the exact opposite is what happens. Whenever it pops up, it will be one solitary hit and then it’s gone. The ping of the cowbell enters and exits the song so quickly you’ll think you misheard it and end up looking around the room to see if some strange sound infiltrated your headphones. They actively chose to use one of the world’s most obnoxious instruments in the most obnoxiously subtle way as if only to fuck with their listeners a little bit. Every time that ping would whack-a-mole into a song, it genuinely gave me a chuckle.
While this review heavily focuses on the band’s humor, let it be known that the primary musical mode here is crushing death metal through and through. The double pseudo-cough into a roar and slam passage in “Proclaim The Anarchy” is stupidly heavy. The title track is a riffing militant machine of rhythmic battery. The “Get Out” opening has a spacey slick style akin to Slugde. The guitar leads throughout the album have all taken a step up in effectiveness. Delightfully, Lukas Swiaczny’s vocals continue to be some of the most varied and killer vocals in the brutal death game. It’s baffling that it took the band 12 years before moving him from guitars and backing vocals to taking the lead as his sole responsibility. He roars, shrieks, gurgles, hisses and everything else you’ve ever heard on a death metal record. More importantly, he does them all with supreme gusto and power. Every player performs well, and the band created legitimately good songs that are made all the better by knowing the band was having fun and poking fun while they created them.
Chances are pretty good that you got into metal when you were a tween or early teen and thought it was hilarious when your friend ripped ass in the middle of math class. Well, I’m guessing you still laugh your cute little tushy off when grandpa nukes his pants in the middle of a funeral service. Do you know why? because farts have been scientifically proven always to be funny. Stillbirth and Homo Deus are like good funerary toots. The setting and service are a dark and serious whirl of a day, but their humor is a blast of unsilent deadliness to help break the tension of your regular listening routine. Bang your head and have a good chuckle while you do it.
