Human Ashtray
Pripyat ()
Wydane przez Self-financedRok wydania Kraj SpainNapisał Wouter4
If this breathtaking painting which functions as artwork reminds me of anything it is of legendary Italian exploitation hacks such as Luigi Cozzi and Umberto Lenzi. I get serious "Contamination" and "City Of the Walking Dead" vibes from this. And coincidentally or not, Human Ashtray is just as guilty as those infamous movie directors of the ‘70s and ‘80s. That is to say, they both liberally lift (no, steal) from the American brands that inspired them. Not that they are Italian, they are Catalonian (Spanish), in fact. That it isn’t as nearly as effective or as visceral as the original article is to be expected. After all how long can you rip something off before it loses its inherent value, artistic or otherwise? So, what we have here is a band that rips off the entirely awful The Black Dahlia Murder for all its worth. And as those longer around the bend know The Black Dahlia Murder ripped off At the Gates for all its worth. This leaves us with the rip-off of a rip-off. A cheap, third generation knock-off - and not a very good one at that. Everything you care for when you are 14 years old is here, though. Watered down At the Gates riffing (primarily culled from the horrendous shitfest that is "The Slaughter Of the Soul" - At the Gates’ artistic death certificate), the usual barrage of groan-inducing breakdowns, dual vocal assault (scream, grunt), some gentle melodies and enough staccatos to get the bodies in the crowd moving. You see, stuff like this pisses me off to no end. This is lowest common denominator pandering of the worst kind. This is insulting to anyone with a functional brain and the least bit of taste. Remember that time in the late ‘90s when deathcore actually meant something? I’m having a hard time remembering myself, because while I was no particular fan of it then (in its arguably more poignant, malevolent and relevant form) - this stuff is just the very anti-thesis of everything that extreme metal stands for, or should stand for. This is sugary, market-conscious, audience-tested, pre-fabricated and MySpace promoted drivel that borders more on high speed pop music than it does on extreme metal. Let alone on, you know, actual, honest-to-Odin death metal. But there are death grunts, you’ll say! Sure, but when did ripping off Sven de Caluwé’s vocal stylings become a virtue? He’s as much a trendwhore as you dipshits. No, I don’t like you and I hope you never release another record. If we need anything, it’s less hipster douchebags and stupid kids. I’d rather sit through another Jesus Franco or Joe d’Amato movie of the ‘70s than to suffer at the hands of such obvious cashgrabs as this. Avoid, at all costs.
www.myspace.com/humanashtray
