J-Man
If you like your thrash metal as raw, unpolished, and old school as it gets, North Carolina's Eugenic Death may be the band for you. Crimes Against Humanity, their debut full-length offering, worships at the altar of late eighties' thrash in the vein of Slayer, Rigor Mortis, and Exodus - that is to say that the band plays a fast-paced variant of the genre that borders on primitive death metal, without quite diving into the extremity of early death metal acts like Death or Morbid Angel. Crimes Against Humanity is a decidedly old school effort from start to finish, and although this regressive attitude makes for a largely unessential listen, folks that can't get enough of late eighties' thrash may want to investigate what Eugenic Death has to offer.
The compositions on Crimes Against Humanity are generally speed-oriented and fairly simple structurally, but there are some pretty complex riffs that pop up from time to time. Although this is not the most varied thrash metal record out there, Eugenic Death does a decent job keeping the riffs fresh - when monotony begins to settle in, the band will usually introduce a new idea or include a guitar solo courtesy of Jonathan Mccanless, who is undoubtedly the shining star of Eugenic Death. He delivers some truly excellent solos throughout the album (just listen to his work in the instrumental “Epitaph”!), and while the rest of the band is competent, it isn't anything to write home about. I actually find the vocals from Keith Davis to be a bit detrimental to the album, as his semi-growling delivery strikes me as rather dull and uninteresting. His vocals just lack the 'bite' that would suit this style of music perfectly.
Crimes Against Humanity also sports a totally raw and unpolished production, and while I personally find the lead guitar to be too high in the mix, Eugenic Death made a wise decision in choosing this style of production. Music this speedy and intense demands a gimmick-free production, and that's certainly what we have here. In spite of its high points, however, I still have difficulty giving Crimes Against Humanity more than a mere passive recommendation. Eugenic Death does very little to stand out from the crowd with this debut, and in a genre as well-populated as old school thrash metal, more originality and compositional finesse are required to win me over. An average debut, but nothing more as far as I'm concerned.