JUDICATOR — At the Expense of Humanity (review)

JUDICATOR — At the Expense of Humanity album cover

Album · 2015 · Power Metal

4/5 · 2015-02-08
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At the Expense of Humanity (2015) is the third full-length studio album by US power metal act Judicator. It's the first since they expanded from a duo to a full band line-up with standing members John Yelland (vocals) and Tony Cordisco (guitars, bass) joined by Tyler Sherrill (keyboards) and Jordan Elcess (drums) as well as a host of guest performers on the album. At the Expense of Humanity is a concept album based on John Yelland's brother who sadly died of cancer, so lyrically it marks a departure from the more historical based concepts heard on previous albums King of Rome (2012) and Sleepy Plessow (2013).

Musically At the Expense of Humanity further shows Judicator growing and changing as a band. Though the cover artwork looks to me like it would be more at home on a metalcore or deathcore release this is still a power metal record through and through. It's just a different beast to the band's previous two records. Where King of Rome showed off what was basically Blind Guardian worship (and there is nothing wrong with that!), with Sleepy Plessow Judicator's own identity began to shine through. Rather than honing what was done last time though with At the Expense of Humanity we get to hear something different again. I'd say that the group have delved further into a progressive influenced sound here while also further playing upon the accessible melodic power metal sensibilities. Even with the progressive elements in some ways this one feels like a more typical record for the power metal genre but the subject matter does set it apart from the crowd. It's the sort of album which may appeal to someone who likes the sound of power metal music but finds the more typically found fantasy themes a bit too much to stomach. People who listen to power metal for those themes though may find At the Expense of Humanity a bit too dark by contrast.

While it's undeniable that expanding to a full band was the right move for Judicator at this point, I can't help but feel that I enjoyed the last album Sleepy Plessow a little bit more, with the individual songs standing out better for me on that album. At the Expense of Humanity is the sort of album that works best as one long piece and while there's nothing inherently wrong with that I can see me being more likely to return to Sleepy Plessow over this one. This is still a good quality record from Judicator though, especially tracks like Autophagia and Lucid Nightmare come over as highlights and I genuinely like that Judicator has been able to work the power metal genre in different ways with each album they've done, but it's the very changing nature which does mean that not every record they do is going to find the same level of appeal with each listener. Others will no doubt think the opposite to me while others still will prefer King of Rome's power/speed metal attack. Still it's hard to deny that At the Expense of Humanity is a quality record though the subject matter means it lacks power metal's normal fun factor, which may be an obstacle to it finding acceptance from every quarter. The band have my utmost respect for not going by the book though. I'm going to go with 4 stars.