MACABRE (IL) — Human Monsters (review)

MACABRE (IL) — Human Monsters album cover EP · 2010 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Human Monsters" is an EP release by US, Illinois based death/grindcore act Macabre. The EP was released through Obscene Productions in June 2010. All four tracks on the 15:52 minutes long EP would also be featured on Macabre´s fifth full-length studio album "Grim Scary Tales (2011)", so "Human Monsters" could be labelled a "teaser" release. At that point in time, the band´s last release was "Murder Metal" from 2003 (if the DVD release "True Tales of Slaughter and Slaying (2006)" aren´t counted), so the fans were probably hungry for new audio material. "Human Monsters" is a vinyl only release limited to 1000 copies. So in addition to being a teaser release, it´s also a collector´s item...

...and that is the mindset you have to have when reviewing "Human Monsters", because otherwise it is quite a redundant release if you already have "Grim Scary Tales (2011)". The quality of the material on the EP is relatively high although Macabre have overall created better releases in the past. "Dracula" is not the most interesting Macabre track, "The Big Bad Wolf" is slightly better and includes a children´s melody (a Macabre trademark), "Countess Bathory" is a slightly tame Venom cover, and "The Bloody Benders" is a fairly standard quality Macabre track. So there´s nothing out of the ordinary here although the quality is overall relatively high.

The material is well produced and if you´re familiar with Macabre it won´t come as a surprise that the musicianship is top notch too. Especially drummer Dennis the Menace (Dennis Ritchie) is an incredibly skilled musician. The vocals are as always a combination of clean vocals, growling, and aggressive snarling and as always a highlight of the band´s music. So upon conclusion the quality of the release is high enough although without making my blood boil wildly. So even though there´s nothing feautured on this release you probably haven´t already listened to on "Grim Scary Tales (2011)", and it is therefore per definition a hardcore fan item, I´ll chose to rate it on its own merits and therefore a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.
Share this review

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Facilis Descensus Averno Death Metal
SAEVUS FINIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Merciless Crossover Thrash
BODY COUNT
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Skorian // The Greyleer Black Metal
MEFITIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Memoria viva Progressive Metal
WHITE STONES
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us