Seattle DIY thrash punk band Vile Display of Humanity recently released their self-titled debut album. The album is a twenty song, forty minute bombardment full of anti-establishment lyrics and punishing instrumentation. The production value is lackluster at times, but considering it was recorded by the band on a laptop, it could be much worse. While the occasionally crunchy drums and vocal-heavy mix take away from some songs, overall the album is a raging, socially conscious call to arms.
Most of Vile Display of Humanity bleeds together, made up of tracks that move harshly and at a high-speed. The extremely raspy vocals take precedent in the mix, screaming about topics surrounding the absurdities of modern day life. The drums crank out fast-pace beats, and even quicker snare fills and cymbal hits. The guitars repeatedly strike deep chords, at times switching it up with more melodic sections that make you take notice. “When You See The Light” and “See What God Did” notably contain some of those appealing riffs, showing a regard for melody tucked behind scratchy vocal takes. A more pounding track is “Gallows Road,” which inflicts a considerable urgency from its opening vocal explosion, and carefully changes gears into slower sections with abrupt add-ins of shredding guitar, and speeds back up with blast beat drumming. Further into the album, “The Deal’s Done” contains the band’s strongest combinations of heavy guitar and drums, while “Walking Dead” contains some of their best vocal cuts.
Overall, Vile Display of Humanity is a solid display of hardcore punk. With more professional production the band could feel larger and more in-your-face, instead of feeling thin or clunky at times. But in the end, Vile Display of Humanity is more concerned with writing cut-throat songs that point out problems with society, and they are successful at doing that with a sense of uncontrollable aggression.
Download Vile Display of Humanity on bandcamp, or stream below via Spotify.
Featured image courtesy of the artist.
PhillyPunk 