Human Hecatomb

I listened to "Human Hecatomb" about six times in total, and this is really a lot for me. To listen not to classic stuff, I mean. But one day I made a fatal mistake in deciding to perform an "investigative experiment": I listened to this album immediately after "Across the Open Sea" by Unleashed. Well, I have no hesitation in saying that "Human Hecatomb" is heard as a natural continuation of "Across the Open Sea". Seriously. Both in the case of music and in terms of the recording. Except that the Russian stuff is a little faster than the Swedish "original". Also, although the recording that was made in St. Petersburg, is close in quality to the one from Stockholm, it strikes the ear that there is a bit more reverb on the Pyre vocals, but this is a rather small detail, and it's noticeable only when compared with the "original". As for the rest, it was a waste of time trying to find a difference where there is not.

On the one hand, the revealed analogy raises Pyre to a high level. As well as the studio where this recording was made. It's really an impressive result to make in the underground the work comparable to the famous band. On the other hand – this is Swedish death metal from the 90s and nothing more. Nothing.

Strictly speaking, for me it is the same when a young (or not so) black metal band makes the one thousandth version of the 100% "darkthronish" material: yes, it's good, but completely uninteresting. Unlike black metal, I don't listen to Swedish death metal so often, so I couldn't immediately pronounce the sentence to "Human Hecatomb". And the verdict is unequivocal: the band members don't use their own ideas, there is no originality here, it's just copying – ok, inspiration by other people's material.

If any originality can be found anywhere else, it's in the solo guitar parts. It could be heard something individual here. However, only in the first song "Merciless Disease" the solo is definitely not in the vein of Unleashed – there are a lot of heavy metal influences here, and it's really impressive. It would be very beneficial for the whole album if all the solos were like that. However, in the second song "Far Beyond the Unknown" the solo is already much more "Swedish". And so on.

The biggest impression was made by the episode in the sixth song "Under the Death Reign", starting from 2:48 – there is an incredibly heartfelt lead guitar bridge, turning into a solo: it resembles a bit the solo in the cover of the "Phantasm" theme in the song "Left Hand Path" by Entombed. I think this is the only episode on the album in the vein of Entombed or Dismember (needless to say, Unleashed has always been inferior to these bands, when it comes to melodism / lyricism). Well, maybe in the finale song "Disturbia" the solo tugs at heartstrings too.

I was not going to write a review of Unleashed, so I have nothing more to add. It would be an incredibly grandiose work if it were not just a copy. I don't have the heart to value it at a low rate, but whose merit is this mostly? Maybe Unleashed.