The Human Condition

The Human Condition is the second record of the Swedish band and offers eight tracks with a total playing time of 43:18 minutes. The style they are playing isn’t as easy to describe as the one of various other bands, as there are several elements combined. The basic frame is clearly a black metal one, but there are some influences of other genres as well and especially the guitars are trying to change the style. Those are pending between typical tremolo riffs in mid- and high-tempo, but they are quite reduced and decent. The basic element of the compositions are several changes in tempo which manage to alternate the songs enough to keep things interesting, but they still keep the basic elements/moods.

Everything is combined with the quite harsh vocals which could be described as “screamed”, although it’s still quite comprehensible. While it’s mostly done in this way, it is still varied over the several songs in terms of dynamics and timbres, which keeps things interesting. The two most fundamental things are the varied and refreshing drum patterns and the long-drawn disharmonics. Compared to the typical black metal songs, the drums are really complex and therefore adding another layer to the sound. As interesting as this are those disharmonics I mentioned, which are interwined with the harmonics and are creating a strange mood. Of course there is bass as well, but it’s mostly subtle and only sometimes stepping up to play some melodies.

There are some minor flaws as well, which could be enumerated quite fast. One of them would be the vocals, that are – at least sometimes – too silent (especially when they switch from screams to those nagged ones). Another one could be the transitions between faster and slower parts, as they are a bit abrupt at times, which disturbs the listening flow. The last one is the compact sound, that could lead to slight headaches, although it is really clear and defined at the same time.

Conclusion:

Waning created a record, that featured a relatively new, refreshing style of black metal apart of the “mainstream” one and features several details and gimmickry. The extensive play with disharmonics and complex drum grooves is quite refreshing and of course varied. The record offers a lot of entertainment with some lenghtes and therefore is recommendable. You should at least risk an ear on spotify (which features the whole record!) as the digipack version isn’t released yet.
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Written for http://threnodies.com