Shards of Humanity - Cold Logic CD

LISTEN: Moths of Zeta

SHARDS OF HUMANITY swam against the tide with the 2014 release of their debut, Fractured Frequencies. That album was a Death-inspired blast of thrashy riffs, blazing tempos and glass-gargling vocals. Instead of leaning into early, primitive Death, as many bands did (and have done since, e.g. Gruesome), SHARDS OF HUMANITY looked to the middle period of the band for influence, hammering strands of Human and Symbolic into new, warped shapes.

Cold Logic sees the band pushing every dimension harder than ever. Vocals are hoarse howls of torment; guitars are bigger and bolder, but without the raw edges sanded off. With Pestilence-like thrash riffing and even an Atheist-reminiscent free jazz freakout, this is an album not at all interested in pretending to be primitive, yet still very much connected to the genre's beating, blood-drenched heart.