Despite Malaysia not being known as a country with a history of great battles fought or wars waged, this has not deterred Kuala Lumpur’s own Humiliation from delivering their first album of old school, war themed Death Metal. Ever since Bolt Thrower indefinitely postponed their new album, we’ve been lacking decent bands turning up and taking us back on musical journeys through the battlefields of the world, and more than a few have tried to take on the task and have fallen, dead and dying, in No Man’s Land. Humiliation are the latest to take up the challenge, and on ‘Dawn of Warfare’, it’s pretty clear that these guys kill in the old way.
Following the traditional hackneyed cliché of the military bugle intro, the first proper track takes us into the ‘Trench’, and the Bolt Thrower worship is full on and absolute. Downtuned and deep guitars build a thick and murky yet galloping riff, as the drums provide heavy supporting fire. Singer Bear Bee even provides a more than passable Karl Willets impression, yet to suggest that this is nothing more than a cover band with some new material would be wide of the mark. Humiliation are clearly excellent musicians in their own right and deserve to be viewed as such. The intensity remains crushing on tracks like ‘The Crisis to Come’ and ‘Command and Control’, as the dual guitars of Matt and Shah deliver destructive aural salvos, as Afe’s bass rumbles through the background like a MK.1 Tank.
Even avid fans of Bolt Thrower would agree that their music can be a little one dimensional at times, with little variation between songs (although in my opinion I would not include the superb ‘Those Once Loyal’ in that statement), and Humiliation also suffer from this to an extent. The same chugging riff is recycled ad infinitum, and it can get a little tiresome. On the plus side though, I’ll be the first to say it’s a belter, suits the songs perfectly and if doesn’t get your neck windmilling away, then you’re either dead or an idiot. ‘Minefields’ catches you unawares with its slow melodic intro, before unleashing the fury with a riff reminiscent of ‘Salvo’, eventually leaving you feeling bruised and abused and completely unprepared for the seriously old school battering of ‘Capping The T’, which is one of the more original and best tracks on here. There is a very big Pantera influence in the melody, which fuses brilliantly with their basic straight ahead bludgeoning style.The pace and quality show no signs of abating on ‘Mutiny’, and the excellent ‘Mustard Gas’, (I’ll bet that’s the first time that Mustard Gas has ever been referred to as ‘excellent’), with the bass in particular being outstanding on this track. Simple, but hugely effective.
‘Dawn of Warfare’, is, but for a very few minor niggles, an outstanding effort, especially for a first LP. The production is fantastic, clear and precise with absolutely everything coming through crisp and clear in the mix. Ok, so Humiliation are not going to win any awards for originality, but I would absolutely urge every Bolt Thrower fan waiting in the trenches for the order to go over the top, to do so now, seek this out and get a copy, and I promise you, you will not be disappointed. Victoria Crosses all round!
http://www.grave-digger.de
http://www.napalmrecords.com
