Review Summary: Shoddy recording quality and excess weight are what hold back Vile Display of Humanity on their self titled debut.
Seattle Crossover thrash punks Vile Display of Humanity are a new quintet that have had some hometown success opening for bands such as Leftover Crack, Star ***ing Hipsters and Toxic Holocaust. They recorded their self titled debut on guitarist David Foster’s laptop and unfortunately, it shows. Hardcore punk generally benefits from rawness and lo-fi style production, but here, the listener is faced with a botched recording featuring tinny sounding drums and improper volume balancing. It’s a shame too, because despite a 44 minute length that is twice as long as it should be, Vile Display of Humanity have crafted some fairly impressive thrashcore tunes on their debut.
Tracks like “You Can’t Escape”, “When you See the Light” and “Time to Die” bring some irresistible punk riffage, scaling the mountains of hardcore back and forth between palm muted chugs and even some surprisingly melodic leads and solos. Drummer Aaron Hatch is done a disservice by the recording quality; his drums sound awful, but some of his fills and drum lines are brilliantly done. “Time to Die” is one of the most memorable experiences on the record, throwing cyclones of thrash riffs at you until a brief guitar shred-fest that wouldn’t be out of place on a Nuclear Assault record. “Feed” is another highlight; Hatch’s drum fills and kicks match the hardcore punk approach flawlessly, and some of the sweetest melodies on the album are to be found here.
Vocalist Doug Mitchell shrieks violently throughout the entire album, in spots sounding like a less capable Chuck Schuldiner, but sometimes turning heads with up-front, politically charged lyrics. At first he can be off-putting, but by the end of the record it’s hard not to enjoy his high-pitched snarls or candid philosophical observations. On “Walking Dead” his hooks are infectious, and even outshine the other band members. He sounds like he’s having some fun here. Isn’t that what punk is about?
Hardcore releases of this nature are usually 15-20 minutes in length, but this runs more than twice as long as that, and it hurts the album significantly. Weaker songs like the cringe worthy acoustic closer “Sunday Morning” should have been omitted, and other punk tracks like “See What God Did”, “Pipe Bomb” and “The Deal’s Done” are mediocre attempts at recreating the crossover thrash perfected by bands such as Cro-Mags and the Accused. For every great riff and groove, there are a few that are too flat and predictable to care about. “Shades of Gray” and “So Long and Farewell” are perfect examples; tracks that don’t offer much more than a punk vibe and should have been cut from the disc. But that’s why these releases tend to be shorter, they are meant to not overstay their welcome because most tracks are melodically similar, and here that is all too noticeable. It’s easy to lose interest in the record halfway through.
Vile Display of Humanity have some work to do, but also showcase their ability to write some splendid punk licks, and even some memorable thrashcore songs. The recording quality definitely drags the album down a ton, as does the bloated run time. However, with enough polish, VDOH have a bright future playing DIY clubs where fans will be more than inclined to sing along.
