HUMAN ENGINE

"Human Engine" is the debut full-length studio album by Spanish extreme metal act Vórtice. The album was released through Holy Cobra Society Records in January 2008. Vórtice are from Barcelona, Catalonia and was formed in 2004.

Stylistically the band play a technical groove oriented metal style, which takes it´s cues from the Meshuggah school of playing, but ultimately is much simpler in execution. The vocal style is aggressive and deep yet not growling, the guitar riffs are crushingly heavy and tecnically complex, and the drumming is skillfully performed. All in all a very well playing band.

The 10 tracks on the 48:48 minutes long album are of a good quality. Well written material that reveals itself to be a bit more varied than what is suggested upon initial listens. A track like "Schemes of Reality" features sludgy elements and the great closing title track features some well played and tasteful percussion. The album is relatively well produced too and upon conclusion "Human Engine" is a pretty decent album by Vórtice. It suffers a bit from the lack of an original sound, and that´s definitely what the band should work on for future releases, but other than that "Human Engine" is a good quality album deserving a 3.5 star (70%) rating.