THE HUMAN ABSTRACT

That desirable creative uniqueness and solidness is what's happening in "Digital Veil", the third album, by The Human Abstract. If you enjoy baroque/classical melodies/music, you need to listen to this work.

"Elegiac" cannot catch a listener's attention any better. It beautifully opens the door to the great experience of the "Digital Veil." (8.5/10)

"Complex Terms" is one the most melodic songs of the album. The lyrics are great. Heavy rhythm and powerful vocal melodies are dominant. And one remains only to enjoy the shifts to the clean classical parts. (9/10)

"Faust" is yet another great track with great lyrics. It's melodic and very arpeggiated- a characteristic combination of brutality and aggression with beauty. Again, in this song one can witness folklore and classical influences. (10/10)

"Antebellum" is beautiful. Sweet clean-guitar arpeggios, heavy silenced and broken rhythms, and with awesome vocal melodies is the longest song on the album (7:29). Filling guitar arpeggios/sweeps are everywhere in this album; well they are technical and extreme progressive metal! :D (9/10)

"Horizon To Zenith"? Wow! Again, another awesome track that beautifully starts with stylish baroque-like melodies and sweep arpeggios. The rhythms are usually broken and silenced as the other reviewer has already mentioned it. This song too, possesses a cool piano part. (9.5/10)

"Patterns" is a just the right track for finishing this album. It's mainly floating on its heaviness over a 12/8 pattern. Vocals are awesome. The guitar solo for this track is probably the best on the album. (10/10)

"Holographic Sight" (5/10) [Good track but not as unique and dominant as others!]

"Digital Veil" (4/10) [The worst song!]

1. Elegiac

Perfectly sums up what The Human Abstract wants to be. A mix of classical and metal done on four (I think?) guitars. The double acoustic guitar returns in other parts of the album, and really does work fantastically well as a contrast to the harsh sections. A truly epic intro 9/10

2. Complex Terms

Excellent guitar, excellent rhythm, slightly ruined by the excessive growled vocals, but that picks up in the almost entirely clean second half. One of the best chorus melodies on the album in this one, and a lovely 2-bar piano bit which really shows that these guys are more than most metalcore bands. 8/10

3. Digital Veil

Worst song on the album by centuries. No melody at all. And while I can respect the technicality in the guitar, this sort of thing can be expected from basically any tech metalcore band out there, and isn't what sets THA apart. 2/10

4. Faust

Another song, like Complex Terms, that is mostly dominated by growls, with the occasional piece of melody, but those melodies are absolutely stunning. The second half of the song goes into a really nice piano underlay. 7/10

5. Antebellum

This. Is one of my favourite songs of all time. The sheer emotion packed into just 7 minutes of music is astonishing. And so much happens in that time. This song, apparently, is written in sonata form. I don't really know what that means, but I understand it's what classical composers use as a form like pop songs have verse/chorus forms. Either way, it works very well, with the reprises of certain sections being completely amazing. Travis' vocals are completely on fire here, and I adore how the unclean section isn't overpowering and you actually focus much more on the solo. And boy what a solo. Truly heart-stopping. When I read the lyrics, I actually struggle to remember hearing half of them, because all my concentration is on those fantastic riffs. And I haven't even got to the hooks yet. The major hook ("regiments of disconnects emerge?") is one of my favourite of all time. One of those melodies that makes you want to sing it as loud as you physically can.

I could say much more about this, but I feel I'm rambling. Listen to this song before you die or you will never have lived. 11/10

6. Holographic Sight

Another weaker song, especially after the explosion of Antebellum. Doesn't give any fantastic melodies. 3/10

7. Horizon To Zenith

The only 100% clean song on the album, and a very nice one. Travis' vocals here remind me of Thom Yorke/Matt Bellamy (whoever you prefer), and has a nice chorus melody again. This song also boasts the most ridiculously prog guitar/bass syncing I have ever heard. Both guitar and bass play the same notes, taking seemingly random pauses to create one of the most ridiculous sections on the album. 9/10

8. Patterns

This is probably the only song that is clean, but doesn't have an amazing vocal hook in it. Doesn't stop it from being a good song though. 6/10

Overall 6.4/10, 4 stars

Good - Antebellum, the solo on Horizon to Zenith, Antebellum, acoustic guitar, Antebellum, classical influence, Antebellum

Bad - It's only 37 minutes, and take away the bad songs, 26 minutes. And considering the good songs are all REALLY GOOD SONGS, it sort of feels lke they have a bit more in them to give.

Already as I heard it for the first time, I was very possitive surprised. It have very good mix of Death Metal Vocals and harmonic Vocals. Also the Riffs are in a strange way amusingly.

1. Elegiac - Elegiac is a 2 min. intro. And for my opinion the gratest "Extreme Prog Metal - INTRO" I've ever known. 5/5*

2. Complex Terms - It is one of the longer Tracks. I like it much, but in a way it have to much heavy Riffs. 3/5*

3. Digital Veil - It's the hardest Song on the Album. And also the shortest (except "Elegiac") Sadly have this Song no harmonic Vocals. 2/5*

4. Faust - It`s one of the best Songs in the Album. Beautiful and Strong. 5/5*

5. Antebellum - It`s the longest Song in the Album, and also one of the best Songs in the Album. Truly Beautiful. 5/5*

6. Holographic Sight - A very crazy hard Song with a beautiful refrain. 4/5*

7. Horizon to Zenith - This Song is similarly like "Faust". But a bit beautier. I like it very much! 5/5*

8. Patterns - It`s a cool end Song. But not so Awesome like; Faust, Antelbellum or Horizon to Zenith". 4/5*

It's a fantastic Album, nearly at a Masterpiece. 4.5/5

"Midheaven" has some advantages over its predecessor. Mostly, the band has found some use for their abilities. Whereas in "Nocturne" many instrumental sections just appeared to have been included there for showing-off purposes, everything seems to have a reason now. The crazy guitar scales and drum fills fit the music and sound like they belong here. The band thus sounds a little bit less self-indulgent as a result, which is a good thing in extreme metal. Excesses may sound good in other genres, but in metal extreme metal sometimes they sound like cheap ways of getting attention (the music already is loud, please.)

Some of the weaknesses that this album still has are the lack of balance and the use of "screamo" vocals. Screamo vocals detract from the overall metal picture and make the music sound adolescent and less serious than it is. On another hand, the album, again, starts to lose focus after about halfway through. Curiously, exactly when metal seems to recede in favor or emo/harcore music.

The best song, and the catchiest, is probably "Breathing Life into Devices" It actually makes the vocals seem like a fine addition to the album. And the band displays their abilities without getting in the way of the music.

Again, a 3-star effort that could've been better. I hope next time THE HUMAN ABSTRACT gets it totally right. Anyway, the band is a good alternative in light extreme metal.

Since the debut founding member A.J. Minette ( Guitar, piano) has left the band and been replaced by Andrew Tapley ( guitar) and a sixth member has also been included to the ranks in Sean Leonard ( Keyboards).

The music is still melodic modern metal with occasional thrashy riffing and both clean and screaming, gruff vocals. This time some of the songs have more experimental structures though and borders progressive metal at times. The album opener A Violent Strike is the best example, but a song like Breathing Life into Devices has some pretty obvious progressive elements as well. Note all the neo-classical guitar notes that was also a big part of the sound on the debut.

The musicianship is excellent. Lots of fast and melodic playing, tight drumming and a strong vocalist ( his style is an aquired taste, but no one can dispute his skills).

The production was initially done by Toby Wright (Korn, Slayer, Alice in Chains), but the band had some disagreements over musical direction with him and changed producer along the way. The band finished the album with Leonard Simone and Jesse E. String co-producing the album. The sound quality is excellent. A really enjoyable modern metal production IMO.

There are still many parallels between a band like Avenged Sevenfold and The Human Abstract and I can´t help feeling that I´ve heard most of the material on Midheaven before. That doesn´t make it a bad release though and if you can stand the emo singing you´ll probably enjoy this album greatly. The Human Abstract does tread enough new ground on Midheaven to stir clear of the generic label which is what I gave the band after listening to Nocturne, but don´t expect to hear great progressive achievements. A big 3 star rating from someone who might not be a fan of the genre but knows quality when he hears it.

The music is very melodic and simple structured modern heavy metal. There are both screamo and clean vocals in the music. Frontman Nathan Ells is capable of both styles but his vocal style is not very distinct and sounds like the million of other bands playing the metalcore style. I read in one of the threads in the forum that someone said that metalcore is metal mixed with emocore and I can only join that statement. The music on Nocturne is filled with memorable and melodic choruses and more aggressive sounding verses. Melodic twin guitar harmonies ( there´s a very obvious neo-classical element in the music) and thrashy riffing. There are some unexpected shifts in rythm in some of the songs but the music is generally easy to listen to and at times very commercial. Just listen to the chorus in Self Portraits of the Instincts. That one just imprints itself in your mind after the first listen. Some find this charming, I find it annoying most of the time.

I was reminded of a pop version of Soilwork more than one time but The Human Abstract also sounds a lot like Avenged Sevenfold when they are most melodic. Trivium also comes to mind. The musicianship is excellent and we´re witness to some really well played songs seen from a technical view. There´s nothing new here but the level of musicianship is very high.

The production is very professional. It is clean and powerful.

Nocturne is not my cup of tea I´ll admit that. I´m having a hard time appreciating the emo element in their music which I find cheesy to say it out loud. When that is said Nocturne is a very professional album. The production, the compositions and the musicianship is all on a high level so I can´t give the album less than 3 stars even though this really doesn´t get any points with me personally.

THE HUMAN ABSTRACT is a metal band, no question about that. And a progressive metal band at that. Not only do they use heavy, violent riffing but they combine it with extreme virtuosity and even some showing- off moments when they just play scales or figures for no particular reason. Their music is a combination of the sound of bands like MESHUGGAH, CYNIC, with elements of more traditional outfits like DEATH or even DREAM THEATER (?! - The guitarist even thanks John Petrucci for inspiration in the liner notes.) Think of this as hardcore-meets-thrash-meets-progressive metal.

The attack on the senses is constant, relentless, but there are melodic moments, and some are actually very good, even attaining beauty at times. The double-bass drum is used to accentuate most every crushing riff that the guitars produce, yet at the same time we can find acoustic passages where the pounding gets reduced to zero and all we have is melody. It's quite an achievement what this band has done at combining extreme violence with melodic music. When the album is heard, there's never certainty about what will happen next, and that's a good thing, as this record can be called anything except predictable.

As said before, the musicians tend to out-do themselves by showing off their abilities every now and then. There's no denying the quality of their performance even if at times they do things we never quite understand the purpose of. Many riffs end in rethorical scales or blazing figures where the bass drums, the guitars and the bass guitar all play in unison to the amazement of the listener but also to the bewilderment of the fan who doesn't see the point of it. There are genres where that kind of elements is necessary or even applauded (my own favorite DT the biggest example of that), but at times I wonder: is THE HUMAN ABSTRACT a technical metal band? They don't sound like one, but it's like they have a little of it in their hearts and just can't make up their minds about completely ignoring it.

The songs are never predicatable, their structures are somewhat typical but with many sections and layers that create surprise and tension. Most of the first half of the record is excellent. There's but one problem near the second half: track 8 ends with a long acoustic fade-out that would've been a perfect way to close the album (in fact, whenever I heard the record I think this is the end of it), but after this extended (and beautiful) moment, another violent songs starts and kills any effect this music had on us. Not only that but, to this reviewer, it feels like after track 8 THE HUMAN ABSTRACT lost their inspiration, as the remaining songs are the weakest in this collection.

I can't leave without commenting upon my biggest problem with this record: the vocals. I just can't tolerate hardcore-style vocals ala MESHUGGAH, and for the most part, that's what we get. Oddly enough, there are better moments when the voice is doubled and we get a kind of FEAR FACTORY-like effect which we like, but in what's even weirder, there are a lot of times when the vocals sound like an EMO band. Yes, even the melodies and the riffing tend to sound a little emo-ish in a few passages in the record, and that's another style we don't particularly love.

In the end, a good album, very good for lovers of extreme metal a la FEAR FACTORY or MESHUGGAH, which has a few flaws, the biggest one being the lack of decision from the band members regarding what is that they are trying to accomplish, and what identity THE HUMAN ABSTRACT really has.