Album Review – The Human Race Is Filth / Cognitive Dissonance (2023)

A filthy trio hailing from Pennsylvania will attack our senses with their debut full-length album, churning out a new slab of death-grinding disorientation.

Sonic violence abounds, as Pennsylvania, United States-based Death Metal/Grindcore rabble The Human Race Is Filth churns out a new slab of death-grinding disorientation entitled Cognitive Dissonance, their first full-length album and the follow-up to their 2022 EP Echo Chambers. Recorded at The Kaleidoscope, mixed and engineered by Ben Roth, mastered by Joel Grind, displaying a demented artwork by All4Band Design, and featuring a noise track recorded on every song throughout the entire recording, sometimes prominent in mix, sometimes faint, Cognitive Dissonance is a inhumane album carefully brought into being by Kasey Harrison (Police State, Bittered) on vocals and bass, Paul Folk (Exterminance, Police State, Bittered) on the guitars and noises, and Brett Rebman (Punctual, Phlegm, Gangrenous Flesh Consumption) on drums, dealing with topics like mental health, socioeconomic injustice, technology, personal struggle and privilege throughout the album’s intense 25 minutes of music.

Kasey had his toddler son speak the name of the band in the beginning of the intro Life Of Tyrants, followed by tribalistic, primeval beats and vociferations, setting the stage for the trio to kick some ass in Apes With Christ, with Brett showing no mercy for his drums and obviously for our necks while Kasey barks like a rabid beast throughout the entire song in an awesome fusion of Death Metal and Grindcore. Then we have Electronic Caterpillars, just as infernal and neckbreaking as its predecessor, showcasing dirty riffs by Paul that together with the rumbling bass by Kasey will penetrate deep inside your psyche; and the menacing bass by Kasey ignites the grim and groovy Bastardized before exploding into a demolishing Death and Sludge Metal onrush spearheaded by Kasey’s bestial roars, with the song’s heaviness going through the freakin’ roof. There’s no sign of the band slowing things down or delivering anything light; quite the contrary, their vicious, sludgy attack goes on in Cloaked In Shame, with Paul’s riffs and noises bringing an extra dosage of filth to their sound.

The Human Race Is Filth need less than two minutes to pulverize our senses in Hopes Wavered, a lesson in brutality, heaviness and darkness by the trio where Paul has a fantastic performance armed with his axe, and they keep hammering their sonic weapons in Propagating Technology, with Brett alternating between groovier moments and sheer violence. The album’s second to last song, beautifully titled Vomiting Strings Of Human Decay, is the perfect depiction of the band’s music, blending the savagery of Death Metal and Grindcore with sluggish, somber elements, being therefore ideal for slamming into the pit while drinking a cold beer, whereas Tribal Injections Of Division is solid and heavy from start to finish, albeit the band has a much stronger performance when investing into shorter songs. Nothing that hurts the overall quality of the album, of course, as it’s still very enjoyable.

“We wrote this album from August to November 2021 and were really going for straight out Death Grind with a touch of d-beat and Hardcore mixed in. We wanted dirtier guitar and bass tones, more aggressive drums, and more extreme vocals compared to the first three releases and we believe we accomplished those things on this release,” commented the band about their newborn beast, and if you want to know more about them, their tour dates and plans for the future, you can check what they’re up to on Facebook and on Instagram, subscribe to their YouTube channel, stream all of their creations on Spotify, and grab your copy of Cognitive Dissonance from their own BandCamp page or by clicking HERE. Cognitive Dissonance is heavy, noisy, evil, disturbing, and everything else we love in extreme music, proving that as long as the human race continues to be filth like the name of the band states, those three metallers will keep piercing our ears with their venomous music.

Best moments of the album: Apes With Christ, Bastardized and Vomiting Strings Of Human Decay.

Worst moments of the album: Tribal Injections Of Division.

Released in 2023 Independent

Track listing
1. Life Of Tyrants 1:22
2. Apes With Christ 3:23
3. Electronic Caterpillars 3:54
4. Bastardized 4:24
5. Cloaked In Shame 2:31
6. Hopes Wavered 1:42
7. Propagating Technology 2:04
8. Vomiting Strings Of Human Decay 1:59
9. Tribal Injections Of Division 4:04

Band members
Kasey Harrison – vocals, bass
Paul Folk – guitar, noise
Brett Rebman – drums

Guest musician
Ben Roth – guitars on “Bastardized”