Igneous Human – Pyroclastic Storms

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Only a couple of years old, Swedes Igneous Human evolved from Gaphia, who never finished their debut album, dissolving during the recording process in 2007. Vocalist Andreas Joelsson, bassist Mikael Gustavsson and drummer John Thorner formed Igneous Human with guitarist Daniel Persson to carry on where Gaphia left off. Like a groovier version of Arch Enemy, the riffs are the stand-out feature of Igneous Human. Most of the tracks here eschew straight-forward death metal for a harder, rawer guitar sound and an Ektomorf-ish heavy groove built very much around the rhythm section. Joelsson’s mid-level growls (i.e. aggressive, but intelligible) fill in the gaps, so to speak, and fit very well, but it’s the interesting and original musical ideas the band have, which run right through to the all-strings outro track Tears, that are the big selling point. The immediacy of tracks like Birth, anger of You Better Be Dead, the lead breaks of Mute and bass rumble of Deceived are all highlights, though picking out a low-point isn’t really possible. There’s plenty here for fans of Arch Enemy, The Haunted and anyone else looking for a little more in their melodic death metal. Pyroclastic Storms is certainly very impressive for a debut.

Written by Andy Lye
More: 2010, Albums, Heavy Metal (Extreme Vocals), Quick.Play Reviews, Igneous Human