Harms Way
Post Human
Metal Blade
February 6, 2018
Review by hutch
Harms Way offer Post
Human on February 6th to redefine themselves yet again, this
time on Metal Blade Records. Having only heard friends praise this band
throughout the years, I was surprised to hear that some hardcore fans deride them
due to some asinine adherence to strict definitions of hardcore. Really? 2018?
Regardless, I am a fan and have been since day one. Harm’s Way began in 2007.
2008’s Imprisoned was comprised of
short (:30 - :60) powerviolence tracks. Harms Way spent the next decade,
pumping out a few EPs and 3 LPs on Organized Crime, Closed Casket Activities,
and Deathwish Inc. Thought line up changes have ebbed and flowed; Bo Lueders on
guitar, Chris Mills on drums, and James Pligge on vocals, have solidified Harms
Way’s focus. Ten years witnessed these Chicago malcontents produce unique,
aggressive music.
The first song on Post Human, “Human Carrying Capacity”, was
released early as a single, on websites and Spotify. This is a familiar Harms Way
track (read: sick as hell, heavy as fuck); bad ass breakdown hardcore with a
drum machine in the background. After another bruiser, “Last Man”, we arrive at
track three, “Temptation”. This is where we began to hear some variation. This
is no Ceremony L Shaped Man (a killer
record as well) direction; but the slower, quieter atmosphere adds tension and
ambience as the bass line pushes the track into a chilling space. The distant
vocals and dissonant guitar notes extract an unsettling uncertainty in the listener.
The second half of the track returns to expected elements (thick riffs) and damages
eardrums. Following “Temptation” is “Become a Machine” – the fastest track on
the album and somehow the most robotic in the chorus. This tracks consists of sharp
guitar squeals, which pan in the headphones to add momentum and energy. The 4/4
beat is a great hardcore rhythm for the verse before Harms Way enters a bridge
that is double bass driven, more plotted.
The second single, “Call My Name”, allows us to see into
this interpretation of using outside electronic elements. The beginning of the
track uses bass drops and tonal fog before a repetitive groove takes over.
Again, Harms Way utilizes these non-traditional hardcore instrumentations to
set mood; to alleviate some of the intensity in between monster tracks and segments.
“Unreality” has an undeniable groove. This is where maybe a Sepultura or VOD
guitar sound manifests. Adding samples here doesn’t change the music, just
varies its approach. While I would bet the band resents any slim genre classification,
this is still angry hardcore to me.
With the electronics, Harms Way is not “experimenting” but
confident in its growth. The time changes and dissection of guitars and drums to
use certain instruments in sparse places, aids to the music. Like negative
space in a photograph. The result is bulking up its power, guaranteeing impact.
(This isn’t Fear Factory or Front 242. (I’m old).) As the albums winds down, “The
Gift”, the penultimate song, is the only pure electronic track. Pulses and
hisses and programmed drums linger while vocalist, Pligge, bellows. No guitars.
It’s a cool track. To finish, “Dead Space” boasts a pounding, searing pace as
Harms Way chugga chugga again and propel their enmity toward the finish line.
I still call Harms Way a hardcore band; albeit ‘metallic’ or
whatever. Do they utilize a drum machine? Yep. But, I wouldn’t call them an industrial
band by any stretch. This is brutal hardcore. The sound is designed to vent, to
exorcise aggression and frustration. As Throwdown did in the late 90s; or Down
My Throat and Arkangel did as well. Later, in the mid-2000s, we had Since the
Flood, On Broken Wings, Black My Heart, Thick As Blood, etc. These bands lived
to watch pit monsters decimate dance floors. Harms Way take those bands’ succinct
breakdown formula and lace it with atmospheric extras. The variety is why Harms
Way can be on stage before Soulfly, Every Time I Die, At The Gates, or Converge
(as they have) and fucking slay crowds. Will Putney, a producer known for Stray
From The Path, For Today, Vision Of Disorder, Thy Art Is Murder, Suburban Scum,
Body Count, Acacia Strain, and others, grabbed the reigns here. Putney
collaborated on some writing and extracted a dope record that guitarist, Bo
Lueders, describes as a mix between previous releases, Rust and Isolation.
Lueders’ guitar work is on point; tight riffing (check “Sink”)
and galloping riffs motivate the direcction. One would erroneously assume that
utilizing a drum machine would make for simpler drum patterns. Not so. Drummer,
Mills, remains the thunderous, pulsating foundation of this band’s sound. His
vitality and pure power dictates the emotion and motion of the songs. And the
dancefloor.
Expect Post Human to grab you with its dirge; that filthy,
low tuned guitar tone. The grand, heavy drums balanced with chiming cymbal
tweaks – and the drum machine pipe clangs! - add depth. Props to Putney for his clean
production. Equipped with rumbling bass and riding bass drums, the music lays a
foundation for Pligge’s growling vocals. Add 808 drops and Post Human is akin
to Loyal To The Grave, Sand, Nasty. But here we have a thinking man’s beatdown
band. Pligge’s lyrics – with a title like Post
Human – and a bigger platform like Metal Blade – delve into existentialism,
technocracies, and self-realization. Pligge is wrestling with understanding
pain’s placement in human existence. Crank this to ten and meditate while
picking up change.
RIYL: Ledge, Godflesh, Xibalba, Killing Joke, Voivod, Full
Of Hell, Weekend Nachos, Downpresser
