For their latest representation of warmongering, Humiliation take us to the depths of the sea. The themes of this latest album by the Malaysians are distinctly nautical. From the Bukit Kepong incident of “From Strength to Strength”, the previous album, we are now taken to the Battle of Tarakan and “Bachok’s Invasion”, both referring to Japanese naval offensives in World War II.
In fact if it weren’t for the album’s title, I wouldn’t have guessed it had nautical connotations from the music. The only water-orientated moment is the opener, which sounds like someone getting out of a bath on a battlefield. The real clue lies in the words which go with the pumping, deadly and uncompromising death metal. Words it is rather than lyrics as the vocalist croaks out a string of isolated nouns, verbs, adjectives and past participles to tell the tale: “small craft … capsized … drowned … dead” is a verse from “Bachok’s Invasion”. In truth it took me a few attempts to get into this album. “Turbulence from the Deep” is of a death-doom orientation. Having subjected myself to the destructive creativity of “From Strength to Strength”, I was surprised at the more measured approach of this one. Humiliation sculpt out a series of deep and downtrodden musical assaults which are so steady that they could stand accused of being devoid of excitement. Now and again, the pace picks up and the work is always enhanced by spicy drumming, but I felt the deep and ominous riffs needed to be disturbed more by a few depth charges. “Total War” starts explosively but drops back into the familiar relentless pattern. More typical is “Phosphorous Shell”, which slows down like a gunner taking careful aim. Chunk .. chunk .. chunk – it’s like the process of death itself. A reminder of the onset of war is given, if it is needed, at the start of “Bachok’s Invasion”. The noise increases. It is thunderous. Words are not wasted as ever. Pummelling drums and menacing guitars carve out an ominous and deadly path as usual. There’s a little twist but nothing too fancy, mind. Any passion which may have peered through the smoke disappears as “Sea Denial” and “Home Front” which follow are both relentless and brutal assaults. “Order of Battle” is the most “catchy” and anthemic but as ever it’s energy-sapping in its driving persistence. Another menacing riff features on “The Deadly Double”. Words of death and destruction accompany doom-filled moments before it picks up in its mechanical way. The end signals foreboding – what else?
Humiliation get their point across effectively with a series of tracks which share the similar quality of driving us into the ground with uncompromising and bludgeoning death metal. It all points to suffering and annihilation. After doubting its energy at first, I can now appreciate why the band has done away with niceties. There aren’t any. “Turbulence from the Deep” represents the stench of war on all levels.
(6.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
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