Putting the dread in Madrid, Spain is not a sunny place at all thanks to this 4 track EP by this anti-human bunch. New to me, Aversio Humanitatis released a limited cassette album in 2011 and a couple of splits with Selbst, Nihil and Primigenium (some of whom the band share members with) in the run up to this vicious slap of misanthropic blackness. Essentially it would appear this is a trio going by initialled monikers in the studio but the band have added a couple of players to expand into a live force and if this is anything to go by they must be quite devastating in that respect.

Without a shred of mercy the title track absolutely batters in as soon as play is pressed and doesn’t particularly give up after, with a cold and incessant backbone about it and gruff and haranguing vocals. It has an air of urban hatred about it employing stylistically a black metal furrow with vocals that wouldn’t be out of place in a primitive bestial metal ov death outfit. There’s a vibe of industrial about it all although more in the cold and hateful deluge they spit out rather than in the actual music itself. There’s also some slower but just as lethal doom like structures unravelling too; let’s just say they are hitting everything pretty much at once here and doing it all with formidable aplomb. Tracks all have plenty of time to develop and the production is hefty and suitably cloying to allow you to get the full hateful diatribe out of the music. They slow down a bit with the poetically tortured title ‘Prison Of Shattered Glass’ which has some grating guitar effects and roaring demonic sounding vocals. The melody has a grim orthodoxy about it and one can envision all manner of ghastly thoughts from diseased minds and suffering that brought this rotting fruit to life.

By the halfway mark and ‘The Everlasting Path’ it’s obvious the harrowing emotional depth behind it is not going to let up in the slightest. Drums clatter and bounce and growls are evily summoned from the very bowels of the pit as guitars seethe and consume like a horde of crop destroying locusts. An unexpected ambient drift suddenly brings slight peace before the band build up heaviness again from the roots up. Atmosphere is palpable as it takes things momentarily from the intensity but it’s no time to get complacent in the slightest as a feel of ritualistic ceremony flows out the crypt for the final act of deconsecration and ‘Advent of the Inescapable’ broods in for one last skull-crushing act of slow-stalking violence.

There is a huge sense of depth and maturity about these 4 tracks and they are also downright nasty and even scary, impressing and putting me well and truly on edge while playing at levels probably too loud for safety. Dim the lights and listen yourself via the links below but be careful, this one bites.

(8/10 Pete Woods)

https://www.facebook.com/aversiohumanitatis

https://aversiohumanitatis.bandcamp.com