BabirusaHumanoid

A bone-crushing deathcore record with a dystopian edge, Babirusa have set the bar high with their debut album Humanoid, delivering some devastating deathcore bangers while singing a cautionary tale of our society’s over-reliance on technology.

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Opening track 343 sets the scene perfectly: with some moody atmospheric guitar and a disembodied sample from Ghost In The Shell painting a clear picture of the story to come. Then listeners are quickly thrust into the blood-curdling deathcore sound of Desolation System, where the album takes off.

While Desolation System and most of the following tracks trap Humanoid into the unmistakable deathcore label, the strong conceptual storytelling within the album’s lyrics is what sets it apart from similar debuts. Fans digging into the story will know that Humanoid follows the sad reality of the human known only as ‘343’, a depressed man who is trapped in a cybernetic reality; only to be used as a battery to power the very AI that trapped him there.

A dystopian album for our dystopian world; hopefully we all stick around long enough to see what Babirusa have in store for album number two.

Though not all listeners will pick up that much context from the music alone, there’s still plenty to enjoy in Humanoid. Co-vocalists Rheese Peters and Kyle Williams deliver some devastatingly low growls and impressively high screeches, with even the odd pig squeal to keep loyal deathcore snobs appeased.

The album’s dystopian concept is heavily reinforced through the use of robotic samples on tracks like Humanoid and Catatonia, but when listening to individual tracks it can easily be forgotten. The use of melodic guitar breaks and moody interludes like Reflection also manage to keep the album fresh and unexpected, while maintaining the same haunting feeling of dread looming over listeners.

While each isolated track on Humanoid don’t necessarily bleed seamlessly from one into the next, Babirusa do a good job of keeping each track interesting and unique–something that often proves difficult for many new bands under the deathcore label. Tracks on the tail end of the album like Resistor keep the same intensity established earlier on while layering in some groovy guitar work and some of the dirtiest squeals of the entire album. Each track manages to get faster and heavier as Humanoid progresses, constantly keeping listeners on the hook until the bitter end–like the malevolent AI as he keeps hold of the unwilling battery 343. Dehumanized Populace and closing track Zero Hour cap off this haunting album with some of the fastest, heaviest, dirtiest deathcore that fans of the genre could hope for. While Dehumanized Populace takes all the dystopian deathcore grove from previous tracks to their peak, Zero Hour’s disembodied robotic voice slams listeners back into the dystopian reality that the record depicts.

Another impressive aspect of Humanoid is how well produced the album is for a local debut, which is no surprise since the album was produced by deathcore veteran, Thy Art is Murder Guitarist Sean Delander. Whether you read into the dystopian narrative of the tragic 343 or just want bang your head to some heavy-as-fuck deathcore tunes, there’s something in Humanoid for you. A dystopian album for our dystopian world; hopefully we all stick around long enough to see what Babirusa have in store for album number two.

STANDOUT TRACKS: Catatonia, Resistor, Dehumanized Populace
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