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5 Oct 2016

Mind Affliction: "Pathetic Humanity"


Mindless ramblings that take form and wildly twist before condensing into Pathetic Humanity
The coal-filled soil of Poland is home to many well known, and of course many more lesser known, metal acts. From experience, the lesser known bands show a remarkably high level of musicianship and flair. Mind Affliction, who hail from the ancient city of Kraków, emerged from the rich Polish culture in 2009, though Mental Disorder - the band's first demo - wasn't released until 2011. Pathetic Humanity, released through Metal Scrap Records, was in turn unleashed in 2013, featuring two tracks that were in some shape or form originally featured on that first demo.

It would seem from the slew of blackened death metal bands that have emerged from the country in recent years that Poland has enough of those bands to form a fully fledged wave - Perhaps a New Wave of Polish Black Death Metal? Like the music found with Sphere, Embrional, Hell United, Centurion, Pandemonium, Empatic and Stillborn, Mind Affliction deliver crashing flurries of wild death metal, interwoven with forty minutes of thick black metal veils. The mix is timetested and proven to work, which puts a substantial amount of pressure on the artists to write and perform at inhuman levels.

"Obviously the band are not fans of meandering filler,"

With a few ups and downs in terms of tempo, Mind Affliction promises a gait that varies between foot-dragging and clumsy sprints. Obviously the band are not fans of meandering filler, but on the track to greatness they lose their sense of direction and instead of getting the jump on us, the listeners, they stumblingly give up the element of surprise. Especially when the band enthusiastically delve into a particular riff, these passages tend to drag on until one has definitely had enough.

Simple riffs are amazing at delivering unequivocal aggression and energy in powerful frenzies, but dwelling on them as Mind Affliction tend to do, they outstay their welcome quickly and lose the driving force that they otherwise provide. And with an album where every track - apart from the intro - exceeds five minutes in length, this is entirely unnecessary.

Pathetic Humanity has an incredible and thick sound with drums and rhythmics than pack punch enough to knock over a medieval castle with little effort. Druga Strona Umyslu's groovy melodies, and the sinister atmospheres found in Vishe II, prove that Mind Affliction has something going for them, but their sense of direction gets lost in an ambition to compose lengthier tracks where shorter playtimes would have been more effective.

6/10


Released in 2013 by Metal Scrap Records

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