Review: Osmium Guillotine “Subhuman” (2012)

Reviewed by David Pearce

Artist: Osmium Guillotine
Album: Subhuman
Label: Indie
Release Date: July 13th 2012

Track Listing

1. Blight Upon Mankind
2. D-Day
3. Hobgoblin
4. Genocide
5. Subhuman
6. Blight Upon Mankind (Live In London)
7. D-Day (Live In London)
8. Hobgoblin (Live In London)
9. Genocide (Live In London)

Born in the darkest depths of Essex, twisted creations of Satan’s dream… Osmium Guillotine brings their sonic attack to the ears of humanity. Take some 80’s heavy metal, sprinkle on a handful of classic rock, a zest of 70’s punk, with just a light twist of black metal. Pour in a few pints of ale and Osmium Guillotine is the resulting mess.

Osmium Guillotine are an Essex-based metal band formed in June 2009 by James and Elijah. Some notable gigs played during the band’s first year include supporting Sham 69, John Otway, Splodgenessabounds, and ex-Iron Maiden and Wolfsbane vocalist, Blaze Bayley.
In April 2010 the band released their debut 5-track EP; “How D’ya Like Them Apples?” which is still available to buy on CD (while stocks last!) and downloadable from: http://osmiumguillotine.com/album/how-dya-like-them-apples
In August 2011 they released their brand new EP featuring their new line-up and sound; “Into the Battle” http://osmiumguillotine.com/album/into-the-battle

In 2012 the band were nominated for the ‘Panic Awards’ Best Band award and performed on the finals night. Osmium Guillotine played the Mansfield “Metal Gods” Festival in May 2012.
Their latest CD “Subhuman” was released on Friday 13th July, and is available for purchase at:
http://osmiumguillotine.com/album/subhuman

The album starts off with Blight Upon Mankind the song starts off slow with a slow guitar riff and clean vocals after short while the rhythm gets a little faster and the vocals get a little deeper. Getting a little further into the song the riffs from the guitars are really good, the drums have a perfect rhythm alongside the guitars. It also has some really good solos, the vocals are really good and it is a good start to the album. The second song is D-Day starts off with an excerpt from a war film then it straight into a really quick but well done guitar riff. The pace has quickened on this song and it is doing the song justice, the vocals are hit perfectly and the solos are out of this world. This song has an old style punk feel to it from the vocals, guitars and even the way the drums are played but still a quality song. The third song is Hobgoblin which starts off with a clever little riff then the vocals come in telling the story of the love of the Hobgoblin beer. Then the pace quickens without missing a heartbeat with its galloping riff it instantly gets my head nodding. The galloping riff continues right through the song the vocals tell a great story then near the end it goes back to how it was at the start of the song then finishes strong with the galloping riff at the end. The Fourth song on the album is Genocide starts off with a quality drum solo then the guitars kick in with a very quick pace this is probably the fastest song on the album so far and it is top drawer. The vocals seem to be a little bit deeper than on previous songs but it gives the song an edge. The guitar work is still of the highest standard as previous songs and the riffs and solos are really good. This is one of my favourites on the album so far top quality. The fifth song is the title song of the album called Subhuman starts off with a heavy intro guitar riff which then turns into a quick speedy riff which instantly gets my head nodding. The vocals are superb this is what a title should be like full of great riffs, Superb vocals and earth shuddering drums. Towards the middle of the song the tempo changes to a little slower and the vocals go a little bit cleaner but the standard is so strong on the song it blends in perfectly. Then the quick guitars riffs come flooding back and the vocals go back to how they were at the start of the song brilliant. The next four songs are “Live” versions of the first four songs of the album. First up is Blight Upon Mankind (Live In London) from the start of this song you can tell that the band has worked very hard to get the song from the studio to a live show perfectly and I must say they have done it it sounds great they did an amazing job. There is a lot of bands that cannot produce a live song like they did a studio version but these guys have managed it. The next live song is D-Day (Live In London) again they have done a real good job of producing the goods live on this song the guitar work is bang on perfect to the studio version and the same can be said of the vocals on whole the band again done really well. The next live song is Hobgoblin (Live In London) this song sounds really good live the vocals are sounding good the guitars and drums I cannot fault either the song sounds as good as the studio version. The last song on the album is Genocide (Live In London) the song sounds really good live and the band as a whole sound perfect in every way from the vocals, guitars and the drums each note done to a high standard.

Overall

The album overall was done to a high standard from the vocals, guitars and drums. It is full of high quality riffs and solos, the vocals are done to a high standard hitting every note perfectly. The drums keep the rhythm well and it was a nice touch to put some live performances on the end just to show how they sound live and I must say they sound really good. This just by hearing them play these songs live I would have to put them on my list to see.

7/10