Scotland’s Man Must Die was hyped after they placed a track on MP3.com some years ago. After this, an album on Retribute Records followed and now they release their Relapse Records debut entitled The Human Condition.

Man Must Die makes death metal and it is the first UK band to be signed to this prestigious label. The particular style of death metal the band plays is quite hard to pinpoint, because they seem to have taken a little of each. Almost everything between the lines of melodic and brutal that ever wore the tags ‘death’ and ‘metal’ is represented on this disc. This makes sure there’s a lot of variation, going from melodic passages (Scandinavian style), to heavy grooving breakdowns to fast headbanging riffs. Add some intense brutal vocals that sound a bit like The Red Chord's and you’re ensured that the average metalhead will be as happy as a little baby with this disc.

 

The production is handled by JF Dagenais (who worked with Kataklysm, Despised Icon, Misery Index), which gives the overall album and epic touch. Personally I must admit that I feel that some songs are stronger than others, but it could just be me not liking that particular death metal influence of course. The feeling that there are tracks I don’t like on this record fades away instantly when the good shit kicks in.

 

An fan of death metal should check this band out at least once, just to see if it arouses your genitals. If it does, don’t hesitate to pick it up. Man Must Die absolutely is a great addition to the death metal band roster of Relapse Records, very curious about a live performance.