I have the privilege to review "Prodromes of a Flatline" by HUMANGLED. HUMANGLED is from Pisa, Italy and has an Industrial/Cyber flavor injected into their Death Metal sound. The band was formed from the ashes of Putrid Sequence and released their "Anatomic Butchery" demo-tape in 1996, but disbanded due to personal problems. HUMANGLED would eventually reform and in 2007 released their "Refoetalize" EP. HUMANGLED is signed to Abyss Records from Indianapolis, IN.

"Prodromes of a Flatline" wastes no time and gets things started with "Liberté, Égalité, Brutalité". It throws you right into the pit and beats you down with barrelling drums and sick riffage. This is a perfect example of what Death Metal should sound like. That merciless, pummelling sound carries on into the next song, "4:03", which gives you your first taste of the aforementioned Cyber influence.  "HUMANGLED" are a tight band, and certainly know what they are doing.

"Men of Straw" and "Foretasted in Flesh" blend together almost seamlessly. Lots of juicy, Groove Metal type riffs to be had; "HUMANGLED" lets you breathe for a split-second, only to tighten their chokehold around your neck. From here on out you better have your seat belt on because "HUMANGLED" is in the drivers seat and it has been a wild ride so far. Blending Progressive, Groove Metal, and Death Metal, "Prodromes of a Flatline" is quite an impressive statement.

"Vegan Realm" proceeds to drop a Freight Carrier on you after shredding your face off and leaving you to die. The songs "Untastable Fear", "Fragments", and "Cauterized" are an indulgent and very tasteful suite within a spectacular album. The album closes with "To Mega Therion", an adventurous piece, complete with symphonic elements like operatic female vocals, violin and classicaly inspired guitar. On any other album i would have dismissed the idea, but "HUMANGLED" pull it off and it does not sound out of place or cheesy, and makes for a great end to an excellent album.