DENIED hailing from Stockholm, Sweden were formed in 2003. The Thrash and Heavy Metal outfit released one EP and "Humanarchy" is their 6^th full-length album. It was produced by Soren Anderson and recorded at Darkcellar Studios. Fredrik Folkare (UNLEASHED, FIRESPAWN) did the mixing and mastering at Swedish Chrome Studios. The album has a length of almost 43 minutes, and it was released via Swedish label Sweea Records.

The album starts with a dark, guitar driven intro, before a classical Thrash Metal riff takes over. "Divided" has a fast and aggressive start, with tight guitar riffing during the verse parts and a bridge to the more epic sounding chorus section. The melodic theme of the chorus section traces back to the intro. The extended guitar solo consists of two parts: a more technical, classical inspired solo and a more direct and aggressive part. "Divided" is a very good opener of the album. "Death By A 1000 Cuts" is more a traditional Heavy Metal track at mid-tempo with catchiness in the melodies, sing-along choruses, a classical Heavy Metal lead guitar solo, and old school Heavy Metal inspired vocals. The vocals during the verse parts are in two voices, a deeper clean voice as a basis and the higher pitched voice on top of it. The song is very dynamic, despite all its catchiness. "Death By A 1000 Cuts" is the official lyric video release and the YouTube link is given below.

The title song raises the aggression level. "Humanarchy" is a head-banger at an almost stomping rhythm within a grim melodic framework. The vocals are very diverse and range from deeper lying to higher pitched cleans and screams. The aggressive parts with the sharp riffing come mainly with the verse parts. The song structure is a bit more complex as there are a few breaks. The title song almost transitions into "Don't Cross That Line", which is a ballad with plenty of SCORPIONS vibes. The melodies of the choruses are epic and anthemic. The lead guitar solo fits perfectly in with its epic melodies.

The contrasts could not be larger as the next track "Flesh Made God" is a fast and aggressive Thrash Metal track with the typical flesh-ripping riffs during the verse parts and the more open chords during the chorus parts and the breaks. A common feature in all tracks are the extended lead guitar solos, which often come in two or more distinctive parts. In the aggressive songs like "Flesh Made God", I personally prefer the direct leads over the technical, melodic leads, so here I liked the second part of the solo. "Maintenance Of Insanity" starts with a short a spine-chilling guitar intro. The dark melodies of the intro are maintained during the verse parts, where only vocals are added to the guitars as bass and drums join in at a later stae. "Maintenance Of Insanity" is a slow song, with the verse parts have plenty of ballad-esque features. The chorus parts are heavier and more powerful than the verse parts. Highlight is the excellent lead guitar solo, which gives the song a different layer. "Maintenance Of Insanity" is with almost eight minutes playing time the longest track on the album.

"Ten Ton Hammer Of Pain" is an aggressive mid-tempo banger and one of the Thrash inspired songs on the album. The guitar riffing is sharp, the drumming includes a few double-bass parts, and the vocals have a good aggression level. The lead guitar solo is direct and excellently contributes to the track. "Ten Ton Hammer Of Pain" is one of the album highlights. The final "Ties Of Blood" starts strong and powerful at an almost stomping rhythm. There are sharp contrasts between the aggressive and heavy verse parts and the short chorus parts which have epic, anthemic melodies. The transitions between verse and chorus parts have very abrupt transitions. "Ties Of Blood" sounds a bit unfinished to me which is a bit unfortunate as the album deserves a stronger finish. "Ten Ton Hammer Of Pain" would have been the better final song.

"Humanarchy" is a good Heavy Metal album with Thrash Metal elements. In fact, DENIED deliver that what they always do best: a balanced mix between traditional Heavy and Thrash Metal. "Humanarchy" contains everything, the aggressive sharp riffing, epic melodies, anthemic choruses, the ballad, and outstanding lead guitar solos. The vocals keep all those elements perfectly together. The album is well produced. "Humanarchy" is one of the best albums of DENIED so far and Heavy Metal fans, who also like a bit of Thrash Metal, will love the album and look forward to great and epic live shows of DENIED.