Almøst Human – XS2XTC – Album Review

A nu-metal kind of affair – which will inevitably wind up those who’ve forever bad-mouthed the sub genre but will surely appeal to those who enjoy angst, anger and angular riffing – it should come as no surprise that Almøst Human were first born in the 90’s, under Olivier Perdrizat (guitar and composition) and Rosario Fullone’s (drums) initiative, before slowly fading into obscurity.

Bouncing back in 2008, these Swiss survivalists have stood by their sound and have finally unleashed their first full length in the shape of XS2XTC. While fans of Sevendust, latter-day Mudvayne and groove-heavy metal in particular should get a kick out of, what is, fully committed and energetic as fuck material, it all reeks a little too much of the 90’s.

“Warpigs” isn’t, surprisingly, a cover of the Sabbath classic but is a rapid-fire exercise in machine-gun riffing while the epic nature of “Divine Comedy” is an alt metal bludgeoning with progressive tendencies. It’s as if the likes of Spineshank slightly upped the ante song-wise but still settled on generic syncopated and down-tuned riffs.

And there’s the rub.

By settling for overly-familiar sounds, Almøst Human’s XS2XTC is fundamentally a mixed-bag which thrills and annoys in equal measure. Had this been released in the 90’s we could be talking about a band who made the grade. In 2019, Almøst Human may be more in need of an upgrade. 6/10