Humanity Delete - Never Ending Nightmares

Humanity Delete

Never Ending Nightmares

by Dorothy Cheng at 21 January 2013, 3:36 PM

“Never Ending Nightmares” is really quite special. There’s something about the way Rogga Johansson, the one-man-extraordinaire who makes up the entirety of HUMANITY DELETE, pulls together his ear-crunching old school Death Metal music with paranormal, supernatural, and monstrous themes—a blend that is both captivating and intriguing. From the first track to the last, Johansson appears to have one purpose only, and that is to fill the soul of the listener with a strange, unearthly sense of the supernatural world, utilizing the tools of death metal: descriptive lyrics, violent beat, emotive vocals, and insane lyrics to bring fantasy closer to reality. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Johansson, a Swede, named tracks in this album after Malaysian mythical creatures and other Asian entities. As a Malaysian, this drew my attention hugely not just to the music, but to the lyrics as well.

The title track serves as an effective intro to the rest of the album, setting the atmosphere perfectly. With ghostly vocals that seem to have been performed by Samara from the Ring and a background touch of Gregorian chanting, this evocative track set a bone-chilling atmosphere that was to be followed.Johansson’sbeastly growls and unrelenting riffing soon begins with the next track, “The Eight Ice Narakas”, which opens with an explosion of formidable sound but closes soaringly with a surprisingly melodic solo that clinches the overall feel of the song. “Retribution of the Polong” opened with a very niche bluesy intro that had me raising an eyebrow yet nodding in approval. The heaviness that soon follows however almost obliterates the sentimentality initially apparent, bringing listeners back to roots of Death Metal.

The tracks further delve into the realm of the unknown by incorporating a very interesting narrative method, in which the backstory and overall theme of each song comes to life through Johansson’s descriptive lyrics and affecting music. There isn’t anything new to be heard here musically, but then again this is just good old metal fun where listeners can have a ball snapping their necks to the "Never Ending Nightmare"’s music. The imaginativeness and creativity of the album speaks true to me, and Johansson’s admirable skill nicely pulls the entire album together."Never Ending Nightmares" is certainly one hell of a death metal album, and the genius behind it, Rogga Johansson, is certainly one Metal musician to watch. The artistic value of this release trumps all its minor flaws, making it one cool, sleek, well-done album that deserves praise and raves.