Human Trophy

Reviews

Human Trophy Primary Instinct LP

Wow, this is a wild listen! As per the prerequisites of Iron Lung Records, there is plenty of noise, but HUMAN TROPHY also brings a gothic deathrock experience that I was not prepared for. Guitars that sear and screech descend from every direction while the bass rumbles in perfect time with the drums. A creeping, ambling voice emerges methodically delivering lyrics in a gloomy monotone. The Primary Instinct album is full of mid-tempo darkness, but there are also songs like “Devotion” that are pogo-ready with a more D-beat-inspired rhythm. Personally, “The Cabin” is my favorite song on the album, with its haunting pace and spectral guitar work. If you like noise and the sounds of desolation, then I highly recommend HUMAN TROPHY’s Primary Instinct.

Human Trophy Corpse Dream LP

Throw some middle-shelf gin in a cocktail shaker of post-punk and some aggro goth-rock to get what HUMAN TROPHY is laying down on this album. Illustrator Reuben Sawyer’s latest musical project comes fully formed and ready to overwhelm your senses. This is an immersive experience, and not an inch or second of this record feels out of place. The obvious and trite comparisons are BAUHAUS and JOY DIVISION, but there is a unique flavor here that needs to be experienced. The titular track, “Corpse Dream,” is a flailing rager that really distills down the magic of the whole album. The album closes heavy with “Blood Apex,” leaving you ready to start it all right back up again. With so much else going on, it feels impossible that Sawyer was able to provide his full attention to this project, and yet, it’s far superior to so many other albums from groups that you could tell tried their damnedest. This is some magically perfect shit. This and whatever comes next are not to be missed.