Band:	Humanity's Last Breath
Album:	Ashen
Style:	Djent, Technical deathcore
Release date:	August 2023

01. Blood Spilled
02. Linger
03. Lifeless, Deathless
04. Withering
05. Instill
06. Labyrinthian
07. Catastrophize
08. Death Spiral
09. Shell
10. Passage
11. Burden
12. Bearer

In a deathcore scene increasingly dominated by artists of either a symphonic, blackened, technical or pure beatdown persuasion, Humanity's Last Breath black hole-summoning heaviness stands out more and more, so there should be plenty of appetite for more gargantuan riffs coming your way on Ashen.

At this point, one can even argue to what extent the Swedes belong in the world of deathcore; the djent-rification (or perhaps thall-rification, to be more precise) of their sound since the line-up shake-up in 2016 has taken their sound closer to that of their compatriots in Vildhjarta than most of their contemporaries. Still, as much as the fundamental tone on Ashen is built upon a foundation of gravity-generatingly dense djent riffing, the propensity for breakdowns and brutal growled vocals still keeps Humanity's Last Breath tethered to deathcore, and the combination is pulverizing in a way that few groups in either deathcore or djent can rival.

For all this talk of heaviness and brutality, one thing that Humanity's Last Breath do not bring all that much of is speed; across 12 tracks on Ashen there are few moments when the tempo rises above a steady mid-pace. In 5 minutes, opening track “Blood Spilled” alternates between mid-tempo pounding riffs and even slower breakdowns. Still, despite the leisurely pace, this song isn’t a one-trick pony of heaviness; Humanity's Last Breath have atmospheric inclinations, with subtle guitar leads and electronic effects fleshing out the mix.

The group’s 2021 release Välde also had a couple of other tricks up its sleeve, on rare occasions bringing symphonic sounds into the background or introducing clean vocals. Ashen continues with this, but brings these elements into the fray earlier on; second track “Linger” follows up groovy verses with a more soaring chorus, semi-clean vocals working in tandem with the growls to add an epic touch. This track also features one of the few moments of frenetic pace, with a brief snippet of blasting midway through, although it goes about as quickly as it comes.

Later on, “Instill” weaves in ethereal choirs, and also has just a hint of melody to the tremolo riffing; “Labyrinthian” immediately changes tack and focuses on stripped-down chugging and pinch harmonics. Other notable tracks include the groove-centric juggernaut “Death Spiral”, as well as arguably the standout cut here, “Passage”. There are some blistering buzzsaw riffs on this song amidst the colossally deep thall chugs, yet this song is also the only one on Ashen to feature fully clean singing during a gloomy passage midway through, a calm before a brutal storm of polyrhythmic breakdown.

With both its increased diversity and much more compact runtime (47 minutes), Ashen is a much more effective album in my eyes than Vildhjarta’s recent 80-minute marathon Måsstaden Under Vatten. Still, I can’t help but think that there’s the potential for further greatness should Humanity's Last Breath further push the limits of what sounds they bring into their style. Ashen is definitely a satisfying listen, but it’s not really a surprise that the songs that bring something slightly different to the table comprise the bulk of the standout cuts here; the mid-tempo polyrhythmic poundings do get slightly samey when a sequence of them build up, and without much in the way of tonal hooks, it can become a tad dry.

It’s not enough to stop this being a very good album, but a bit more melody, a bit more in the way of atmospherics, and a bit more range in tempos and intensities, and Humanity's Last Breath could end up delivering something truly special.