You know the feeling when whatever dark joke you’ve been leaning on for so long starts to come true? So much so that music is now being made about it? That’s where I’m at currently with the whole “I told you Skynet was real.” AI is gaining a foothold. No one can dispute that. How long will it be before it takes over? And, in a twist, humans are its target? Card-carrying members of the New Wave of British Death Metal, Mutagenic Host, have a sizzling debut that ponders this very bleak future. The Diseased Machine doesn’t just dip a toe in the ‘what if’ waters; it goes whole hog and very deep in the details. Their chosen weapon of music only tends to make those details all the more terrifying, to boot.
Listen, I don’t know all the intimate details surrounding this band, but I’m betting that writing this debut went something like this: “GUYS: Satan and religion, sex and drugs, zombies and horror movie schlock…all those are old hat, and I mean OLD HAT…all very good things…but still, old hat.” **AI-made commercial comes on the tv in the background advertising some newfangled soda** “THAT’S IT! AI is taking over, and it’s only a matter of time before humanity is ripped to shreds. Perfect content for this new album, LET’S DO IT!” Probably not, but give yourself over to the power of these five dudes for a solid half hour or so, and you’ll be a believer too.
The sound bites alone reek of Skynet type soldiers and that sort of hive mind coalescing on the destruction of humanity. And then there’s the song titles; “Genestealer,” “Artificial Harvest of the Obscene,” and “DIRECTIVE:: [kill_on_sight]” and that’s in album order so there’s a definite story arc happening here. Then there’s the music. “Neurological Necrosis” kicks things off with down and dirty (re: old school rules) death metal and bleach-belching vocals. The aforementioned “Genestealer” rips some wicked guitar theatrics and galvanizing dual attacks while “The Twisted Helix” lurches at a glacially bleak pace. Whatever protein or weight gainer AI machines take, this is where they ingested the whole factory’s worth.
Later on, “S.W.A.R.M.” stacks the bodies with some of the hardest-hitting grooves off the entire album. And closer “Rivers of Grief” chugs and spits and lurches its way to a mechanized and (not good for humanity) final sounding ending much like the roll credits from a movie with a ‘bad guy wins’ send off. It’s abundantly clear these guys can tell a story and they 100% nail the perfect arc along the way so they’re way ahead of most in that department but what strikes me the most is just how damn good they are crafting a deadly and superbly on-point death metal album. Not a drum hit, or guitar lick, or bass rhythm, or even vocal spit seems out of place or like it doesn’t belong right where they put it. It’s cavernous, barbaric, epic and glacial, thick like molasses, and heavy on the mechanized atmosphere. Just, damn.
In case you somehow missed it, I adore this album. And have had fun repeating “see?! I told you Skynet would end up being real and these dudes believe it too!” ever since I read the PR verbiage and experienced this apocalyptic AI hellscape for myself. This is one hell of a way to kick off new releases in 2025. Will AI advance to Mutagenic Host’s extreme this year? Next year? Who knows for sure, but one thing is for sure, as long as they are around, we can blissfully bang some heads to our own, self-made and impending demise from Skynet or otherwise via this death metal vehicle.
— Josh
The Diseased Machine will be available January 3 via Gurgling Gore and Dry Cough Records, then on CD January 20 via Memento Mori. For more information on Mutagenic Host, visit their Instagram page.
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