Review Summary: Work in progress
Occasionally I'll think back to design and technology lessons when I was at school (shop class or metal shop to my transatlantic cousins), and remember how much fun I had creating some generic article like a pencil pot or a coat hook out of a shapeless hunk of metal. I'd doubtless have hated to do the task as a job in later life due to how rigorous constraints are when it comes to standardising designs (not to mention the ever-increasing prevalence of robotics within the industry), but to my teenage brain the activity felt like a more grown-up style of play that rewarded experimentation, like lego for adults. I didn't have any constraints or instructions, just a vague project brief that I could accomplish however I wanted, along with access to every metallurgy tool under the sun. In those two-hour long lessons I could feel my skillset levelling up week by week, until by the end I felt like some kind of master craftsman with the world's weakest array of articles in my inventory. There is a point in the process though, as I'm sure those of you who've spent time hammering and chipping away at a piece of metal are aware, that a limbo phase sets in between the nondescript article starts to take a vague form, and the painstaking effort begins to get the sides perfectly planed and the edges sanded exactly smooth. That trasistionary phase is Structures Collapse. It has a formative shape, and a clear purpose, fulfilling it satisfactorily at almost every turn. Yet, it is also extremely unrefined- lacking in both finesse and attention to detail. It exhibits a flair for the exclamation-point metallic leanings the band would later become so adept at, but it is also extremely undisciplined, awkwardly assembled, and liable to give you those annoying metal splinters that hook into your nail bed and niggle you for the next week and a half.
Despite the wordy analogy in the above paragraph, let it not be said that the album is no fun, and those who appreciate the band's Code Orange via lite death metal twitchery are sure to enjoy the ride. Framed like an incessant breakdown punctuated by Meshuggah-esque chuggery (albeit less complex) and chundering distortion, Structures Collapse bears more than a passing resemblance to later releases by Humanity's Last Breath. Peppering the album are the same glitchy effects and sonic ***ery, cool in usage but less tastefully (and sporadically) implemented than on subsequent albums. Tracks like, 'Product of War' and 'Baleful' are notably HLB in aesthetic, full of huge riffs and monstrous vocals. Unfortunately, the towering metal landscape that would be the finished article of records like their self-titled and Valde is lacking here, or at the very least in its fledgling stages. This is mostly due to the album's production, which lacks resonance and the gut-punch sustain that should be ever-present to loom behind the crunching guitars. Without this foundation, the sound feels tinny and underwhelming overall, and moments of thunderous aggression don't manifest as the vicious explosions they were intended to be. This is notable throughout the record, but the choice is harmful to tracks like 'Righteous Death' and 'Kneeling In Front of the Grave', which either rely on their breakdowns to extrapolate the established nastiness, or are constructed through relative simplicity to form grooves that would benefit from additional dimensionality afforded by a deeper production. The majority of tracks here build solidly, but the crescendo at the apex of the ascends actually tends to be heavier and more cathartic than the drop itself, which simply shouldn't be. Another fly in the ointment is the lyrical content, which smacks of immaturity throughout. It's not worth berating the band too much for, as this is a first effort and issues like this are typical of debut metalcore LPs, but considering the literacy and epic focus of their later albums, what is on display here is extremely underwhelming. A hodgepodge of emo floundering, enraged invocations and half-hearted flailing, it's something of a mercy that the vocal style generally cancels out the content
Aside from the unfortunate production issues, Structures Collapse is an evil little creation, bouncing between the flex of rubbery melodic complexity and stuttering, digital flourishes. One of the best moments this is seen is in the mid-point breakdown of 'Deceivement', which is assaultive and compelling, convincingly straddling the border between rhythmic intensity and brutal apoplexy. This breakdown ostensibly fluxes for the entire latter half of the track, and save for some irritatingly protracted, raspy vocal moments toward the end, is consistently entertaining and well-structured. Elsewhere, the brash, no-nonsense approach of the whipped-up frenzy exhibited in 'The Aftermath' feels decidedly more typical of a metalcore record; it is executed competently, and the lurch into gutturals toward the end feels earned and white-knuckle, but it also doesn't feel overly creative as it opts not to lean into many of the defining characteristics that make the band notable on the scene. Conversely, the schizophrenic chuggery of 'Never Ending Cycle' is the polar opposite, displaying in no uncertain terms what the band are capable of- full of thrills, spills, and utilising the grab-bag of genre influences they so frequently draw from to rich effect. Once again, however, it is just a shame to see this excitement and promise be undercut by the subpar production, and it is on tracks such as this (particularly during the outro breakdown) that this issue is felt the strongest.
The blast-beat, pinch harmonic-heavy core of Structures Collapse is less diverting and attention-grabbing than the band would later be, but only about 20% of this issue is down to the songwriting. The production so undermines the effort that went into this record that it feels like a full-length demo when compared to the rest of the band's releases. Refresh it, remaster it, re-record it, even, give it the same paintjob as the rest of Humanity's Last Breath's discography and it would sit comfortably next to their other albums with only a slight lapse in musical quality between them. Yes, there is a propensity toward genre influences that don't suit the band's later sound, but this can be forgiven as, lest we forget, this is a first effort full-length. If ever they're allowed to misstep, it's here. Some of the songs do feel a touch overlong given the content, but once again, the production is at fault as the compositions do not feel epic enough in aesthetic to sustain the song lengths. I have mentioned in a previous review for Cradle of Filth's remaster of Cruelty and the Beast how production can be a matter of life and death for many albums, and how competent songwriting can outshine feeble choices in this regard. The problem with Structures Collapse is that HLB are SO reliant on production in the forming of their sound, that to remove that element is to essentially rob the band and leave their music in an unfinished state. It is Humanity's Last Breath without the final touches; a half-formed sculpture with a myriad kinks and imperfections begging to be kneaded out.
