Just over a month ago, we caught up with Stress Positions about the background and writing process behind their then upcoming EP, Human Zoo. Now that the record is finally out, we’re beyond stoked to talk about the dystopian thrill ride that is the actual record they recorded.
Right off the bat, “Sadistic” rips through the speakers like a lost Wormrot track with razored guitars and vocals that will have first-time listeners frothing at the mouth. Followed by “Fragile” and the title track, it makes for the most gleefully violent five minutes we’ve had in a while.
Start a mosh pit in your room and stream Human Zoo below:
As the title track’s screams rend your ears from your skull with the chilling “you’ll never make it out,” it’s hard not to wonder if you’d want to, considering, you know, the song’s a pretty good time. “Nakba” is another highlight, furthering the band’s narrative ideals with a some heavier dashes of noise rock and endless lobs of fiery riffs. In a way, the first four tracks become their own hydra-head of twisted, visceral motion – the course continues of course, but things get cranked even further starting with “Blood Money,” which almost falls off the rails from relentless speed.
This speed actually continues, if not pushes itself even further on “Salbahe Ako,” which even treats us to the record’s only guitar lead, which lasts a whopping six seconds, but that’s not a complaint – bludgeoning rules all with Stress Positions, and to say the least, it’s a rule well observed on Human Zoo. When the powder keg at the end of the song finally blows, the outro that’s haunted our dreams for the last month finally begins. “Kaddish” is a deeply introspective sendoff, and as guitarist Benjamin Rudolph explained in our interview here, it’s layered with “a clip that was used of someone singing the Kaddish, the jewish prayer for the dead… There also are clips from Ghassan Kanafani, Diana Buttu and Edward Said. One clip is from a protester at the University of Chicago.”
Stays at the Human Zoo may be brief considering “Kaddish” is the last track, but technically, it’s not over. To bookend the chaos, label mates Planet B and Made By Human Hands make an appearance with a couple of truly nasty remixes. What’s great about these for people that nerd out on the production side of things is getting to hear different mixes of the vocals. Being an obvious highlight of the overall experience, hearing those screams and guitar parts chopped up with different distortions and mics is a a highly unique form of analysis, especially because they’re all somewhat club friendly, but… ah, there we go, geeking out again. Anyway, above all else, this is one of the punkest records we’ve heard all year, and even if it leaves your head spinning and your ears bleeding all over the place, Human Zoo is a place you’ll want to visit again and again.
Pick it up via Three One G / Deathwish Inc here.
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