The place to speak about Ryan Van Poederooyen projects
#93776 by Drumdude13
Tue Nov 01, 2005 9:00 am
Hey Everybody,

This will be the thread for reviews for the debut Non-Human Level album. If you see one, post it here..... Here's one I was told about.....enjoy !

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Self-Titled
Non-Human Level


THE REVIEW:

Non-Human Level is an interesting new band to pay attention to. The band is actually sideproject from Darkane´s guitarist Christofer Malmström.The rest of the musicians are also wellknown such as Ryan Van Poederooyen from Devin Townsend band on Drums, Gustaf Hielm on Bass (Ex-Meshuggah) and Peter Wildoer from Darkane is handling the vocals. The band got the idea from Christofer Malmström already in 1999 when he had all sorts of great ideas that he couldn´t fit into the sound of Darkane. He decided to do a sideproject and found ex-meshuggah bassists Gustaf Hielm to help him around. Three Darkane albums later he finally took the last step and added two friends of him to join the band and then was Non-Human Level finally formed. The band went to recording studio in Sweden and recorded a full-length album that consists of 10 pissed off death / thrash metal songs and Self-Titled the album.

The first full-length album from these guys will be released on October 25th through Listenable Records and I warn you before you grab this album: It will be full of furious death metal riffs that will smash you into thousand pieces. The sound of Non-Human Level has got a bit of influences from the famous Gothenburg death metal scene. First one that I could pick up was the name The Haunted which really has same kind of guitar riffs and vocal approaching. What makes Non-Human Level differ from the usual Swedish death bands is the soft and slow guitar solo parts. Also the atmosphere of the album isn´t as dark as they use to be in typical death metal albums today even though the album has really horrifying parts that sound exatcly like taken from a funeral. The best and most fascinating moments on this album were songs "Divine Creation Of Void" and "Journal Of A Nightmare".

Christofer Malmström has had a lot of great ideas while making this album. Non-Human Level´s Self-Titled album is a tight, fast and raw concept of nice blistering guitars added to awesome death metal vocals. This is an album for the thirst of The Haunted fans. If you like your metal meal served melodically, fastly, intensively and brutally, this one is definitely worth checking out!


BY: Arto Mäenpää (adebisi85) on 2005-10-23

#97509 by Noodles
Sun Dec 04, 2005 7:17 pm
My review for Lunar Hypnosis @_@. Sorry if I spelt your name wrong =[

Non-Human Level is sort of a strange hybrid between supergroup and side project. The mastermind behind their songs is Darkane's Christofer Malmstrom, but he is supported by (ex)Meshuggah's Gustaf Hielm on bass, The Devin Townsend Band's Ryan Van Poederooyen on drums and Darkane's drummer, Peter Wildoer, on vocals and production. Christofer has slowly been collecting riffs that were deemed unusable for Darkane over the last few years and has assembled them into one album: Non-Human Level.

Anyone who has heard Darkane will not be surprised to hear that it is a melodic death metal album. This genre is fairly broad, and I’ll start off by saying that Non-Human Level stay towards the thrash end of the spectrum, rather than the more melodic version that seems to be popular these days or the more folk influenced Gothenburg sound, although there are one or two guitar solos on this that reminded me of Gothenburg on here. As the sideproject of a guitarist it should come across as no surprise that this album has a little more emphasis on guitar solos than most melodeath albums. This is where Christofer truly shines and I actually think that his work with Darkane is holding him back. His solos are so plentiful, well done and varied that they never take away from the song, anything they add to them, no matter how many he puts into a song. He crams everything from lightning fast shredding to beautiful harmonics into this album, and even if the rest of the band performed poorly, which they don’t, he could have carried the album on his guitar playing alone.

As for the rest of the band, they perform superbly. Peter Wildoer's shrieks range vicious and intense to nearly catchy in a few points, I even prefer him to Darkane's normal vocalist because he does not saturate his yells in strange production effects. The production, as it always seems to be these days (Thank you ProTools!), is spot on with every instrument being clearly heard. Ryan van Poederooyen gives an astounding drum performance, after hearing his work with both Lalu and The Devin Townsend band it seems like he can do any style and sound like he was built for it. His tight drumming keeps the music firing along at an insanely addictive pace.

If you are looking for intensely fast thrash metal that has a trace of beauty and complex guitar work, then Non Human Level is the band for you. In my ears it is essentially flawless and contains everything I would look for in a melodeath album.

#97553 by Drumdude13
Mon Dec 05, 2005 12:33 am
November 28th, 2005 by Jack Johnson from http://www.vocalmartyr.com

6 years and 4 albums in, Darkane has generated quite a following with their blend of technical thrash and death. When guitarist Christofer Malmström wanted to explore elements that didn’t fit well with Darkane’s sound, he enlisted Meshuggah bass player Gustaf Hielm, Devin Townsend Band drummer Ryan Van Poederooyen, and long-time friend (and drummer for Darkane) Peter Wildoer for vocals to form Non Human Level. Together, this line-up has produced a very technical thrash album with an old school sort of sound, but with heavier elements found in both Meshuggah and Darkane.

Each track has extremely catchy thrash guitar hooks, blistering percussion, and thumping bass that thrash heads love. However, it also features things such as instrumental tracks and the bass solo on ‘Divine Creation of Void’ that aren’t in pretty much any of the aforementioned bands work and it’s those elements that really distinguish this album and pull it above the rest. ‘Instinct’ is one of the fastest songs on the album, but also features a kick-ass keyboard solo by Lale Larson that really knocks the shit out of you with it’s sheer complexity before dueling with Malmström’s virtuoso guitar work to form one of the best songs on the release. Of course you still have classic sounding thrash tracks such as ‘Journal of a Nightmare’, ‘Unstable Surface’, and ‘The Genetic Failure’ which any fan can appreciate.

Unfortunately, my biggest issue with this album lies in the previously mentioned instrumental tracks. Don’t get me wrong, the tracks are great, but ‘Water’ and ‘Freaking Goose’ sound somewhat out of place. The tone set by them, especially ‘Freaking Goose,’ just doesn’t mesh well with the other tunes (although F.G. is the last track so it’s not that big a deal). I think the album would have done well to include another merciless song like ‘The Second Plane’ because that track is just so well made.

If you like thrash, definitely check this album out, especially if you’re into any of the bands mentioned above. While it’s not as unique sounding as Meshuggah (but honestly, what is?), it is a very solid effort that’s catchy as a whole with little to dislike. Fans of the Gothenburg sound will also find this album to their liking with guitars that are exactly what we come to expect coming from the dark part of Europe.

#97554 by Drumdude13
Mon Dec 05, 2005 12:37 am
Reviewed by Henke from http://www.pitfather.com

Non Human Level is a new band with a very interesting member section. On the drums we find Ryan Van Poederooyen (Devin Townsend band), bass Gustaf Hielm (ex-Meshuggah), vocals Peter Wildoer (drummer for Darkane) and on guitar Christopher Malmstrom (guitarplayer from Darkane). When you look for a little bit more information on the Internet it is getting pretty obvious that this is more a solo project of Christopher. He wrote, arranged, recorded and produced the whole album. But a nice member section is not always certain for success, you still need good songs. Well, don’t worry about that!

Christopher’s description of what Non-Human Level sounds like: It´s melodic death metal with influences from the tampa death like the band Death (many deaths here) mixed with the more scandinavian style like the one Darkane has but with more instrumental parts and more guitar solos.

Put also some Cynic and Atheist in this description and I just can copy paste that description for my review. Technical Death Metal, but still good to follow. No strange fast Dillinger Escape Plan hooks or irritating Meshuggah riffs, no just good, honest technical metal!! Christopher can be proud and I really hope that this is not a one-time thing. I really hope that someday he will record another Non Human Level album.

#97555 by Drumdude13
Mon Dec 05, 2005 12:42 am
Review by Simon Milburn from http://www.themetalforge.com

For Darkane guitarist Christofer Malmström, the urge for a creative outlet is as important as oxygen. Never short of ideas, even if some might not fit into the framework of Darkane’s thrashing works, Malmström penned his thoughts and ideas as far back as 1999 (when Darkane released their debut album) and joined forces with former Meshuggah bassist Gustaf Hielm under the name Non Human Level. But it would take several years before there would be any real movement in the Non Human Level camp. After recruiting Devin Townsend Band drummer Ryan Van Poederooyen and Darkane drummer Peter Wildoer behind the mic, Non Human Level finally came to a reality. The songs which make up their debut self titled, as you’d expect, show some elements of Darkane, but there’s a notable shift towards melodic death metal with definite thrash overtones.

And so it begins – Divine Creation Of Void – the acoustic opening and gentle lead over the top is distinctly reminiscent of the thrash era. The opener and it’s successor Personal Hell showcase Malmström and Co. belting out no end of death thrash riffs while Wildoer’s vocals cross somewhere between Carcass’ Jeff Walker and At The Gates’ Tomas Lindberg. Windows On The World and the later track Journal Of A Nightmare reinforce the focus on the music and their musicianship as both tend to rely on minimal vocals throughout. Going one step further is the amazing instrumental The Second Plane which is a showcase of virtuoso guitar skills with an abundance of riffs, leads, harmony parts and subdued Joe Satriani like breaks which all allow for the song to offer a break from the norm.

Instincts’ brisk pace early on is reflected in the frantic keyboard solo by Lale Larson later in the piece as Larson trades off with Malmström. The second instrumental piece is the beautifully epic Water with more Satriani like leads over soft, soothing clean guitars that kick into full distortion mode midway through before returning to it’s former personality before the – relenteless thrash attack of Untrustable Surface kicks the aggro-meter up a notch or two. Showing mild signs of musical schizophrenia, The Genetic Failure, mixes chugging grooves, semi jazz improv clean parts and a blinding wall of distortion in what is one of the albums strongest tracks. The oddly titled Freaking Goose winds down the album with a brief passage of clean guitars.

It would be unfair to compare Non Human Level directly to Darkane. They are an extension of Darkane; that is both to be expected and also fair. But Non Human Level take things to the next level with more guitar oriented songs, some truly amazing instrumental pieces and passages within songs that makes their self titled debut a pleasure to listen to time and time again.

#107710 by Drumdude13
Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:20 pm
Check out this killer review from http://www.metalreview.com

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17.50/18

Synopsis:

H-O-L-Y-F-U-C-K-I-N-G-S-H-I-T

Review: By Michael Wuensch

Non-Human Level is basically the brainchild of Darkane guitarist extraordinaire, Christopher Malmstrom. For those of you not already familiar with his work, this man knows how to beat the living hell out of a guitar. But don’t blow your choad quite yet…this project also features Gustaf Hielm of Meshuggah fame on bass, Ryan Van Poederooyen of The Devin Townsend Band on drums, and none other than fellow Darkane drummer, Peter Wildoer, on vocals. Quite the lineup.

There’s a lot to talk about in regards to this album, so I’ll skip the details on the band bio and move on to the goods, but before I do, I have a few confessions to make; I’ve never really been a fan of Meshuggah, I’ve never flipped my shit over The Devin Townsend Band, AND, I didn’t get back into Darkane until last year’s excellent Layer of Lies. What can I say? My diet consists primarily of Black, Death, and Trad/Power Metal. That being said, I think Non-Human Level is, without a doubt, one of the most pleasant surprises I’ve heard exude from my speakers in quite some time. This may very well be a direct result of what I just stated above, but all things considered, this album knocked me flat on my ass.

A self-professed “melodic death/thrash metal band with Tampa and Scandinavian influences” is exactly what rips forth from your speakers the second you hit play on Non-Human Level, but that’s not all! There are also elements of Traditional/Power Metal, and even Prog. Metal to further add layers to this fantastic endeavor. And let me tell you, if you’re a fan of guitar solo's, Malmstrom’s fretwork alone should be enough for any fan of Metal to enjoy some part of this album. As far as the vocals are concerned, Wildoer pretty much sticks to the At-The-Gates style rasp that certainly seems popular now-a-days. To his credit, however, he does achieve one hell of a level of ‘pissed off’ numerous times throughout the album.

Non-Human Level starts off quietly on “Divine Creation of Void”, with Malmstrom employing Traditional Metal solo styling for the intro, but things get kicked up a notch fairly quickly. There are obvious elements of Malmstrom’s parent band all over this album, and the first track is no exception. It has all the technicality of Darkane, but throw in a wicked Prog. Bass solo 2:50 in, and we’ve got a whole new beast. Track 2, “Personal Hell”, is a brutal thrash attack with an opening riff that’ll shiv you quicker than a desperate inmate looking to earn his chops. I’m telling you people, this riff alone would make Gary Holt spit coffee into his lap. Things slow down a bit for the instrumental “The Second Plane”, flexing a nice chunky rhythm and excellent lead work (once again) from Malmstrom. Song 5, “Instincts”, is another fantastic genre bender. Malmstrom & the boys start the song off brutally, but 1:50 in, they welcome Demon keyboardist, Christian Schultze, in on the fun with a (?!!!) church-organ solo (that’s right, I said organ solo). Soon afterwards, Malmstrom and guest-keyboardist extraordinaire, Lale Larson, battle back and forth for the remainder of the song. The following track, “Journal of a Nightmare” brings back the full Thrash attack, and definitely puts the incredible drumming of Poederooyen in the spotlight. The quiet instrumental “Water” gives the listener a bit of respite from the attack, but not for long, as the album quickly heads back to more brutal waters, until the oddly named, “Freaking Goose”, quietly ends the album acoustically.

It’s hard for me to pick out a weak point on this album. To be honest, the only thing that kept me from giving this recording a perfect score is the fact that two of the tracks are simply ‘good’ (“Windows on the World”, and “Untrustable Surface”). Apart from that, this is an album I’d say definitely warrants further investigation by fans of Metal. It’s questionable whether or not we’ll see another album from Non-Human Level, but we should consider ourselves lucky to have this one.

#109805 by Drumdude13
Sun Feb 05, 2006 2:34 am
From http://www.roarezine.com

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Rating - 93/100


Non-Human Level is ironically enough made by humans and hence most likely of none other than a human level. But perhaps we could reconsider. Non-Human Level is a "new" band founded by Darkane guitarist Christofer Malmström. Besides him we find Mehuggah bass-player Gustaf Hielm, Devin Townsend Band drummer Ryan van Poederooyen and Darkane drummer Peter Wildoer on vocals. The question we need to ask ourselves is … do all-star musicians guarantee an all-star album?

I’ll answer that later on. Non-Human Level plays melodic death/trash metal. According to the bio sheet there are also influences from the Tampa rooted death metal and Scandinavian style with more instrumental parts and solo’s. Sounds all nice and dandy but what does it sound like? Well … like a raging bull running around your four square meters apartment. This band is energetic as hell. The heavy riffs, atmosphere and bashing drums chase you like a psychotic death metal machine. The nice thing is that even through the heaviness and energy the band never looses the melodic touch. The wonderful melodies entangled in the heavy no mercy-like metal are create a wonderful contrast. The songs are diverse, fresh, heavy and make you want to take the bull full-frontal at the horns and toss him out … just to continue the duel elsewhere.

The production is very well done. Every instrument seems to come to its right. The guitars sound clean yet heavy and are well mixed in between the other instruments but still take a main place in the compositions. The vocals sound very nice. Above average pitched death metal vocals. Drifting somewhere between grunts and screams they really fit the atmosphere and sound of the music … Great choice in Darkane drummer Peter.

This is a must-have for melodic death metal fans. If you’re into grunt/screams and fast, energetic, melodic and guitar-oriented melodic death metal you must get this one. With the mix of heavy and energetic death metal, instrumental parts and even the acoustic guitar making its appearance this is a diverse, furious and melodic new release. I don’t know whether all-star bands always guarantee a great album, but Non-Human Level sure does!

#109806 by Drumdude13
Sun Feb 05, 2006 2:37 am
From http://www.vampire-magazine.com

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Reviewed by Raymond on Sunday 18 December 2005.


Darkane is Christoffer Malmströms main band and he is one of the core composers. Over the years he has written a lot of music he could not use in Darkane, but instead of tossing it away, he decided to keep it on the shelf for future projects. The result of one of these projects is Non Human Level’s selftitled debut album. Let’s have a closer look...

One of the first questions one could ask, is whether any musical parallels can be drawn between the music of Darkane and Non Human Level. This question can be answered with a yes and a no. Yes, the music reaches the same intensity level as Darkane and the involvement of Peter Wildoer on vocals makes the Darkane connection only stronger. No, the music of Non Human Level is at times more melodic and the focus is definitely on Christopher’s phenomenal guitar work. The music offered can still be tagged as melodic death metal, but it sounds more “American” than Darkane, because of the bay area thrash influences and some hints to the later Death output as well. Choosing Peter Wildoer as vocalist is at least a remarkable move, but it works out just fine. He has a very aggressive growling style, which gives the music more venom. Behind the skins we find Ryan Van Poederooyen (Devin Townsend Band). Again not an obvious choice, since he is best known for his more rock influenced drumming in The Devin Townsend Band. Christoffer proves that he has a good eye for quality, because Ryan turns out to be a very versatile drummer and easily manages to play aggressive music very tastefully as well. On bass we find Gutaf Hielm of Meshuggah fame, keeping the music together and providing a solid bass for the other members to excell. The music on the album ranges from quite acoustic pieces (“Divine Creation Of Void” and “Freaking Goose”) to ferocious melodic death/thrash compositions (“Personal Hell”, “Instincts” and “Journal Of A Nightmare”) and everything in between. Christoffer proves that he has a fine ear for catchy hooks. The production is skillfully handled by the maestro himself, pushing the music really ahead.

Compared to Darkane, Non Human Level is different enough to claim some form of musical legitimacy, yet offers enough recognisable elements not to alienate the Darkane fanbase. If you are into high quality melodic death/thrash, then Non Human Level is certainly worth your time and effort. Buy or die!

#109807 by Drumdude13
Sun Feb 05, 2006 2:40 am
From http://www.metaleater.com

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9.5/10

By Luc Ben Hayoun

Sweden's NON-HUMAN LEVEL is the side project of DARKANE's very prolific guitarist, Christopher Malmström, who has been working on the idea since around the time of "Rusted Angel" in 1999. Although the ideas didn't fit in the style of his main band they were well worth keeping aside for a future project. When Malmström finally gathered enough material in order to constitute a first opus, he decided to go ahead and select a group of musicians that included bassist Gustaf Hielm (MESHUGGAH), drummer Ryan Van Poederooyen (DEVIN TOWNSEND BAND, LALU) and fellow DARKANE mate, drummer Peter Wildoer on vocals. Recorded at Not Quite Studios in Helsingborg, Sweden, the first album of NON-HUMAN LEVEL is now available on Listenable Records.

With such a brochette of musicians, everybody is of course entitled to expect the best, and let me tell you that the best is exactly what you're going to get with this disc. With a catchy acoustic intro, opening track "The Divine Creation Of Void" unleashes the fury. What we have here is pure straight-forward Death/Thrash Metal with killer riffs and extremely tight musicianship. This is definitely far from the usual sound of DARKANE. The next song, "Personal Hell", raises the level of aggression in a style similar to GRIMFIST, except for more importance given to the melodies, especially during the Blackmore/Malmsteen-like guitar-solos. "Windows On The World", after a very old-school Thrash guitar-intro, follows up in the same way without any effort whatsoever. Once again, even if you think you've heard it all, you can't help being extremely impressed by the level of virtuosity displayed by each musician. Next, full instrumental "The Second Plane" enhances this impression. It's quite surprising to have this appearing so early in the track order. Nevertheless, it is so good that it blends in easily with the rest of the album thus far. After this short break, the super fast heavy-as-hell "Instincts", strikes right where it hurts. It's important to mention the appearance of DEMON keyboardist Lale Larson and Christian Schulze at the organ on this one.

In "Journal Of A Nightmare", the intro is somehow very reminiscent of ANTHRAX's classic "Deathrider". Further down the road as the song progresses, it's back to business as usual. The acoustic break offered on the album's second instrumental, "Water", fits in with the rest of the selection despite its fine melodic tranquility. "Untrustable Surface" gets going in a very vintage Thrash vibe in the spirit of Bay area thrashers EXODUS - just a tad more sophisticated. "The Genetic Failure" on the other hand starts off in a straightforward Death Metal spirit before switching into a very jazzy break halfway across the song, concluding towards the end with the old school Thrash idea of the previous track. The album ends with a third instrumental, the acoustic "Freaking Goose".

The production work (fully assumed by Christopher Malmström) on this album is just enormous. So far 2005 has seen Extreme Metal getting more and more complex with acts such as MORS PRINCIPIUM EST, BIOMECHANICAL, GRIMFIST and OLD MAN'S CHILD. Well, NON HUMAN LEVEL will be a new addition to the list. Lets hope this time we won't have to wait another six years before they release their next album.

#109808 by Drumdude13
Sun Feb 05, 2006 2:42 am
From http://www.rateyourmusic.com

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4/5 Stars

Non-Human Level are sort of a strange hybrid between supergroup and side project. The mastermind behind their songs is Darkane's Christofer Malmstrom, but he is supported by (ex)Meshuggah's Gustaf Hielm on bass, The Devin Townsend Band's Ryan Van Poederooyen on drums and Darkane's drummer, Peter Wildoer, on vocals and production. Christofer has slowly been collecting riffs that were deemed unusable for Darkane over the last few years and has assembled them into one album: Non-Human Level.

Anyone who has heard Darkane will not be surprised to hear that it is a melodic death metal album, but parts of the album stray away from this genre into the super fast and technical thrash metal of Florida death metal greats like Death. Seeing as how it is a side project of a guitarist, you get tons of guitarwork in here; the album is packed full of guitar solos, though never straying into the dark territory of musical wankery, and a healthy dose of acoustic interludes. The awesome solos range from quick, tight shredding to the more melodic and harmonic works that Swedish melodeath is known for.

As for the rest of the band, they perform superbly. Peter Wildoer's shrieks are vicious, intense and catchy all at once, I even prefer him to Darkane's normal vocalist because he does not saturate his yells in strange production effects. The production, as it always seems to be these days, is spot on with every instrument being clearly heard. Ryan van Poederooyen gives an astounding drum performance, his tight and energetic drumming compliments Christofer's thrashy riffs perfectly and keep the album ripping forward at high speeds.

If you are looking for intensely fast thrash metal that has a trace of beauty and complex guitar work, than Non Human Level is the band for you. In my ears it is essentially flawless and contains everything I would look for in a melodeath album.

#109809 by Drumdude13
Sun Feb 05, 2006 2:44 am
From http://www.tartareandesire.com

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8/10 Stars

When guitarist extraordinaire Christofer Malmström of Darkane and friends in the shape of Peter Wildoer (also Darkane), Ryan van Poederooyen (Devin Townsend Band) and Gustaf Hielm (ex. Meshuggah) gather up one expects quality. Luckily, they also deliver, and the production is pretty much great. Usually I don't have a hard time deciding how to grade a record, but this one is tough. The music at times resembles older Arch Enemy, but with a whole lot of other different influences aswell. There is a fair amount of soloing on this album, by some perhaps referred to as ”wanking”, and at times it's a little too much, giving the feeling that the solo's just there for it's own sake rather than enhancing the musical experience. One peculiar/interesting thing is that towards the end of the song ”The second plane” they incorporate an old swedish psalm/folksongthingy called ”Gammal Fäbodpsalm” (thanks to my girlfriend for that piece of vital information). So now Non-Human Level can feel proud as they join Lars Roos (a swedish piano player) and others in the ”Gammal Fäbodpsalm”-ranks. Peculiar, and less than evil, but I don't really care since it sounds rather neat. All four members of the band do their thing brilliantly, and given just a little less ”wanking”/more solidness this records would reach for top grades, but now I reward it with a boring 8. Sorry.

#109810 by Drumdude13
Sun Feb 05, 2006 2:48 am
From http://www.lunarhynosis.com

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December 3, 2005
By Amputated Angle
8 of 10 Stars


Non-Human Level is sort of a strange hybrid between supergroup and side project. The mastermind behind their songs is Darkane's Christofer Malmstrom, but he is supported by (ex) Meshuggah’s Gustaf Hielm on bass, The Devin Townsend Band's Ryan Van Poederooyen on drums and Darkane's drummer, Peter Wildoer, on vocals and production. Christofer has slowly been collecting riffs that were deemed unusable for Darkane over the last few years and has assembled them into one album: Non-Human Level.

Anyone who has heard Darkane will not be surprised to hear that it is a melodic death metal album. This genre is fairly broad, and I’ll start off by saying that Non-Human Level stay towards the thrash end of the spectrum, rather than the more melodic version that seems to be popular these days or the more folk influenced Gothenburg sound, although there are one or two guitar solos on this that reminded me of Gothenburg on here. As the side project of a guitarist it should come across as no surprise that this album has a little more emphasis on guitar solos than most melodeath albums. This is where Christofer truly shines and I actually think that his work with Darkane is holding him back. His solos are so plentiful, well done and varied that they never take away from the song, anything they add to them, no matter how many he puts into a song. He crams everything from lightning fast shredding to beautiful harmonics into this album, and even if the rest of the band performed poorly, which they don’t, he could have carried the album on his guitar playing alone.

As for the rest of the band, they perform superbly. Peter Wildoer's shrieks range vicious and intense to nearly catchy in a few points, I even prefer him to Darkane's normal vocalist because he does not saturate his yells in strange production effects. The production, as it always seems to be these days (Thank you ProTools!), is spot on with every instrument being clearly heard. Ryan van Poederooyen gives an astounding drum performance, after hearing his work with both Lalu and The Devin Townsend band it seems like he can do any style and sound like he was built for it. His tight drumming keeps the music firing along at an insanely addictive pace.

If you are looking for intensely fast thrash metal that has a trace of beauty and complex guitar work, then Non Human Level is the band for you. In my ears it is essentially flawless and contains everything I would look for in a melodeath album.

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