DEAD NEANDERTHALS - Mankind

I'm absolutely unreliable when it comes to New Year's Eve rituals. Sometimes I celebrate the whole thing, sometimes I just do stuff at home (like today). I don't buy fireworks shit, so if there's a party at the neighbours I'll probably watch some stuff, otherwise not.

There's also no specific food or drink or whatever I can't do without. I mean, whatever I'm doing, the new year comes anyway, right?

Enjoying some new EP the Dead Neanderthals just released on December 31st however is the one fucking ritual, which I don't want to miss by now.

(The fact that just yesterday I received a copy of their older album "Endless Voids", which was recorded live at Incubate Festival with eight people on stage performing one eighty minute ambient drone piece, only makes it sweeter.)

DEAD NEANDERTHALS - Mankind (download) (2019)

"Mankind" is one fourteen minute track. Is this stomping metal? No, it's heavy, but more like a midtempo Loop track. Or some super noisy psychedelic rock track. Or post metal mixed with Fetish 69 or "Filth Pig" style Ministry.

What do I know? It's heavy shit without much happening on the surface at first. But it has a lot of layers building up on it. And again it manages to make the band sound different.

The line up is René Aquarius on drums (like most of the time), Otto Kokke NOT on saxophone, but on synthesizer, plus guest musician Ethan Bokma on clarinet.

Of course it sounds nothing like that. I would never have guessed that there's a clarinet on here, it's all just thick, noisy... stuff. Or New Wave of Dutch Heavy Jazz texture of course, if you will.

You can shit on 2019 all you want - and there are tons of reasons -, but with this and "Ghosts" Dead Neanderthals did pretty good.

Gelukkig nieuwjaar!