Review by Daniel for Unseen Terror - Human Error (1987)

This 1987 Earache Records release sits amongst the earliest examples of legitimate grindcore to receive a proper release as well as being one of the inaugural releases for Earache. Weeeellll… if I'm honest Unseen Terror's sound sits somewhere between grindcore & thrashcore as there's still a very strong thrash influence in a lot of the riff structures but the consistent use of blast beats is a clear differentiator from crossover thrash in my opinion. Unfortunately the band parted ways with their bass player just before the recording so what we have here is in fact a duo featuring Heresy/Sacrilege guitarist Mitch Dickinson on vocals, guitar & bass & Brujeria/Lock Up/Napalm Death/Meathook Seed bass player Shane Embury on drums. In fact, I believe that Embury started out as a drummer before picking up the bass when he joined Napalm Death shortly afterwards. 

The production job is a bit of a problem for me with fuzzy guitars & a drum kit that sounds noticeably artificial & lacking in depth whilst the performances aren't exactly mind-blowing either with neither band member managing to stay in perfect time consistently. There are riffs galore here & you can easily pick out the influence "Human Error" had on bands like Napalm Death, Terrorizer, Carcass & even Morbid Angel. The guitar solos were almost certainly the influence for those heard on Carcass' "Reek Of Putrefaction" album while you can hear a lot of the inspiration for Pete Sandoval's drumming with Morbid Angel & Terrorizer on occasions.

But influence doesn't always equate to high quality & that's the case here with the sloppy performances & ineffective sound production combining to dampen my enjoyment. Each song that shows promise seems to include at least one section that erases some of Unseen Terror's good work while Mitch's monotone hardcore punk inspired grunt does tend to grate on me at times & also leads to the tracklisting sounding pretty similar. 

Overall, "Human Error" isn't all that bad but it's just not anything that'll interest me for long. I enjoy the wealth of energetic blasting (despite it being overused) but the groovier punk riffs definitely lose some of the band's momentum which Unseen Terror unfortunately struggles to recover from given their lack of genuine musical talent. A couple of the short Garfield-related joke tracks don't help a lot either. I'd steer clear of "Human Error" if I were you & would recommend that you check out Unseen Terror's "The Peel Sessions" E.P. instead as it's infinitely stronger.

For fans of: Early Napalm Death, Heresy, Cryptic Slaughter, early Carcass & Terrorizer