Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Acumen Nation - More Human Heart (1997)

I needed an album to balance things out in my ongoing early industrial metal rediscovery journey. That Gravity Kills album caused an unnecessary twist into my journey, as that album and band have more of an industrial/alt-rock sound with only a few songs being metal. However, this band Acumen Nation has a more metallic take on that sound, and a great improvement too. So let's dive into that...

More Human Heart is the band's 3rd album and the first under the band name Acumen Nation. They were previously known as just Acumen until legal issues with a similarly titled prog-rock band caused the name change. The solid industrial metal rage will get you hooked to the grooves.

"Ventilator" starts the album greatly with their usual blend of electro-industrial and metal. "If You Were" has some sections that would foreshadow all those times when The Dillinger Escape Plan deviate from their mathcore sound in their more experimental songs. Staggering a bit is "Unkind" within the rhythm. "Cancerine" is a nice standout that's soft but keeps your attention going.

"Revelations Per Minute" definitely has a similar vibe to early Dir En Grey. "Bleed for You" makes me think of Red Harvest blended with the groove-ish instrumentation of Vision of Disorder at that time. Things get a little more vulnerable in "The Funny Thing is...", but it still has some catchy energy.

"F*** Yer Brains Out" is a more brutal industrial standout. "Ugly on the Inside" is more catchy and upbeat, but it makes me wonder if that's where Code Orange got a bit of their industrial side from. "Punka**" indeed sounds more punky, with a side of Waltari at that time. "Dreamheart/Crush'd" is one last two-part 9-minute epic. Quite a climatic way to end an industrial rock/metal album!

The cool thing about Acumen Nation is, they can mix 80s-style rock/metal with modern industrial at easy grace. It's a well-deserved bridge between Gravity Kills' debut and the one album by Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford's side-project 2wo. In the mainstream industrial metal realm, I'm nicely surprised by how far I've come. RIP Jamie Duffy....

Favorites: "Ventilator", "Cancerine", "Bleed for You", "F*** Yer Brains Out", "Ugly on the Inside", "Dreamheart/Crush'd"