You got three types of records. Those that sail right into our review pipe and get published on time and on budget. Then, there is the reverse of the coin. Those wannabes that won’t convince nobody at the RMR Review desk and just find that dreaded chute into the terrible oubliette.
Now, the third iteration is those records that get delayed. They come back knocking on all sorts of doors, get some attention, then return to the sump to patiently wait for their turn. And whilst some of those will finally find that terrible trapdoor, others will see the sickly light of the terrible interweb. And better late than never.
One of those weird animals is The Human Farm, late from the Italian act Vanderlust.1 A record that pulled us in and shoved us right back again numerous times. Let me explain!
The Human Farm starts off well. Vanderlust understood that for a record to succeed, you need a solid storyline. The band chose a truly fantastical tangent, one that includes aliens farming humans for their alien-esque, unfathomable ends and means. This corresponds to one of the theories about how a relationship with a superior alien culture could unfold. And nothing about that theory sounds comforting in any way, shape, or form. But I digress.2
Meaning, the first pillar to success – a sturdy theme or storyline – has been established. Now, the art of the deal here is to integrate all that wordy theory into a musical adventure. And there’s the rub: we’re up against some hefty competition in this wide world of Progressive and Power Metal. This integration thing is one of the more difficult parts of writing epic records. And epic it should be.
And this already starts with Humanity 2.0 – The Human Farm, the intro. The theme gets reproduced at the outro levels much later, and that’s one juicy brownie point, right there. However, the flat-sounding, terrible monologue and the helium-like, high-pitched choir didn’t leave this reviewer in the best spirits. Even if the metal following later, together with the pretty neat solo at the end, lightened the mood some.
Golden Shackles – the number two of The Human Farm‘s tracklist – really drove the main issues home. True, the guitar work is outstanding, and Francesco Romeggini’s creative knack for often outstanding solos made us clap our hands a few times. Yet, the relatively flat production, with the mix pushing every soundbite to the forefront, didn’t really convince anyone here. The catch is the vocals, though. Those often strangely take a backseat when they should be front and center. In addition, the often bland, emotionless vocal delivery3 and some truly atrocious growls left this crew often unimpressed. And to add insult to injury, the annoying St Anger-ish snare drum truly grated on our bones after a while.
And that turned The Human Farm into a mixed bag. A lot of negatives compete with some truly outstanding ideation. This translates into a record where the production seems to be out of whack with the reality of songsmithing. Which – in turn – clearly has a negative impact on the quality of the piece. Let me detail this some more! You get outstanding, thrash-laden riffs, the aforementioned solos, and the – for once – pretty emotive acoustic guitar interludes. Yet the mix can only be described as spotty, and no warm master is in sight, far and wide, to smoothen things over. And these are not the only contradictions.
With all that went before, one would think that nothing good would emerge from The Human Farm here. But to the contrary, Vanderlust injected a few pretty neat tracks into their concoction. Once Battlefeed takes up speed, you’ll find some pretty snazzy thrashing mixed with Blind Guardian-esque shenanigans going on. This is the track with the juiciest power and the best balance overall. Drive, for example, impresses with a solemn, yet moody mix of acoustic parts and harsher components. Complete with one of those stellar solos yet again. Or let’s focus on The Turning Point with its pretty excellent progressive airs and neat metallic bite.
Finally, methinks that Vanderlust here didn’t quite manage to connect the narration with the musical parts correctly. Creating highly complex concept pieces such as this one requires a lot of time-consuming tuning and even more attention to detail. There needs to be variation in the vocal delivery, different tones for different moods and sub-themes, and more importantly, a production able to sling all of this together correctly. At this point, The Human Farm truly sounds like some proverbial unfinished golem. A strange creature that doesn’t quite master the performance to take this to the next level yet.
However, this here crew can see the talent on display, and maybe the band will be able to turn this around next time around. As to this crew, we’ll be watching.
Record Rating: 5/10 | Label: Rockshots Records | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 17 April 2026
- Wander lust? Lusty meandering? I broke the AI asking for what that moniker could possibly mean.-↩
- A ton of papers and books are available on this subject. But if you fancy staying with pop culture, watch The Matrix again or go for Jupiter Ascending.-↩
- The vocals lack charisma. Let’s name it. -Ed.-↩