CueStack’s Diagnosis: Human is a heaping plateful of dystopia for those who hunger. Their blend of tech and classical instruments is excellent with airy otherworldly synths that take you to a place where you can escape from reality for a bit. Low tight bass and guitar accentuate tight punchy drum rhythms and are well written.
“Alive” stands out in many ways. The overall aggressiveness of the song seems just right, not too hot, not too cold. A nice driving tempo in the verses followed by a slight breakdown in the choruses make for good dynamics. The guitar tone during the chorus is unique and sounds amazing. The mix has an excellent three dimensional quality to it especially in the bridge where the depth of field is undeniably made apparent followed by an incredibly well written solo with a classic yet modern tinged tone.
Next up on the album is “Monster”. This track keeps the energy and momentum flowing from the first song and maintains the same sonic attributes as the first. The vocals, interestingly, took me back to The Meat Puppets song “Sam” with it’s cadence starting out in a half time feel then moving to double time in the second half of the verses. Again the choruses break down a bit creating nice dynamics. This song and “Alive were wise choices for their videos.
CueStack photo by Ljubo Lukic courtesy of CueStack
The following three songs “Lines Of Code”, “Transhuman Generation” and “Gynoid” are slightly less energetic and seem to follow a writing pattern where robotic monotone vocals in the verses are followed by more pleasing choruses. I found my interest beginning to wane a bit in this part of the album. All these songs are good though, “Transhuman” being the strongest of the three. All are sonically pleasing with great samples and guitar riffs but these songs just didn’t have the “umph” to keep my mind from wandering occasionally.
The next song, “Energize” snapped me right back to attention. Aptly named the song starts out with a quick tempo and ripping guitars. Aggressive vocals keep right up with the sonic energy of the instruments behind it. The call and response with the vocals in parts of the song was a nice touch. An interesting well executed guitar solo in this one as well. This one puts the pedal to the floor pretty much from beginning to end.
CueStack photo by Tom Zonyga-atgraphix courtesy of CueStack
“Nothing Without Me” is quite interesting especially following such an energetic song like …uh …”Energize”. Although much much more toned down than “Energize” this song still managed to keep my attention. Airy synths, samples and dreamy clean guitar riffs slathered with reverbs and delays create a hypnotic mood music type feel. The choruses are energetic but still tastefully complimentary of the verses.
Again the next three songs on the album here, “Stronger”, “Horizon” and “Overpopulate”, I found myself drifting off occasionally. Plenty of interesting riffs, samples and vocal lines here to make it worthy of listening too, though.
The Album finishes strong with “Icon” with upbeat hi hats and a classic steady boom and snap of the kick and snare. Great guitar riffs, samples, synths and some very interesting vocal lines throughout the song.
All in all Diagnosis: Human is a really good album that I would think Rob Zombie or Marilyn Manson would surely at least raise an eyebrow to, especially, to the more driving songs on the album. The intricacy and complexity on these songs was done very tastefully and added to the entertainment value rather than detracting from it. The mix is three dimensional, all instruments have their own distinct space in the frequency spectrum and is very well balanced.
For the current single ‘Stronger’ CueStack teamed up with the German organisation #AlarmstufeRot to help music industry professionals in need! When CueStack witnessed the amazing work of the German fundraiser #AlarmstufeRot in 2020, they decided to do their part by donating the full profits from their upcoming album ‘Diagnosis:Human’ to the fundraiser. This will help them on their mission to support live music industry professionals in dire need. By purchasing one of their ‘Live Music Relief Kits’, you directly help out and also get a free crew shirt on top of their album and merch items. This kit is meant to bring back a bit of that missing live music feeling, with an added exclusive backstage pass and the clear message: ‘We Won’t Let Live Music Die’.
