mankind review from michigan artists:

This is the best cd from any band in Michigan I've ever heard. Nothing tops this one. Its amazing from start to finish. The way they describe themselves, hardcore with a twist of dark melody, is perfect. This band is exactly that, heavy as you could imagine, but at times, very melodic. I hear an incredible number of influences throughout this album. You can feel the influences of bands like Nirvana, Black Sabbath, and Tool in their music, but they're comparable to none of those bands because the sound on the album is completely original. I wouldn't talk about this cd if I couldn't mention Nate's vocals. He fits right up there with Aaron Lewis of Staind and Maynard Keenan of Tool, but Nate's vocals have this amazingly gritty edge to them, which makes them almost undescribable without cringing at the thought of them. My personal favorite songs were Sludge, Diary Of A Serial Killer, and Ephedrine. Ephedrine would almost be more fittingly titled Adrenaline, because it just seems to drive you to the edge at every moment of the song. Diary Of A Serial Killer has this darkly epic feel to it. That song is definitely the best display of Nate's vocal abilities. The song 14 Left, is very reminiscent of Nirvana's "Blew," for those of you that know that song, but 14 Left is so much more dynamic. Peace Officer, probably the one song that you'd remember from their live show if you went, well, it's just fucking heavy. Sludge, maybe my favorite, it's a toss-up between that and Diary Of A Serial Killer, has this killer guitar part towards the end that just slices right through this very melodic vocal part. Sludge is, basically, Bill's song to shine through on. The guitars on that song are nothing short of incredible. It almost makes me sick to hear that song over and over, I love it. This band deserves everything they're headed towards. When I bought this cd, I knew exactly what I was in store for, even though I had only seen em live twice before. The Frog seems to be getting smaller and smaller for them considering they've broken the attendance records the last two times they've played there (over 300 the last time). Catch em at St. Andrew's, the 7th House, or a club of the likes, they seem to frequent those a lot and go out and pick up this cd now.