Following a privately circulated demo, the six-song
Human Waste EP was the debut for Long Island thrash/death metal outfit
Suffocation. Relatively brief in duration (clocking in at just over 24 minutes), the songs were played at blitzkrieg speeds, tossing out what were traditional song structures even in thrash metal circles, basing the tunes around series of complex riffs that sometimes wouldn't ever reappear, gruff growling vocals, and the occasional breakdown into slothful sludge. The results were incredibly advanced and sophisticated for 1991, and set the scene for proper full-length
Effigy of the Forgotten later that same year.
Human Waste was, incidentally, the first release on Relapse Records, a label that would go on to be one of the more important metal-focused labels of its time. ~ Fred Thomas