Cain and Abel

After being unceremoniously booted from next-big-thing the Most Serene Republic, and having his name mysteriously removed from the writing credits on the second pressing of their debut, Peter Van Helvoort has struck back with a musical vengeance on You Lost the Human Race. Conceived as an atheistic re-interpretation of the Old Testament, the songs here blend the hard-hitting emo of Braid with demented campfire sing-alongs ending in Locust-esque blasts of spastic noise. Van Helvoort’s love of strange group vocals, a holdover from some of the more interesting moments he penned on Most Serene Republic’s The Underwater Cinematographer, is in full force here, filling out the experimental sound of songs such as "Death; Under the Excruciating Weight of…” While Van Helvoort’s vocals take some time to warm up to, the disc rewards repeat listens, just as its intricate, beautiful artwork demands a careful eye.