ONLY HUMAN Premiere Debut Album Planned Obsolescence

“The album is supposed to wake people up to all the ways technocracy is encroaching on society”, Only Human vocalist Patrick Grønbæch Christensen says. “Tech companies often design their products to have an expiration date, so that we’re forced to replace them with the newest model. Through our social media and the adoption of influencer culture, we now live in a reality where humans are products to be consumed and disposed of”.

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Pre-order & pre-save: https://orcd.co/onlyhumanplannedobsolescence

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Concept albums are standard issue for metal, especially in the prog space. But when the five members of Only Human first put their heads together in 2023, they decided to build the very human fabric of the band around one increasingly prescient idea.

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“We like a lot of bands that just play rock music, but we wanted ONLY HUMAN to be about something”, Christensen says. “We’re interested in creating a musical universe that portrays a future on the brink of collapse”.

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Planned Obsolescence reckons with technology’s increasingly hostile takeover. “Techno Fascist” comes crashing down amidst a turbulent downstream of low-tuned chugs. The intrusion of beats, blips and synthetic swirls into the heavy mainframe of “Breach” mirrors not only how technology has seeped into our everyday lives but also the looming threat that it poses in rendering humans obsolete.

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While Planned Obsolescence is full of existential dread, that doesn’t mean the album leaves us no hope. There’s nothing broken or even outdated about Only Human. The band’s fusion of heavy polyrhythmic grooves, anthemic hard rock and haunting electronic soundscapes hits like a deep breath of fresh air. “Defy and learn to walk again”, commands blood-pumping lead single “Automata”.

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“When the world is going badly, the reason is because people gave up”, Christensen concludes. “Things aren’t hopeless. We can absolutely fight back. Hopefully, this album gets people to think about valuing humanity over profit”.