Here's Why You Should Listen To Reptilian Civilian's New EP

“One thing is for certain: there is no stopping them; the reptiles are here. And I for one welcome our new reptilian overlords."

To label British author, speaker and conspiracy theorist David Icke as an insane individual is a massive understatement.

Icke, who is in the profession of "exposing the dreamworld", is someone who believes and decries all the regular old bollocks; the Illuminati, the denial of the Holocaust, anti-Semitism, pro anti-vaccination, etcetera. Then there's the not so usual bullshit he subscribes to; how we all live in a constructed "five-sense prison", how an ancient, inter-dimensional race of shape-shifting reptiles - called the Babylonian Brotherhood - has infested our world and now controls all levels of global government, and that our Earth's moon is a goddamned Reptilian/ET command station. I'm also going to assume that he's one of those pillocks that thinks our Earth is flat because to think otherwise of him is perhaps giving old mate far too much credit.

So, is Icke more or less a crazy New Age conspiracist? Most definitely. But the real question here is would Icke's work and beliefs make for a wealthy source of inspiration for a metal band's musical endeavours? The answer is, of course, a resounding fuck yes!

Now enter Brisbane's Reptilian Civilian; a band I am now very thankful to have stumbled upon recently. I knew I was going to pick up what Reptilian Civilian - musically, think Blind Oracle meets Jack The Stripper as a loose comparison - where putting down when, after mentioning Icke and his ridiculous beliefs in their Facebook 'About' section, they concluded by saying "and we're about that shit."

When you then glance over the rest of technical death metal/deathcore group's online bio's, you're informed that this group are simply "5 Brisbane dudes who want to expose the worlds leaders for what they are". Fighting the good fight against our deceptive, man-eating, cold-blooded overlords, this band be. Furthermore, according to their visceral, wicked new EP, 'It's Impossible That Reptilians Don't Exist' (which dropped on Thursday, May 4th), this extreme metal outfit have asserted that "After countless hours of intense research, we as a band have come to the conclusion, It's Impossible Reptilians Don't Exist. No Humans Left. Trust No One. Reptilians Are Here".

From reading those excerpts, it's painfully clear that Reptilian Civilian love to have fun with their music... unless they're some-fucking-how being deadly serious, in which case I've completely missed the point. Well, anyway, this reptilian motif also works well in the band's favour of retaining the dark, violent, bleak imagery and lyrics required for extreme metal such as this.

For the ominous four and a half-minute opener 'Agartha The Crystal City' is titled after the mythic subterranean city of the same name; a strong aspect in the flawed Hollow Earth theory. The short but brutally sweet 'Mokele Mbembe' is named after a giant water-dwelling creature from Congo Basin folklore, and who is lyrically dubbed by the band as the "destroyer of man". The groovier cut of 'Panspermia' derives its name after the hypothesis that human life doesn't originate from Earth, but rather from other planets/galaxies and that life only grew here as a result from lengthy periods of meteor showers billions of years ago; again loosely tying into the band's reptilian theme. Also, on one of the EP's standout tracks, 'Genesis', and right before the guest vocal of Redbear (vocalist from fellow Brisbane noisemakers, Hurricane Death), there's a sampled quote from my favourite comedian, Alex Jones, with his animated line of "Destroy the child. Corrupt them all". Yeah.

Hell, even before you listen to the six menacing tracks that 'It's Impossible That Reptilians Don't Exist' houses, you can gather as much about its theme, intent and lyrics simply by looking at the glorious front cover. It depicts a Last Supper-like scenario but with reptiles - who have seemingly been feasting upon human flesh - instead of actual people. Check it out below:

[caption id="attachment_1092313" align="alignnone" width="760"] Yeah, look, this will probably be my favourite cover of any 2017 release.[/caption]

Yet for all of the immense, ironic piss-taking and memey, reptilian conspiracy gimmick that this quintet present with their music, Reptilian Civilian's EP is without a doubt, fuckin' solid! Seriously, as far as EP's go in 2017, this is becoming one of my favourites for the year thus far.

Last year's three-track demo, 'Sons Of Annunaki' - Annunaki being a descendent race from the Draco constellation according to nutjobs like Icke - wasn't great. It really lacked the necessary layer of production polish and sonic punch, and to be fair, while it was their first release it was simply more utilitarian than anything else. Also called for were stronger songwriting and instrumental chops to make Reptilian Civilian's extreme sound fully "work". Thankfully, all of those points have been nailed here with 'It's Impossible That Reptilians Don't Exist', which doubles the tracklisting length from their previous release but has the sheer quality and guts to back that up.

But firstly, what really helps bolster this EP is the fact that it was engineered, mixed and mastered by A Night In Texas guitarist and mastermind, Cory Judd, who has helped to bring this band's sound to fruitful life. It's not the cleanest or best of mixes, sure, but it does work for this band's sound and it fully realises each element of said sound. However, that's from behind the mixing desk and computer screens littered with DAW faders and plug-ins, for a good mix and recording does not a good release make. Of course, it's the actual songwriting and performances that truly makes a release, and this Brissy outfit has really upped those two aspects here.

This is seen in the group's more punishing than ever deathcore delivery, the heavy instrumentals, the surging low end, the solid but suitably jagged rhythmic shifts, and the intensive vocal styles present throughout; from low gutturals, hardcore shouts, the occasional wheezing pig squeal, to high, throat-shredding shrieks. On top of that, the five-piece have also tightened not only their sense of groove but also their tech-death elements as well; namely in their high output of cutthroat riffs and busy, skilful lead work that thankfully never enters the waters of guitar-wank. Songs such as 'Mokele Mbembe', 'Panspermia', and closer 'Hatched From Filth'  are easily the best examples of this, I find.

But hey, you want to know the best part about this EP? 'It's Impossible That Reptilians Don't Exist' is only $5. So go and purchase it right here, right now, you fuckin' cowards.

Or simply do the next best thing and stream it in its complete, scaly glory below.

When I said that Alex Jones was my favourite comedian earlier on, I did mean that - listening to what that over the top bastard has to say makes me laugh for all the wrong reasons. Also, as for the song 'SO7EO1', I'm just going to ASSUME that that's related to episode one of season seven of The Walking Dead. You know, the one where Glen and Abraham dies? Yeah, that one!