Aliens offer to take you away and grant you a perfect -if brief- life: do you say yes? According to the Italian cosmic prog metal band Vanderlust , many of you would. « So, a group of humans all over Earth were given » to the Coelacanths for the same offer, thus begins The Human Farm. Several generations later, a human rebellion leads to an escape from slavery and the discovery that the Coelacanths were harvesting Humans for their emotions. This isn’t meant to be funny. Vanderlust were determined to tell a compelling science fiction adventure on The Human Farm , enlisting guest keyboardist Francesco Londino ( S91 ) and singer Martina Barreca ( Mass Excess ) to play the role of the Coelacanths. But did Vanderlust give us a science fiction adventure for the ages with The Human Farm ?
The melancholic seriousness with which Vanderlust share their adventure on The Human Farm is often matched by skill and musical vision. Vanderlust cut through tracks that recall speed-demonics, like “Viral Escape” or “Golden Shackles”, with caustic, Vektor-gone-power-metal riffs, while also creating respite between the narrative tempos with melancholic clean guitars and trembling drums on “The Turning Point” and “Connection Failed”. Guitarist Francesco Romeggini solos like a madman on The Human Farm , crushing Megadeth over Blind Guardian riffs on the nearly instrumental “From the Cave – Fuga” and lending “Drive” a seriousness and finesse. Bassist David Cantina and drummer Giacomo Mezzetti hold Vanderlust‘s tempos, both the dynamic (“Reborn…Again”) and the groovy (“Humanity 3.0 – The New Canaan”) and shine in the bass solo and the underlying fills of “Battlefield”. Ricca Morello’s vocals can get a little shrill in the softer moments, but his power metal range and delivery crush the big moments, and Barreca’s death growls hit steadily, recalling the vocal duo of Ophelion on 2025’s The Jaunt . The Human Farm isn’t groundbreaking conceptually, but Vanderlust have the credentials to tell their story.
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The Human Farm thrives in its biggest moments. Morello sounds his best when he gives it his all, as on the power bonanza “Battlefield” that is coded by Blind Guardian and on the emotionally charged bookends “Humanity 2.0 – The Human Farm” and “Humanity 3.0 – The New Canaan”. Barreca’s growls add tons of power to Vanderlust‘s sound. When she trades lines with the choir on “Connection Failed” or sings clean on “Reborn…Again” and brings Meat Loaf‘s melodrama to Dream Theater ballads, it feels so right. However, The Human Farm lulls when Vanderlust take the pedal off the metal. The momentum from “Golden Shackles” dissolves into the slow burn of “The Turning Point” and doesn’t return until halfway through “Connection Failed”, and the barn-burning energy of “Viral Escape” is snuffed out entirely by the narrative interlude “…Find Them!”. Still, Vanderlust are never far from another explosive crescendo, which makes The Human Farm a gripping listen, though not consistently.
Vanderlust‘s conceptual ambitions ultimately hinder The Human Farm , in my opinion. Vanderlust often play down the musical ideas to allow the narrative more sonic space. This issue is worsened by the uniformly bad voice-acting throughout The Human Farm , which resembles those 90s PC games where they just threw a few interns into the booth. But even if the lines were good, inserted into songs like “From the Cave – Fuga” and “Connection Failed”, they come across as an added concession to the story rather than an integral part of the music, distracting from or even damaging the music. Vanderlust can do interesting things musically to tell their story, like having Barreca sing clean on “Reborn…Again” after the defeat of the Coelacanths, reflecting them at their most vulnerable, or rephrasing the “Humanity 2.0…” motif at the end of “Humanity 3.0…”, where humanity has escaped captivity but finds new challenges in freedom and leads some to question their revolution entirely. But for the most part, the way Vanderlust tell the story of The Human Farm diminishes what they do well: thrashy prog-power anthems.
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If Vanderlust could improve their storytelling but also their songwriting on The Human Farm , we’d have an excellent album on our hands. As things stand, there are far too many conflicting elements on The Human Farm to recommend it much further, although there are fantastic songs throughout the album. Fans of progressive speech will find things they like here, and Vanderlust are a band worth keeping an eye on, and I’ll certainly try to hear their third album should they release one. I’m not sure if Vanderlust have a Terminal Redux or Access All Worlds in them, but I wouldn’t rule it out either.
Rating : Mixed
DR : 6 | Format reviewed : V0 VBR mp3
Record label : Rockshots Records
Websites : facebook.com/vanderlustofficial | soundcloud.com/vanderlust-music
Worldwide release : April 17, 2026
