Condition Hüman is the fourteenth studio album by heavy metal band Queensrÿche. It was released on October 2, 2015, through Century Media. It is the second studio album recorded with vocalist Todd La Torre, after Geoff Tate was fired from the band and gave up the rights to the name after a two-year lawsuit regarding the rights to the Queensrÿche brand was amicably settled. It’s also the last album to feature original drummer Scott Rockenfield, who took a break from the band in 2017 and later went on to sue the band, making future record appearances unlikely.
In the 2014 press release announcing the album, Wilton described the band’s attitude towards the album as: “We’re taking the songs in the classic Queensrÿche direction but maybe a little more progressive and heavier at times. The thing is, you never know what you really have until it’s complete.” Already before the release of their self-titled album in June 2013, La Torre said that Condition Hüman will probably contain several songs that are heavier and longer than on Queensrÿche, though stressing that “melody is key”. Several of the demos from the writing sessions for Queensrÿche are indeed heavier, according to Dutch metal magazine Aardschok co-founder “Metal Mike” van Rijswijk, who had heard seventeen demos in August 2012, and after listening to Queensrÿche remarked: “many of the fast-paced ‘Queen of the Reich’-like tracks didn’t make the album”, in favor of the more mid-tempo songs that would have fitted well on Operation: Mindcrime or Empire.
Tracklist:
- Arrow of Time
- Guardian
- Hellfire
- Toxic Remedy
- Selfish Lives
- Eye9
- Bulletproof
- Hourglass
- Just Us
- All There Was
- The Aftermath
- Condition Hüman
Queensrÿche
Todd La Torre: lead vocals
Michael Wilton: lead guitar
Parker Lundgren: rhythm guitar
Eddie Jackson: bass, backing vocals
Scott Rockenfield: drums
Personnel
Chris “Zeuss” Harris: Produced, mixing and mastering
Todd La Torre, Scott Rockenfield and Chris “Zeuss” Harris: Programming
Joe Helm: Cover artwork