Malleus Crease by Humus

Malleus Crease is Humus' third album, released in 1996, by Smogless Records in Compact Disc format. The recordings took place from 1994 throughout 1995. The album displays the playing of no less than 13 musicians, (including a dog which contributed with some barking in one of the tracks) in contrast with the previous album, called simply Humus (1994), where the performances were reduced to a four-piece band, And also with the first album, Tus Oidos Mienten(1992), which actually was recorded, produced and mixed in its entirety by founder member Jorge Beltran. In spite of these facts, the band had become the brainchild of both Jorge Beltran and Victor Basurto, who became the bass player since 1993, and has designed the covers of all Humus releases even before he was a fullfledged member. as well as the other bands Beltran and Basurto collaborate with. The overall sound of Malleus Crease is psychedelic, more progressive and experimental than the previous efforts; it also shows more improvisational passages that mix heaviness, jazz and, at times, some rock in opposition. Originally available on CD, Malleus Crease was issued in Long Play by Italian independent record company W Dabliu (licensed by Nuggetphase, the group's then recently founded independent label) in 1997, in gatefold cover, including three posters, each one portraying the covers of the band's first and second albums, and of the album in question. The L.P. also contains an extra track, El Aprendiz, not included in the original CD version. Upon release Malleus Crease was regarded as Humus greatest achievement yet by some quarters in the international underground press.