Mechina - As Embers Turn To Dust (2017)

Another year, another Mechina album on the 1st of January, a tradition that has gone on for 5 straight years now. Usually, when a band spits out albums in such a frenetic pace, it starts to wear out after a while, sounding sloppy for every oncoming release. Somehow, Mechina has not fallen into this trap yet, because even if all of their albums are fairly similar in sound and style, they still hold an incredibly high quality to their music, with no visible cracks so far in its foundation.

I think the main reason for the band's continued success is their drive and focus, basically ignoring any tours or shows to make every new release as good as possible. The concept helps a lot too, a concept that has been ongoing since 2011 and has only reached the halfway point with the release of "As Embers Turn To Dust". It is hard to take the whole concept in, but it seems like it tells us about the colonization process for one of their previous albums... I mean one planet, probably "Acheron" since this album has a lot of similar features. Some Vanguards leads these humans to a new planet, where the cyborg Vanguards ultimately starts eliminating all organic life on the planet, creating a fully mechanized era on the new planet. Granted, I could be awfully wrong here, so it might be better if you check out their Wiki page to get some more sense into all of this.

The music is clear cut at least, and it is as epic and heavy as ever. The band thunders on with their unique mix of industrial, death, melodic, and sci-fi metal, carrying the album through time and space. It should come as no surprise that not much has changed in the sound itself, but I notice that we have more songs that sticks with you instantly. The opener "Godspeed, Vanguards" is a good proof of that, containing an epic aura that is created by a grand arrangement and David Holch's apocalyptic voice. That voice of his is awesome at creating the right emotions, like the despair he has in "The Tellurian Pathos" is a hair riser of the highest level, and his harsher vocals in "Creation Level Event" has that frantic madness that simply works in this kind of song. It has been a main concern in the past that the songs does not stand out, so I am glad to see that is not the case with this album.

The performances on this album is great as usual, and we once again get a healthy dose of Mel Rose here, bringing some extra beauty to the music. I especially love her performance in "The Synesthesia Signal", where her fragile voice is in the middle of this chaotic madness, creating an incredibly tense song. I still wish though that the guitar could step forward more often, since it is very rare that I find riffs that grabs a hold of me. Oh well, it is how the band has always done it, and it is just a minor complaint for me (and probably a more major complaint for someone else).

Even with this impressive song catalog, "As Embers Turn To Dust" has one thing that is kind of off putting, and it is that this album has several long instrumental parts that builds atmosphere, nothing new to the band in any way, but they are bigger than before. Still, I do not think they take away an awful lot from the experience, but it does make it harder for me to give a complete opinion of the album, because while it works as beautiful transitions, the momentum suffers from it.

So, halfway into this epic multi album saga, where do I put "As Embers Turn To Dust"? The band keeps on evolving in several ways, especially in both song writing and production, but is it enough to make it last through the rest of this fresh year? Probably not, but it is still a great achievement to put out new music every year, without losing too much of the quality in both music and story. Mechina never ceases to amaze, and while it will be hard to acquire any new fans from this record, it is still a welcome new year's tradition that I hope will continue on for at least one more year. Godspeed, Mechina.

Songs worthy of recognition: The Synesthesia Signal, "Godspeed, Vanguards", The Tellurian Pathos

Rating: 8/10 Impact Proxies

www.mechinamusic.com/
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More reviews of Mechina
Progenitor
Acheron
Xenon
Empyrean

Mechina - Progenitor (2016)

So we have now breached into 2016, and you all know what that means right? Yes, another release by the industrial death metal band, and Forsaken At The Gates favourites, Mechina. Their new year's tradition stays intact for the 4th consecutive year with the release of "Progenitor", and just as you know that the new album will hit at the 1st of January, you know what you will expect from the album itself.

Just like its previous outings, Mechina spoils us with crushing blast beats, epic arrangements, and a flow that goes through the entire album. It is a album that should not surprise anyone that have heard of the band before, and many has seen this as a down side to Mechina, that they do the same thing over and over again. However, I do feel that every new album does contain something that makes it stand out, either it be the Earthly tone of "Acheron" or the heavy onslaught of "Xenon". While I do feel that "Progenitor" might not have a distinctive feature that sets it apart from the crowd, it has something that still makes it really enjoyable, and that is consistent quality.

The vocals leads the charge once more, performed by David Holch (whom to my excitement uses his clean vocals again) and Mel Rose. This broad range of vocals really helps to make "Progenitor" really diverse in its sound, and it works really well with all these blasting beats that the band spits out like a machine gun.

Another thing that is typical for Mechina is their flow from song to song. "Progenitor" is a album that is best experienced in its entirety, because the band does not simply create songs that stacks upon one another to fill out the space, they create songs that has a purpose, a common destiny to create a stunning album that will be enjoyed by many.

Individually though, most of the songs have some sort of a amnesiatic (is it even a word?) effect, you forget them as soon as they are over. Unfortunately, it has been a flaw that has followed the band throughout their career, but it could be because they want to create a complete picture instead. With that said, there are still some songs that are really good and memorable, like the mesmerising "Cryoshock", the grand "Ashes of Old Earth", and the apocalyptic "Planetfall". But the one that strikes me the most is "Starscape", not only for its heavy impact and powerful deliverance, but also its great lyrics, like the following lines.

When given the chance
To evolve or advance
We retreat to the past 
Praying for ghosts to guide our hand
Our lives far too short
Our minds far too cold
Our past buried in stone 
Our world absent of hope

So yes, I do realize that this is just another Mechina release, but to be honest, I did not really expect anything less from the band. "Progenitor" holds the exact same standard that its predecessors does, which is a really good standard. It is another high octane journey through their universe, a travel that intrigues and excites. I am a little disappointed that the 18 minute single from last summer, "The World We Lost", is not in here, but then again, it would probably kill the flow of the album, disturbing its balance, and making it worse than what it deserves to be. A fantastic album that will be hard for the band to match when they give out their next release, which I assume will be ready for the beginning of 2017. No matter what, I will definitely be waiting for it.

Songs worthy of recognition: Starscape, Ashes of Old Earth, Planetfall

Rating: 8/10 Cryoshocks

Mechina - Acheron (2015)

The industrial death metal band Mechina continues their new year's tradition of releasing new music, and the trend has been that they have increased the quality of their craft with each year. This year, the new material is called "Acheron" and is the band's 5th full length album. A album that I have looked forward too, but also dreaded that it would be too much alike its predecessors.

Those fears were gone almost instantly after hearing "Acheron" for the first time. This album is a further development of the typical Mechina sound, which means a grand sound picture, heavy drum beats, smooth flow from song to song and a overall space like, apocalyptic mood. But what separates "Acheron" from albums like "Empyrean" and "Xenon" is mainly two things. the first is that the orchestral musicality gets much more room in this album, making it less heavy, but more beautiful. The second thing is the acquisition of female vocalist Mel Rose, whom increases the beauty factor even more with her soft vocals. Speaking of vocals, David Holch uses very little of his clean vocals, which is a shame since I like it more than his harsh vocals. He still does a good job though in this album, just like the rest of the band.

Even if the band has worked with this release for only a year, the craftsmanship in the songs is still at a high level, making it seem like they have worked with these songs for quite some time. Although it is still pretty obvious that the band has some sort of template to work with, which is fine as long as one does not follow it completely throughout the album.

Most of the heavy music is put on the start of the albums, in the songs "Earth-Born Axiom" and "Vanquisher", two steam rollers that shows most of Mechina's repertoire. However, the most impressing song is actually the song that defines the new style that the band has embraced. "On The Wings of Nefeli" is a beautiful track with a delicate vocal structure and a catchy groove. really wished that more songs in "Acheron" was like this. Also take notice of the ballad "Ode To The Forgotten Few" were Mel Rose takes the spotlight and shines with her perfect suiting voice.

Even if this album is an enjoyable one, it still has some flaws that I find hard to ignore. Some of the spots where they cut off the tracks are not fully optimized, a problem the band has had before. It does not bother me when I am listening to the full album, but it makes a difference when you are listening to a single song. I also feel like the amount of soft intros/instrumentals are at least one too many, but that is maybe because I do not like those kind of songs, especially when they almost take half of the track slots.

I do appreciate that Mechina keeps on evolving with their music and not make the same thing over and over again, but I feel like "Acheron" is just missing some key things to really make it a fantastic record. This more melodic approach does have something to it and could make the band even more versatile than what they already are. "Acheron" is without a doubt another strong, solid effort from the Chicago band, but they still have some way to go before hitting the jackpot.

Songs worthy of recognition: On The Wings of Nefeli, Earth-Born Axiom, Ode To The Forgotten Few

Rating: 8/10 Lethean Waves

Mechina - Xenon (2014)

It seems like the industrial death metal band Mechina is trying to create a new years tradition. On the 1st of January in 2011, they released their second record "Conqueror". Last year, they released their third full length album "Empyrean" on the 1st of January. And now, they have released their fourth album "Xenon" on, you guessed it, the 1st of January. A tradition I hope more bands embrace. Cause what would be better than starting the new year with some fresh metal.

"Xenon" is at first glance very similar to its predecessor. It mixes heavy death metal beats with more spaced out melodies, and they also show a decent mix of harsh and clean vocals. But one thing that delights me very much is the huge improvement in the production area, which was my main complaint with "Empyrean". It is still not a perfect production, but it is as good as a self released title can make it.

There is no filler on "Xenon", but there are neither any songs on the album that really stands out from the others. Simply put, there are 10 high quality songs that makes an impressive piece of an album. But if I had a gun pointed at my head, then I would probably put "Xenon", "Zoticus", "Terrea" and "Thales" as the high points of this album. But it should also be pointed out that I think the overall music quality was slightly better in "Empyrean", even though the quality difference between these albums is more or less non existent.

So are there any negative sides with "Xenon"? Well, besides from the fact that there is no song that really stands out, I do not see any real forward progress from the band. The music is the same as it was on "Empyrean", which brings up this question. Is the band out of new ideas or are they just over confident with their existing sound? No matter what, let me see some progress in the fifth album guys, okay?

Musically speaking, there is almost no difference from the last album to this, the difference is instead most noticeable in the production, which feels more well polished and professional this time around, thereby making "Xenon" the best album so far by Mechina. Their unique death metal style is very exciting and I think that this Chicago group has all the tools to make it in this business. Just a matter of screwing together the IKEA furniture for them.

Songs worthy of recognition: Thales, Xenon, Terrea

Rating: 8,5/10 Phedras

Mechina - Empyrean (2013)

Mixing two different metal genres is always a gamble. Either you succeed with the mash-up and gain great recognition in no time or the mash-up fails miserably and the band puts its chance on the music life in great risk. When I heard about Mechina, a band that mixed industrial metal with death metal, I was first sceptical of how good they actually was going to be. But I am open minded so I took the opportunity to listen to the bands third album "Empyrean" and hoped for the best.

After a spiritual beginning in "Aporia" the album kicks off with more spirituality in "Asterion". A nice death metal effort with rough vocals and slamming drum beats. But before I know it, I am already at the next track "Interregnum". This is the biggest problem with "Empyrean", The transitions are so smooth that the album could actually be considered as one big song. Nothing wrong with that but the cuts between tracks is in some really awkward places. I think that if the band worked with this album for about another week or two these problems would be gone. But for now it just sounds sloppy.

Anyway, back to the music. "Interregnum" introduces the cleaner vocals and does it with such a strength that it makes me really impressed. David Holch definitely has talent on harsh vocals but when he goes clean he is on a whole different level. Those clean vocals gives the songs a whole new dimension that benefits the band. And that is not only shown on "Interregnum" but also on "Imperialus", "Anathema" and "Infineon". But if we ignore the vocals and instead focus on the instrumental parts I find that Mechina puts the main focus on the drums and the programming to really blend the orchestral sound with heaviness. The bass is almost nowhere to be seen and the guitar only takes over at few spots since there are no solos what so ever, something I could have wished would have appeared on "Empyrean" to get more variation to the songs.

There are no particularly bad songs on "Empyrean" but there are songs that easily goes past the radar unnoticed. The title track is one of those songs. It does not have anything that makes it stick out from the rest of the crowd which instantly makes it a song that you take less interest in. Still not a bad song but far from breathtaking.

"Empyrean" ends with its longest song "Terminus", an 10 minute long epic that is heavy, melodic and epic all in one good mash-up. But I still feel like there is something missing. I could have wished that the band would have made this song different from what we have heard from the other songs on "Empyrean", something that made this song stand out besides from its length. It is a fine song , no doubt about that, but it is not a song worthy of a bigger recognition.

Overall I really enjoyed "Empyrean" with its outer space feeling and fantastic drum beats. I did not find too much industrial metal in their sound but I am glad over that since I think the industrial part would have taken over if it gotten too much space. But if you are going to listen to "Empyrean" yourself then please take my advice. Listen to the whole album in one piece. This is not a album where you can pick out certain tracks and listen to them alone, it is a album best experienced in its entirety.

Songs worthy of recognition: Interregnum, Anathema, Catechism

Rating: 8/10 Asterions