I feel like I’ve opened
some lead-lined, cyber-punk Pandora’s Box after diving into the latest release
from Symphonic Death/Groove Metal project Mechina.
Acheron is an hour long slab of crushing groove laden industrial death riffage
coupled with a massively cinematic atmosphere. How the album sounds however, is
just the surface of something far, far deeper.
There is something rather important that needs to be
discussed about Acheron. Something
that I wasn’t aware of prior to my extensive review research (or Google as I
tend to call it.) Acheron is a concept
album, but not only that, it’s the first part of a trilogy… the second trilogy.
This release picks up where Mechina's first trilogy, consisting of 2011’s Conqueror and the two following full lengths,
as well as a couple of singles left off. Together these trilogies tell a grand,
complex narrative as penned by guitarist Joe Tiber; following a dystopian
future war and one beings search for a secular haven. Acheron finds the listener stranded on a planet full of
robots that he thought was destined to be his nirvana. Though, as with most
Metal concept albums, it’s really hard to actually tell what’s going on.
Luckily someone has written an entire wiki-site in an attempt to explain what
the hell is actually going on.
Why am I going into such detail about the albums concept?
Well in many ways the story explains and compliments many of the aesthetic and
composition choices. On its own simply having a genre fiction plot coupled to a
metal album wouldn’t be all that impressive, but when combined with the music
found on Acheron something really
special happens.
Opening track Proprioception
sets an excellent mood with sound design worthy of a radio drama. The rain
lashes down, the protagonist breaths heavily while mechanical beings draw near,
the wind blows all while lush strings slowly swell. This is perhaps the most
effective introduction to an album I’ve ever heard; flowing neatly into the
actual meat of the album. While cinematic quality is a large part of this
record, it is still a Metal album. The change from Sound Scape to Metal does
little to take away from the immersion.
The use of a ridiculous TEN string guitar fits perfectly
with the idea of a world inhabited by sentient machines, it sounds more like pounding machinery than a guitar at times, such huge slabs of industrial and mechanical riffing set the mood perfectly. As the use of such an insane ERG would imply some riffs do tend to chug on in a djent like fashion, but this choice again seems to merge well with the albums underlying concepts. Tracks like Earth-Born Axiom, for example, really drive home the idea of a purely mechanical
world. Songs are thankfully varied however, with songs such as On The Wings of Nefeli focusing on the melodic
interplay between the guitars and ethereal female vocals. The use of other-worldly choirs and glitched out strings and synthesisers add to the truly inhuman atmosphere. All of this, while remaining a ridiculously heavy Metal album.
What is perhaps more impressive than Mechina’s ability to write something so crushing yet cinematic on
an epic scale, is the bands ability to merge story with aesthetic. The
production of this record is mechanical, but not in a sterile. The guitar tone
has balls to spare whilst being unashamedly digital and unnatural. It’s less
AxeFX, more T800. The use of glitch production, strings and choirs come across,
not as a gimmick as they so easily could, but as part of the overall story,
they have a reason to be on Acheron.
Prior to being aware of the albums ongoing story Acheron was, to me, merely a solid bit
of industrial Metal with great symphonic elements. With the plot however, it
has become a journey. Even without knowing exactly what is going on images
and stories develop within the mind of the listener.
The mixture of concept and aesthetic ultimately come together to create
something far more than the solid Industrial Metal and sweeping narrative could
do separately.
I’ll be waiting hopefully for an animated Rock opera from Mechina
with bated breath. Based on what can be heard on Acheron, they'd be great at it.
4/5
