GHOST GET SINISTER ON NEW TRACK 'CIRICE'

Ghost (or Ghost B.C. if you're American) are one of those bands I didn't really get until I saw them live, but there's something about a field full of people singing the chorus to Monstrance Clock that is incredibly captivating...come together, together as one...

Ever since then I've been completely hooked by the B-Movie loving Swedes and their creeping hard rock antics.

Having recently announced the band's third full-length release Meliora, due to be released on August 21st, it seemed apt that the band dropped the first single from it last Wednesday, Cirice, complete with Silence of the Lambs influenced cover art.

This is perhaps the heaviest we've seen Ghost, they're channelling some pretty old school doom metal influences here, with fans citing Black Sabbath and Candlemass among the most obvious influences. Don't get me wrong, this is far from extreme levels of heaviness, but compared to the majority their previous release, Infestissumam and debut Opus Eponymous this is a definite sonic shift for Ghost, but without losing any of the intrinsic, creepy charm.

If the rest of Meliora is like this, I'd say we're in for a treat.

Cirice will feature on Ghost's third full-legnth LP Meliora. Due to be released in August of 2015.

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SLICE THE CAKE DESTROY CITIES WITH NEW TRACK

International Deathcore trio Slice the Cake are still sitting on their hotly anticipated new album Odyssey to the West and while there's still no release in sight, we have been favoured by the pastry chef gods of brutality in other ways.

 

And what a mighty fine way it is. This is an absolutely crushing track that only makes the wait for this record harder to bare.

If you're chomping on the bit for more Slice The Cake goodness and haven't yet read our interview with Slice The Cake voice man Gareth Mason or heard the other single from their upcoming album... well... what are you waiting for?

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VEIL OF MAYA BECOME ENDLESSLY PREDICTABLE WITH MATRIARCH

I spent quite a long time trying to come up with a deep opinion on the new album, Matriarch, by American Progressive Deathcore outfit Veil of Maya, but after repeated listens and chances I come back to one word to describe just over 30 minutes of music that I can barely remember.

Apathy.

A previous Veil of Maya album, The Modern Man’s Collapse, still makes it into my listening rotation semi-regularly. The lukewarm reaction that Matriarch elicits is not based on a previous, under-running, bias against the Sumerian Records veterans, but that, in 2015, Veil of Maya seem to have nothing more to offer. It is not to say that Veil of Maya were necessarily the architects of Progressive Deathcore, but at one point at least, their sound was new and exciting; the riffs were not just the same riffs heard from other bands… even if their songs had tablature akin to a spilt tin of spaghetti hoops at times. Matriarch, conversely, relies heavily on the trappings of its genre and successfully takes the Progress out of Progressive Deathcore.

Veil of Maya have not lost their technical ability or their penchant for writing decent riffs, at least not completely, but they have fallen into a pit of predictability. It’s conflicting to hear an enjoyable riff, only to have it followed by 3 minutes of everything you’ve come to expect; zoning out completely until the next vaguely interesting bit. This album ticks every box so that it can satisfy the modern definition of its genre and little more. The result is a record listened to with clipboard in hand; the listener just waiting to be able to check the boxes marked “overly syncopated Start-Stop riff written in an obtuse time signature” and “random breakdown that completely ruins the flow.” It is likely you have heard this album before, just with a different names and titles attached and (only slightly) different album art. It’s been released many times before (even by Veil of Maya themselves.)

The only thing that has changed this time around are the vocals. New vocalist Lukas Magyar took over from Brandon Butler in 2014, introducing, controversially, clean vocals to Veil of Maya for the first time. These clean vocals are another nail in the coffin for Matriarch, but not because clean vocals are inherently bad or *insert homophobic slur here* or that Magyar’s performance is anything to complain about. The issue is that sections where Lukas Magyar’s clean vocals come to the forefront underline the complete lack of creativity to be found on this album. This is mainly because these sections all sound lifted from Periphery’s Periphery II: This Time It’s Personal release from 2012. On a first listen I had to double check to make sure that Spencer “Sponce” Sotelo wasn’t a featured artist on this album. It’s a definite bad move for your album to remind me of another, better, album that I could be listening to. Because if I can. I will. And I’m sure I’m not the only one.

If the idea of another album that throws electronics, unsatisfying time signature changes and Morse code (probably delivering messages to undercover sleeper cells) disguised as chugging guitar riffs at you is somehow appealing, then Matriarch is for you. For everyone else, there is a vaguely enjoyable album here, but it’s one you’ve probably already heard. One that follows a very specific formula that, to be fair to Veil of Maya, the band follows very well. It’s just a shame that the formula is no longer just written on the blackboard at the front of the Progcore classroom, but etched there like some kind of commandment of the genre; giving those who look on it with the knowledge of tedious predictability.

2.5/5

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H.R. GIGER DOCUMENTARY COMING MAY 15TH

The work of H.R. Giger is metal. So metal that he will be featuring in the second part of my "Art for Art's Sake" series of articles when I finally get around to finishing it. So Metal that it remains Metal despite his original output for Metal albums being well, very small. The darkness and the horror of his work; the mutilation of the human form into a nihilistic, mechanical coldness is Metal enough on its own without it needing to be bespoke created for the genre.

The Swiss artist sadly passed away in 2014 with the mysterious shroud surrounding his personal life intact. The summation of what most people know about H.R.Giger is genitalia, Alien and weird fetishes, but with Dark Star: H.R. Giger's World, all that will change.

Belinda Sallin’s documentary will take its audience into Giger's decaying Zurich home to look at the man behind the Robopenises... and will also look at why referring to him as "the man behind the Robopenises" is perhaps a little belittling to the impact Giger had on art and art philosophy.

Dark Star: H.R. Giger's World will open beginning May 15th, and available through VOD August 18th with a DVD release to come later.

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STAR WAS GOES METAL FOR MAY 4th

May 4th has been official Star Wars day for about 4 years now, combining nerds two favourite things, Star Wars and bad puns.

The one thing that's missing from that is Metal, nerds love Metal. What they (we) love even more is Metal covers of things that never needed them.

To that end I present you this from YouTuber FinTom91.

May the Fourth be with you all....


...who am I kidding, I can't let that be the extent of content I post today, that'd be awful. So I present this short animated film entitled TIE Fighter, it's more Metal than most Metal Music videos. Animator Paul "OtaKing" Johnson has done something incredible here. No excuse me while I go play the TIE Fighter MS Dos Game.

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INTERNET NEARLY COMES TO END AFTER H&M'S SPRING LINE IS TROLLED HARDCORE

Rock and Metal fans are no stranger to more mainstream outlets co-opting their music of choice. From UK retailer Sports Direct stocking Burzum shirts to various pop musicians sporting boutique battle jackets in some misguided trend attempt, alternative music fans have seen it all... And more importantly love to get on their high horse about it.

Hypocritical complaints from Metal heads about people wearing metal clothing and merch to be edgy aside, there is one thing no-one has seen before. Fake Metal merch. Not only that, but fake Metal merch backed up by fake bands, fake songs and fake record label samplers. This example of bizarre commercial choices comes from clothing retailer H&M with their new Spring line. A series of garments sporting logos from bands that don't exist. Take a look see.

Recently news has spread like wildfire across the internet, mainly from Metalsucks.com that H&M were coupling these bands with demos, fake Metal Archive entries and even a fake record label. People took visceral pleasure it seemed in pointing out that the styled NSBM bands meant that H&M were supporting White Supremacy and Neo-Nazi's. I mean it looks like H&M went to quite a length to create legitimately believable music and profiles, including ones that were accurately cringe worthy.

GREY (Germany), gothic metal from Leipzig.
The band was formed in late 1993 by Draken (guitar, drums ) and his wife Vampiria (vocals, keyboards). Draken (Uli Becker) and Vampiria (Magda Schultz) met each other when Vampiria was studying opera singing at the Rudolf Weingott Musikschule in Chemnitz. Even though she was only 16 years old, she was also considered as one of the most talented singers in Germany. And when her beautiful voice was combined with the genius work of self-taught multi-talent Draken, GREY was found.
In 1995 Napla Records released their debut album "Wine and Tears" (recorded and mixed by Hans Holtz @ Blitzkrieg Studios, Leipzig). The album was praised by the press worldwide (9/10 Mental Hammer), but did not find it's audience.
Band changed their language to German and made one more demo "Der Herbst", but decided to quit soon after that. After GREY Vampiria has visited in various metal albums but due to laryngitis was forced to quit singing.

This however, as funny as it is, isn't quite the case. I mean yes, someone went out of their way to create all this content… but it wasn't the retailer in question.

It was however, a feat undertaken by the folks over at Strong Scene Productions, the totally real label every band is coincidentally signed to. The long and short of it is that a collection of metal musicians came together to a) troll the crap out of everyone, b) comment on mainstream appropriation of metal and how it’s more than an aesthetic. Henri Sorvali of Finnish metal bands Moonsorrow and Finntroll gave an interview over at Noisey that will sum up his involvement, and the general project, better than I can here. Though all you really need to see is this:

The purpose of the group (consisting of literally tens of people from different areas of music and media around Scandinavia) was to create discussion on the fact that metal culture is more than just "cool" looking logos on fashionable clothes, and has many more aesthetic and ideological aspects in different subgenres than what some corporations are trying to express. The metal scene is varied, controversial and a sort of a wolf you can't chain into a leash and expect it to behave on your terms like a dog. Strong Scene as a collective has absolutely no political nor ideological intentions, and is only bringing the conversation to the level it should be discussed at. Think of us as the one-time "Yes Men" of metal music.

If that wasn't enough then see this Facebook post from Strong Scene Productions themselves. Though even this doesn't seem to stop Metalsucks from getting butt-hurt over being proved wrong and they are claiming “who does that” on the entire thing.

YOU ALL HAVE BEEN UNDER INFLUENCE OF THE STRONG SCENE.We have never stated to collaborate with H&M in any way but only...
Posted by Strong Scene Productions on Monday, 23 March 2015

After the chuckle and guffaws subside I’d like to question if it was effective. These generic aesthetics were coupled with generic sonic creations to create a believable entity.

Would Mystic Triangle be out of place on Southern Lord as Sgt D claims?

Can you really not imagine Crepuscular being part of the South American Black/War Scene?

Would it be so hard to believe that Blast were part of the extreme thrash/proto-black metal scene that mixed Teutonic Death Thrash with the sensibilities of Venom?

If it’s so easy to fake it with a mix of corporate marketing and generic metal music then what exactly has been proved? That Metal is easy to fake convincingly? That it’s too easy to rile up Metal heads? That the pallet from which the Metal artist has to so cripplingly small that you can throw random parts together and have something that can be accepted as metal?

Whatever it actually proves I think it speaks more negatively about the limiting nature of the genre's traditional core facets than it does about mainstream appropriation.

Though I think we can all agree that one thing that can be proved for certain is that those clothes are atrocious… but it still doesn't beat this… THING put out by a real, for serious, alternative clothing brand.

(If this picture instantly blinded you then yes, that is a long sleeve shirt printed all over to look like a Denim Cut-off. I'm sorry.)

Serious aspects of the Metal scene are capable of being even more ridiculous than people who don’t really “get it.”

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FREE MUSIC MONDAY: 09/02/2015

Free Music Monday does exactly what it says on the tin. Every Monday I will scour BandCamp for only the best free albums.

Free Music.

Every Monday!

Got that? Good.

Let's begin. 

Cloudkicker – Little Histories

I’m not really sure why the latest release from one man progressive mastermind, Ben Sharp, hasn’t been mentioned before now. Perhaps I just assumed that everyone in their right mind would have heard it already. Assumptions are dangerous things. This is an album that deserved to be talked about. 

This is Pennsylvanian’s first release since his sting of live dates with the one and only Intronaut as his backing band, but such a huge release has not seemed to diminish the quality of his core output. A first listen puts Little Histories down as a heavier version of a previous Cloudkicker release; Let Yourself Be Huge. Perhaps mixed in with the Subsume release. I say this for two reasons. The first is that while Little Histories is a heavier release, though not incredibly so, it is warm. It is chunky but not angular. You feel at home listening to this release, which is where Let Yourself Be Huge enters the mix. The album reveals in the same Post-Rock world as the earlier album. Focusing on an incredible atmosphere that is completely entrancing and hypnotic. 

This isn’t an urgent release, it is a Post-Rock album that throws a little more heaviness in your direction. It’s a spectacular mix between relaxation and metal, something which sounds like a total paradox until experienced first-hand. Little Histories brings the trademark Cloudkicker atmosphere to some kind of strange mid-point, taking elements of the two distinct styles they Sharp has developed over the course of his career. It is atmospheric and hypnotic without letting go of any heaviness. Yet at the same time it is heavy without letting go of any of the welcoming aura found on Cloudkicker’s softer releases.

This is an album not to be missed by fans of progressive rock and metal. This is a one man project that goes beyond Axe-FX and EzDrummer. This is the real deal and it deserves your attention… And even if this one album doesn’t spark your interest, every core release from Cloudkicker is completely free anyway. You’ve got nothing to lose. 

VOLA – Inmazes

Eclectic Swedish Progressive ensemble, VOLA are a strange beast. Initial seconds of Inmazes make it all too easy to write it off as “just another Djent album” but that’s not really want Inmazes is about at all, or at least not completely. There is some definite Meshuggah worship to be found in the more groove focused parts of this album. Though this heavy down-tuned riffage is couple with a myriad of other influences to create something rather unique. 

Clean, melodious vocals on top of chunky djentisms feels a little wrong to begin with, but it doesn’t take long for your brain to stop caring that it’s “wrong” on focus on what a bang on job VOLA do with it. Riffs made of the heaviest alien concrete meld into psychedelic, chilled and hook laden vocals and synthcapes with keyboard solos. It’s like going from Meshuggah to Mastodon to King Crimson without really noticing any disparity between them. Even the heavy riffs manage to have a unique melodic and atmospheric quality you’d struggle to find in other bands. Merely being able to include that word, “unique,” in a style of music that could be linked closely to the echo chamber that is Djent, is high praise indeed.

It’s strange really. There is a lot on Inmazes that you could point at individually and say “this is derivative of its genre” but when it all comes together Inmazes is a 51 minute progressive journey that you have not seen the likes of before. It is equal parts Modern and Old School, taking influences from the best aspects of the entire Progressive World. This is a debut album that shows a band ready to do almost anything. They’ve already proved themselves capable prog alchemists with their ability to meld the incessantly angular and the impeccably smooth and this is only their first full length! I doubt this will be the last time you hear about VOLA from Pyramid Noise. 

Steve Lawson – Believe In Peace

This live recording of Solo Bassist Steve Lawson is beautiful. It is not, as you might expect from a solo Bass musician, an exercise is slapping techniques or trying really hard to get you to take Bass as a “real” instrument. Instead Believe In Peace is an in-situ recording of a performance at an art exhibit focused around the Chinese I Ching texts on Wisdom. As part of this multi-media event Lawson decided to do something more than his standard set and Believe In Peace was this result. This is a 4 track release, clocking in at about 48 minutes of fantastic ambience all created on a Bass Guitar. Percussion, backing drones, melodies and more are all created on this single instrument with a copious amount of pedals. 

This isn’t just one note ambience though, Laweson doesn’t rest on his laurels and allow the art present to make up for any inadequacies in his own performance, I admit however, that the art combined with this music must have been something rather special. Believe In Peace sees drone, darker ambient tones, melodious highly textured pieces, minimalistic soundscapes and other facets of ambient than I am unable to name, brought together to create an incredibly meditative release, as suits the subject of the album. Sometimes it even bursts out into a blissed out distorted lead solo, but that does little to break from the chilled out, psychedelic jam-band quality of this release. 

The fact that this album was played live adds something to it. In an age where it is more common to make ambient in a cold digital space, the incredibly human and warm feeling that Steve Lawson offers here is a great departure from contemporary ambient artists. While the bass guitar is run through a mass of different pedals, it never loses itself and you’re constantly aware that this is human music, based in spirutality and care over craft. It is safe to say, prior to veering off into a spiritualist ramble, that Believe In Peace is an album best experienced with eyes closed and mind open. 

Interested in having your band featured on this weekly article? E-mail us at pyramidnoise@gmail.com with the subject line "Free Music Monday" with links to your Bandcamp page. 

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LEVIATHAN PUT ALL TONGUES TOWARD GREATNESS

One Man American Black Metal project Leviathan have put out a new track and it's a piece of bleak art. Jef Whitehead seems to have pushed the project in a Post-Black Metal direction, think Altar of Plagues or Deafheaven if they weren't boring. This is a wonderfully layered and deep track, words that you wouldn't normally use to describe Black Metal, but All Tongues Toward is both. A hypnotic, beautiful, 8 minute journey to Hell, where apparently the view is quite spectacular based on the grandiosity of its ambience..

I can wax lyrical all day about this kind of  Black Metal, but I'll save you from that, so just do yourself a favour and listen to All Tongues Toward. 



All Tongues Toward is taken from the upcoming album, Scar Sighted, that'll be released in April of this year.

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"ART FOR ART'S SAKE"; A LOOK AT METAL'S IGNORED ARTISTS: PART ONE

One thing that arguably sets your average Metal album part from say a Pop album, or even the majority of Rock albums, is album art. Back when I actually still had a local record store I used to buy a lot of albums based on album art. I wouldn't have developed my lifelong man-crush on Mike “Gunface” McKenzie if I hadn't picked up The Red Chord’s Fed Through The Teeth Machine based on the artwork. I think most of you would be lying if claimed not to have had a similar experience.

If I had known the name of the artist whose work adorns the cover of Fed Through The Teeth Machine, I would have named them and trust me, I looked. The fact that I found nothing is perhaps a sign that the art on the surface of an album is not as well respected as the art found within. Take your favourite album, do you know who did the album cover? I know I don’t.

This doesn't really seem all that fair does it? So to help remedy this, let’s talk art in this first part of our two part feature on some of the best visual artists in Metal.

Derek Riggs

Let’s start of easy. Derek Riggs is possibly the most iconic album artist in all of Metal. Though that may likely be to the fact that he's the core artist for Iron Maiden, one of the biggest bands ever.

Rigg's style is heavily influenced by Science Fiction and Horror art which certainly comes across in his work for the British Metal Super Stars. Incredible landscapes and strange beings aplenty grace Rigg's work and you can almost believe in these fantastical worlds. The Sci Fi influences being no more apparent than they are on Gamma Ray's Power Plant. Truly awesome stuff.

Larry Carroll 

Larry Carroll's claim to fame is his work with Slayer, finding his place on the front of Reign in Blood, South of Heaven, Seasons in the Abyss and Christ Illusion. Prior to being contacted by Rick Rubin to work on the trifecta of Thrash brilliance (and Christ Illusion) Carroll's sole work was with political magazines. Yet somehow he managed to create some of the most gruesome and deeply interesting album covers that didn't just focus on gore. In an age prior to Photoshop Larry Carroll  created collages through manipulating Xeroxed images and this style is easily seen on Slayer's detailed covers. Larry Carroll is unlikely to return to the Metal world but his contribution to the genre and unique style cannot be denied. 

Dan Mumford

Iconic artists seem to mainly be relegated to the history books, many of them are no longer active, or at least only working with the same handful of old school true metal bands. Dan Mumford however, with his work with bands such as Biffy Clyro, Protest The Hero, The Devil Wears Prada, THE HELL and well... a huge amount of modern bands outside of the realm of "trueness", makes him a very much a contemporary figure. Dan's bold, cartoony style is unmistakable. Despite being mainly known for his Metalcore album covers, this is not the only place he flexes his creative muscle, working with charities, art galleries and film directors on a variety of different projects doing general arty things, Dan Mumford has his fingers in many paint pots. You may not like the bands he's working with, but you can't deny the guy has talent.

Ed Repka

If we think of Derek Riggs as the king of NWOBHM Art, then Ed Repka, most famous for his depiction of Megadeth mascot Vic Rattlehead, is the king of Thrash Art. His vividly colourful depictions of the comically and satirically grotesque can be found on albums from Austrian Death Machine,  Nuclear Assault, Possessed, Death and many, many more. Repka's brand of supernatural realism has become a staple of Metal album art and is perhaps one of the most replicated styles in its field; the impact the now Art Director of NECA's work has had on album covers is huge. Ed Repka is still an active artist and still takes commission for album covers and basically anything else. If price is no obstacle how cool would it be to have art from the guy who gave life to the most well known mascot in all of Thrash Metal and provided cover art for the Godfathers of Death Metal themselves?
 

Eliran Kantor

While Eliran Kantor is not as big of a name as Riggs or Repka his work is no less spectacular. From the early 2000's Kantor's varied style can be found on bands from a variety of Sub-Genres. Manipulated photographs, classical inspired painting and supernaturally real works graces albums from Testament, Sigh, Kataklysm and a whole range of other modern releases. It his perhaps his classically inspired paintings that are the most memorable, the painterly style adding a sense of grandiosity and importance to every album such work adorns. The art for Kataklysm's Waiting For the End to Come is perhaps the best example of this, highly reminiscent of  Gustave Doré's illustrations for Milton's Paradise Lost, this cover sets the album off to a dark and imposing start even before you've put the CD in the player.

John Dyer Baizley

Apparently not satisfied with merely being the guitarist from one of the best Progressive Sludge bands out there, Baroness guitarist John Dyer Baizley has continued to develop his first love of Graphic Design, becoming one of the most instantly recognisable visual artists in the Metal world>. While Baizley is a little uncomfortable working on a commission basis, as he told Metal Injection, Baizley has worked with many bands, including high profile work for Metallica. Citing his influences at Art Nouveau meets Black Flag covers with a dash of  Punk artist Pushead, John Baizley has a surreal, comic-like style with thick lines and bright colours. Baizley does not seem to be slowing down with his work, despite claiming there is no money in album covers, so you're sure to see his expressive pieces on many more albums to come. 

That's it for Part One of our Two part feature. Make sure you check out part Two where we'll be featuring even more great Cover artists!

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MECHINA'S ACHERON WILL CRUSH YOUR SKULL WITH ROBOTIC CLAWS

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

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