Review Summary: Mixing melody with varying levels of aggression is something listeners will notice is something they have heard before. However Machine-Made God makes the best from this combination as best they can.
German made Machine-Made God shows much of the metalcore genre in their latest release titled “Masked”. They also show many of the traits that have plagued many of modern day metalcore groups and while not pushing the genre any further they do release a rather solid, but rather typical effort of its own right.
Using features that every other group uses may pose a problem for most metal groups, however this could also be seen as a bands strong influences portrayed by the band in their most creative, personal and unique way. Developing music that is unique in modern day metal is a difficult task and Machine-Made God rather than fail to develop this have gone with the flow and accepted their musical style with open arms. Machine-Made God’s music is melodic, sometimes heavy, and somewhat repetitious. The music especially after the fifth track begins to blur and loses the listeners attention. And while the ideas on show may have some elements of diversity, these differences are lost as musical ideas are repeated.
Instrumentally the band is not too far out of the ordinary of most modern acts. The vocal work whilst split between two members contains both a clean, smooth section and while the clean section may not be of the best quality they appear to be the most sonically consistent. There is also a screamed section which utilizes various amounts of growls, screams, slightly cleaner roars and a raspier typical vocal fried scream. The guitarists while having a rhythm emphasis display a mature and tasteful approach to the music they produce. Technical alibility is shown through pinched harmonics, end of passage/phrase fills and sparingly when used harmonised lead work behind a main rhythm line. The bass lines are only barely audible behind the layers on tracks, but tastefully, when the texture level is lower the bands creative talents are better displayed as the bass plays on with a single vocal line a perfect example of this can be found on the track “Endlessly”. Lastly the drum work of Masked is most possibly the most consistent part of the bands overall line up and sound. Whilst providing a steady backdrop for the rest of the band there is nothing overly special or incredibly technical about the beats maintaining the music. The double bass kick work and the drum fills maintain the band but does nothing to help promote it further. On a positive note however the drum work finds itself both mature and creative enough to know when to lower the level of intensity and let the other parts of the band have a bigger part of the lime light.
Machine-Made God in no way raises the bar for the metalcore genre but do improve on their own musical ability on their second full length effort. With a tendency to blur from track to track “Masked” maintains a consistent level of interest for the listener. With a greater level of experience this band should develop a constant level of quality with each release.
Highlighted Tracks: Forgiven, Next To Me and Melancholy
