Review Summary: Energetic alternative metal meets chip-tune; a monument to old school gaming, with an abundance of guitar solos.
Before this review even commences, I'd like to declare Machinae Supremacy as the REAL internet success story. Sure, you hear stories of bands who release a couple of demos online, possibly accumulating a few devout followers along the way. However on the other end of the spectrum is Machinae Supremacy, who released over thirty songs for free download on thier website, before signing with the Finland based Spinefarm Records; and it's thanks to this benevolent attitude that they've come so far. Despite this, a band without the support of mainstream media needs talent to sell records, an aspect which Machinae Supremacy have absolutely no problem in delivering on.
The sound is certainly unique, innovatively combining an infectious and energetic style of alternative metal, with sounds from the Commodore 64's SID chip, which the band has appropriately dubbed as 'SID-Metal'. For a gaming generation which grew up on classics such as Pacman, Mario Bros. and Tetris, it's a real indulgence to hear those low quality electronic tonalities brought back to life in such an updated and accessible way. It's also no surprise that the band has a large following from within the underground gaming community, often performing at various large scale gaming events.
This is simply one of those albums which will keep you enthralled from start to finish. While some songs certainly stand above others, there's little 'filler material' and the album is well paced, juxtaposing explosive riff based tunes, with emotional hard rock anthems. There's no ambient introduction track as with many records, with opener 'Overworld' kicking off the album with a blast, mixing frenetic guitar work with a beautifully large chorus, which really packs a powerful punch. Songs such as 'Dark City' and 'Sid Icarus' mediate the album well, taking down the speed a notch (if only for a moment) and focusing more on the melody, while 'Need For Steve' and 'Violator' take the fast and furious approach, with the gaming sounds slotting neatly between the rest of the instruments, occasionally coming forward to take the lead. Don't be mistaken; despite selling themselves around their gaming sound, most of the album is very much guitar driven and would work perfectly well as a standard alternative metal album. However the electronics definitely help to fill out the texture, adding an extra dimension which makes it easier to justify multiple listens. If you were to compare an average alternative metal album to the movie 'Oceans 11', 'Overworld' would be more like 'Inception'; both perfectly decent in their own right, however in the case of the a latter, there's just a little more going on beneath the surface.
'Skin' is another track that deserves a mention, with a tranquil string and clean guitar picked introduction, which builds up to a minute long guitar solo, to conclude the song. Lead guitarist Jonas Rörling can certainly execute a brilliant solo, demonstrating both speed and interesting melodic ideas, two vital components of a good solo at which many musicians falter. The band is obviously aware of this fact, because they manage to work a solo into almost every song, however this isn't such a bad thing, as excluding Dragonforce, I never seem to tire of a technical and well thought out solo. The only real disappointment was the band's choice of 'Edge And Pearl' as the lead single; I found it to be the most mediocre song on display, because it's basically an average four chord pop song, with metal overtones. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to fool anyone here; amidst the heavy guitar work and the enormous choruses, some of this could easily pass for radio rock. Indeed it astounds me why artists such as Machinae Supremacy don't get more airplay, when they've even included a cover of Britney Spear's 'Gimme More', which strangely enough works well. However I don't care how you label it. All I know is that I like it.
Listen To:
Overworld
Need For Steve
Dark City
