Biomechanical - Cannibalised Review
by Mark Hensch
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Biomechanical's newest album Cannibalised is nothing short of an onslaught. It is the sound of hordes of mechanized war machines incinerating all life into slag. It is the sound of aggression and fury overwhelming all defenders. It is the sound of the future.
Hyperbole is a common aspect of the music criticism business, and with good reason. Humanity often expects even the most shocking of things as normalcy with enough repetition. With this in mind, it seems doubtful that few other CDs this or any other year are better suited to knocking dicks in the dirt. Cannibalised is a startling, futuristic hybrid of thrash, groove, power metal, prog, brutal death metal, calculus metal, cinematic scores, and a million other things. The whole mix is as toxic as arsenic and burns brighter than Iraqi oil in the Gulf War. Abrasive and challenging, this is a straight-up love or hate affair.
Opening cut "Fallen in Fear" should prove this maxim straightaway. Gorgeously rendered noises recalling science fiction warfare blast ominously, all before transitioning into a monstrous thrash anthem played at warp speed. The whole thing writhes and coils like a multi-headed snake---each moment brings with itself a new face of unrelenting brutality unseen only moments before.
Equally mesmerizing is "The Unseen," a groove which sounds like it could gouge out the entire Earth's crust. Imagine Meshuggah at their algebraic best. Now, multiply the speed tenfold and let a vocalist with the wails of Rob Halford and the growls of Phil Anselmo into the mix. The whole thing sounds like an infinite time loop of the NWOBHM metal, centuries later in a bleaker, darker, scarier future.
Title track "Cannibalised" fires on all pistons with numbingly complex riffs and grinding chugs. The whole thing is frighteningly advanced for its time, sounding like the entire chaos of the Industrial Age packaged into a heavy metal barnstormer.
In stark contrasts winds the ethereal wisps of "Breathing Silence." Moody and elegant, the song weaves a chilling tapestry of clean guitar passages, while vocalist John K. croons through all registers of his stunning range. As orchestral swells creep into the background, the foreground erupts into a volley of rail gun riffs which mow down all opposition. After this, Biomechanical, in true schizophrenic form, switches back and forth between the two styles effortlessly.
"Predatory" literally rattles skulls with its blistering Meshuggah-esque thrash. The song never lets up its vicious assault, racing constantly through levels of dizzying wizardry and technical prowess.
"Slow The Poison" stomps faces with impossibly dense riffs played at crushing, low-altitude levels. Like some vast aircraft hovering over a doomed world, this behemoth consumes all in its path. Feelers of melody scout the way for armies of thrash riffs, the likes of which pillage and burn all survivors. Not a single person survives this one.
Like an eerie quiet descending on the wake of a finished battlefield, "Consumed" drifts in on crystalline notes and creepy vocals. Out of this prelude there comes a song of destruction on a cosmic scale, an epic anthem of collapsing stars and hydrogen explosions.
"Reborn in Damnation" could at first pass for mid-period Nile, its brutal death grooves backed by choral wails. Before things get too comfortable in this pose, however, things morph into a multi-bladed Swiss Army Knife of metal, cutting listeners with all manner of different tools.
"Through Hatred Arise" sounds like planets falling out of orbits in front of a grand orchestra. Be it elements of symphonic heaviness, acoustic meandering, roaring arena rock, or brutal death metal, this one has it all.
"Violent Descent" ends the album with just that. Though precise in its sharp catchiness, the song never sacrifices progression or extremity in the race towards its finish. Along the way listeners are harried by facets of thrash, groove, technicality, and noise. It, like the rest of Cannibalised, appropriately stuns listeners with a slew of unanswered questions. Where else could an album this ahead of the curve could have gone?
Some answers are provided on the limited edition of the album, which features entirely instrumental, orchestral renditions of several songs. Four new symphonies emerge, themselves pastiches of various album tracks. It makes for an interesting "what if?" moment, but lacks the punch of the album proper.
Said album, meanwhile, is quite the new wave of heavy metal. Vocalist John K. has some of the most diverse vocals I have yet to hear, and the band behind him shreds with levels of energy that can best be described as nuclear. Amidst all this madness, there emerges a wildly inventive conglomerate of various subgenres into a nightmarishly progressive whole. If you like your music with a heavy dose of multiple personality disorder flying past at mach 666, this one is well worth tracking down. The future is here.
Biomechanical's Cannibalised
1. Fallen in Fear
2. The Unseen
3. Cannibalised
4. Breathing Silence
5. Predatory
6. Slow the Poison
7. Consumed
8. Reborn in Damnation
9. Through Hatred Arise
10. Violent Descent
11. *Beyond the Descent (Fallen in Fear/Regenerated)
12. *Reborn in Darkness (Through Hatred Arise)
13. *Imperium (Absolution I + III)
14. *Through the Remains (Consumed)*Denotes Bonus Tracks on Limited Edition
CD Info and Links
Biomechanical - Cannibalised Rating:9.0
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