The Empires of the Worlds

Biomechanical’s debut was a fascinating album with lots of great ideas and pretty much flawless execution. Their formula for success was to combine thrash, hardcore and traditional/power metal into one chaotic mess. You would, in fact, be hard pressed to find another band with a more chaotic sound. This approach worked though, because in the midst of all the chaos, they had melody, great riffs and hooks, and a dynamic, solid songwriting. Biomechanical received a lot of attention and were hailed as one of the most promising new bands, and rightly so.

The Empires of the Worlds takes that formula not one, but several steps further. It’s thrashier, heavier, more chaotic and aggressive this time around, which is all well and good. The problem is that it’s too chaotic. “Chaotic” was the trademark of their sound, and still is, so it’s ironic that it only gets mentioned in a negative sense in this review. It’s chaotic to the point that the songs start to lose redeeming qualities. Listening to The Empires of the Worlds is much like entering an insane man’s fantasy world. It’s not possible to maintain a melody, or squeeze in any kind of coherent guitar riff as a musician under such conditions.

So, it’s not a coincidence that the strongest tracks are the more orderly ones such as ‘Relinquished Destiny’, ‘Long Time Dead’, ‘Regenerated’ and ‘DNA Metastasis’. This band is just much more enjoyable when they allow tempo changes, melodies and catchy guitar riffs to enter the mix. Now, don’t get the impression that this is a bad album. While it’s certainly weaker than the debut, there aren’t really any outright horrible songs to be found. I’d go as far as saying that if your attention span is just a little bit longer than mine, you might see this as a masterpiece instead of the rather slightly-above-average disappointment that I view it as.

This is the part where I either recommend this album to fans of this and that, or totally trash it through some witty, well chosen words, but not this time – sorry to disappoint. Biomechanical’s music is just not the kind you generalize on like that. You might love it, you might hate it - the only thing I can tell you for sure is that it’s well crafted and well played beyond the norm, and 100% Biomechanical. The rest is up to you.