As Embers Turn to Dust

Mechina. A band that I started listening to recently because of a recommendation from a friend. Initially, I felt that this was a band that had heaps of potential but didn't really do it for me personally. However as I listened to them more, I found myself getting lost in the immense story that both Joe Tiberi and David Holch (Guitar/vocals/Creative producers) had crafted. Along with the epic orchestration and brutal guitar work, it made for a great experience. So how does this latest release fair in their rapidly expanding discography. The answer? Very well.

The opening track, Godspeed, Vanguards, begins the album in standard Mechina fashion. Science fiction tinged sound effects along with bombastic orchestration before transitioning into eight string riffing and blast beats galore. One thing this opener shows immediately is the even more subtle improvement in production that has been building over the last couple of releases. Everything feels like it fits together really well and gels nicely. Not only that, but the composition is even better as well.

Most of the tracks, as with most of Mechinas work, continue in this fashion. With 'Creation Level Event' and 'Impact Proxy' leading the charge after the suburb opener. The next track stands out for me in particular though, which is 'The Synesthesia Signal' Coupled with its intro track 'Aetherion Rain'  This track is beautiful, atmospheric and haunting, while also being incredibly catchy and memorable. The track is lead by Mel Rose. The bands relatively new  female vocalist. Her performance here is simply stunning and I look forward to seeing what else she does on either future Mechina releases or other projects.

The latter half of this disc builds on the really solid groundwork laid by the first half. The emotion and power is thrust into over drive with melodies that grab your attention. Tracks such as 'The Tellurian Pathos'and 'Division Through Distance' showcasing that the band has perfected the art of transitioning through many different styles with ease. From  crushing riffs to solo piano pieces and electronic driven orchestration. It all feels like a natural progression from one to the other.

My one small problem with this album is  the fact that to enjoy it fully, you should really follow the story of each album one after the other to get the full experience. This album on it's own, while still really good, has a larger impact when listened to in this context. Although I understand that this would require a hell of a lot of listening. But believe me it is worth it.  Also at times the programmed drums can be a little blaring on the ears, although this is just a really nit picky thing and the overall sound suits the context well.

This album is a great listen and I would recommend that you buy it whether you are a new or existing fan. Or maybe even if you are a fan of dark, epic science fiction stories and wan't to listen to something that encapsulates that well in the form of music.

I hate to be the one to say this, but I fear that Mechina is beginning to lose the plot somewhat, and their most recent offering As Embers Turn to Dust makes the strongest case for this to date. I thought Acheron was a brave step forward at the time, but in hindsight I will admit that a smattering of identity crises began to germinate after Xenon. I mean, what even is this supposed to be anymore? A heavy metal band or some sort of amorphous world music / djent hybrid with symphonic swaddling? On one hand, Joe Tiberi's tenacity is just unreal, matched only by his ability to consistently craft majestic, sweeping orchestrations to fuse with his Fear Factory-esque riffage. At this point, Mechina albums sound more like film soundtracks than anything, and those like me who enjoyed the more rough-and-tumble, hectic djent quality of Xenon and the like will have trouble finding footing here.

If one were to take As Embers Turn to Dust at face value as a metal album, it is an ultimately frustrating listen. Mechina continually build huge amounts of tension that are only realized piecemeal, while the few highlights are ironically some of the best individual tunes Tiberi has ever penned. Those two tracks are without a doubt "Impact Proxy" and "Tellurian Pathos." "Impact Proxy" is the longer of the two and a more comprehensive look at where the band is nowadays. There are enough riffs to really get cooking at key points, and the song fires through a number of movements, building tension that leads to a huge release at the end. A nine-minute track that has to be heard in full every time and is always worth the time investment - a gem for sure. "Tellurian Pathos" is the more emotive of the two classics here, wherein Holch gets more of a spotlight and really shines with his droning, improved range. Its main riff is also the best one on the album, a polyrhythmic jaunt that makes the excessive repetition bearable.

These days, Mechina is more like a Tiberi solo project with session vocalists. Mel Rose is here again, used to fair effect on "The Synesthesia Signal," but the way she is employed isn't terribly different than Holch's cleaner fare, rendering her somewhat redundant. The remaining tracks, save for the rousing, piano-driven "Aetherion Rain." struggle to make much of an impact, due to slack arrangements and a failure to give the riffs enough room to breathe. It's just too damn much sometimes. I've heard that the record's direct predecessor Progenitor was a more straightforward affair, but I could never get into that one. Was Xenon a fluke or what?

As Embers Turn to Dust is critically flawed, yes, but it still delivers some of the best tracks Mechina has ever penned. Mercifully, they are shuffled about in the tracklisting to the point that a full listen of the album in one sitting is possible if you are in the right mood. The fact that most of this is now programmed (including drums) is actually easy to forget, but at what point does it become something other than what is advertised? I love the symphonics, but let's not forget that we came here, firstly, to wreck our necks.

Mechina's anual offerings of symphonic djenty metal guarantees something interesting always comes around every New Year's Day. Their 2017 album As Embers Turn to Dust marks the halfway point through their dark sci-fi story of a refugee human race looking for a new home. The story reminds me of Mass Effect whose developer Bioware is seeking to escape the disastrously lame ending of Mass Effect 3 by escaping to the Andromeda Galaxy for their followup game.

But I digress. Mechina's yearly releases tend to improve on their last in some way, and yet each album has something that simply brings it down. This year, we have an album that finds compromise between Acheron's theatrical approach and Progenitor's simpler style devoid of interludes or a grandiose intro piece. Acheron sounded like it was supposed to be some sort of musical while Progenitor is by far the least theatrical album Mechina have done since Conqueror. As for As Embers Turn to Dust, some middle ground has been met. It's still got that epic theatrical element, but doesn't quite go as overboard as Acheron did.

There's not even a separate intro piece this time. Instead, the album takes off with its strongest track in the form of "Godspeed, Vanguards", a high-energy song that features fast tempoed drums and guitar and exclusively clean vocals. The following two tracks maintain that energy which makes the early half of the album very hyper. The non-metal elements work very well here featuring a roaring orchestra pieces, choir bits, middle/far-eastern singing in "Creation Level Event" as well as instrumentation, and more western sounding angelic opera singing in "Impact Proxy"; all very familiar sounds at this point to those who have been following the band.

Even the first interlude is really catchy and epic despite it being a piano piece. "Aetherion Rain" plays the same rhythm as the followup track "The Synesthesia Signal" making the two tracks an effective one-two punch that really need to be listened to as a pair. The latter track also features Mel Rose returning once more to deliver an effective female vocal delivery for the song.

The rest of the album manages to keep much of the addictive epicness of the first half but does end up declining. When "Division Through Distance" comes around, the band just seems to be out of steam because this track is just weak. It's especially weak as a closing piece because make the album seem to go out in a whimper. In spite of that, As Embers Turn to Dust still stands as the band's strongest album yet, both in individual highlights and general consistency (ending notwithstanding). I yet yearn for the album where Mechina irons out all their wrinkles and make something truly mind blowing.