Mechina - Empyrean

Remarkable flow to this album, shame it's disjointed though with the symphonic/orchestral elements sounding so separate to the industrial death part. The cleans are nice but also feel a little separated to me.

This album is a very pleasant surprise! I heard it for the first time today, with no prior knowledge of this band whatsoever. Vaguely reminiscent of FEAR FACTORY, though with a much more ambitious scope. Very good interplay between guttural lows and absolutely soaring clean vocals. The orchestral elements are pushed way up to the forefront (a la EPICA or, more accurately, FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE) which would normally be a distraction for me, but MECHINA does it with such conviction that it doesn't feel like a tired gimmick. That said, my only problem with the album is that the guitars suffer from the orchestral-centered production. It's really a shame because there are some very solid riffs that command the listener's attention, but are forced to compete with the "soundtrack" moments to be heard.

But I'm just nitpicking here. "Empyrean" is my first album of 2013, and MECHINA are sure to hover near the top of the list for new discoveries this year! Very much worth a listen (or two).

Cool album, shitty production.

Anathema is amazing.

I am very impressed with this album. If the only the production and the musical arrangements were improved upon, then we might have something REALLY good.

I liked the production. Actually everything reminds me Kalisia a lot. Strong contender to 2013s top.

Requires catchiness

Nice album, but tends to lose power as it goes on (the bonus tracks are too mellow for instance). I tend to like Conqueror better, shorter but surely stronger too.

Such good music.

Why did the production have to be so atrocious?

The production has improved significantly with the Compendium version on Spotify. It seems they re-mixed and re-arranged all their albums, which is not yet reflected at MS.