Band:	Mindmachine
Album:	Beneath An Alien Sky
Style:	Melodic metal
Website:	http://www.mindmachine.se/
Release date:	2006
A review by:	wrathchild

01. Rodent Speech
02. Mothership
03. One By One
04. Womb 33
05. Neutron Star
06. Vortex Virus
07. Driftwood
08. Loneliness (2135 A.D.)
09. Endgame

Prometheus, the mythological figure, served many artistic purposes through time. More recently, I've seen the name attached to more Sci-fi projects and this is what we got here. However, don't be lured into thinking that the debut album of this Swedish band is drifting towards industrial or electronica music, as those futuristic references only serve the lyrical content of Beneath An Alien Sky.

The story, "hardly original" according to the band, is meant to bring a background to the lyrics. A scientist foresaw the annihilation of her planet by an alien force, and together with those who believe she's right, built a spaceship to flee from this planet. Simple, yes, but that's enough to create this "last hope" feel that makes everything more dramatic, romantic, epic, but not so pathetic.

And musically speaking, this touch is conveyed mostly by the keyboards and the vocals. Sharon has a great voice, though at first I didn't realize it. Her voice is kinda soft, not excessively high or low but still quite effective due to how she's using it. Despite some words being a bit too technical (those dudes are into sciences and biology, you know), the flow of words is very enjoyable. Also, she happened to have a sweet little accent, maybe resulting from the fact she's born Israeli and then moved to Sweden.
As for the keyboard parts, most of them are piano parts. You can hear them throughout most of the songs, in the intros, verses, choruses or solos, etc. You'll also hear a few strings and choirs but basically, nothing that would outbreak and suddenly dominate the song.
I'd say the rest is made of pretty basic yet sharp guitar riffing, an interesting bass accompaniment and good drumming (with some blasting passages on the songs Mothership and Driftwood).
The whole sound doesn't vary a lot between the songs but they're all more or less equally enjoyable. The track Loneliness (2135 A.D.) stands apart for it is a piano-based ballad, letting more room for the singer and the bassist to express themselves while the guitars are away.
You guessed it, this album will appeal to those who prefer their metal melodic.

At first, Beneath An Alien Sky didn't surprise me, but another spin made me gain interest in Prometheus' music, to the point that I wanted to learn the lyrics and sing along with the CD. A better, more "in depth" production would probably help in revealing all the good sides of the 9 songs featured in this self-produced album, adding more intensity here and there. The band says they have enough material for a new album, and I can only wish they find a label that could help them in bringing the production quality they deserve.