Biomechanical
The Empires of the Worlds

November 2005
Released: 2005, Earache Records
Rating: 4.5/5
Reviewer: Waspman

Some bands are just different. For the life of me, I can’t think of another band today doing what England’s Biomechanical are up to at the moment. Biomechanical are a fairly new band, and THE EMPIRES OF THE WORLDS is likely to be many peoples’ first introduction to the band. They do have one previous full length, EIGHT MOONS, which was released in 2002 by Revolver Records, but the band is now with Earache Records, who are giving this disc a huge push.

To my ears, that push is deserved and then some. As I said at the start, I can’t think of another band doing what Biomechanical does. Taking a base that is equal doses Pantera and Judas Priest, the band proceeds to hit out with full-on aggression, while mixing in snippets of more progressive bands like Queensryche (early era) and Genesis (!), and even touches of soundtrack-styled parts. Sound confusing? It’s not really, as the band combines these disparate sounds so well, it is almost seamless. For example, take “Relinquished Destiny”. It beings with a dreamy, quiet Dream Theater-ish verse, breaks into a grinding chorus straight that could be straight off of FAR BEYOND DRIVEN, back into the Dream Theater chorus, flips into an Overkill riff for the solo, and ends with an extended Pantera riff coupled with soundtrack keyboard flourishes. Bizarre yes, but its also excellent and goddamned catchy! That basically sums up the entire album right there.

What helps the band a lot is the fact that John K’s vocals are as schizophrenic as the band’s riffs. He’s able to growl like Anselmo (a little too much at times), scream like Halford (though not as good as the Metal God), and sing normally like Blitz (on those times when Blitz isn’t screaming).

THE EMPIRES OF THE WORLDS is a definite metal triumph that bodes well for the future of Biomechanical. It may not be something that all metal fans will love, but it IS an album that all metal fans should hear.