Forged in Manchester from the remnants of NekroDrako and now combined with key elements of Reign Of Erebus The Machinist may be new but have plenty of pedigree within their ranks. Considering it took Reign Of Erebus 14 years between albums to release their new and recently covered album De Morte Aeterna those who like their scathing form of black metal and “demented” vocals of Cthonian aka Scott Walton can consider themselves lucky at getting a double dose of prime UKBM. Having said that it is John Thompson who is the prime musician here and having joined Reign as V.Y.C.M. it seems the favour has been returned with Scott jumping on board to return the favour. Although some key components are evident within the violence and anti-humanist stance of Reign there are some differences to ensure that one band is not a carbon copy of the other, namely the industrial elements that emerge over the course of this monstrous 53-minute blackened assault.
After a sound of swirling wind and mysterious cloaked speech ‘Extinction Event’ batters in with a whirlwind of sonic violence and hammers away ferociously. Some slamming beats and bombastic turmoil are knocked out and it’s a case of hanging on for dear life as this tears away on a destructive route leaving nothing standing in its path. The vocal clamour is impressive as with a multi-layered approach it sounds like a cacophony of demons way beyond the scope of one throat-slinger and the guitars are deadly, precise and cutting as they peel the layers like finally carved fillets of skin. It sounds like “I am death” are part of the lyrics and even if misheard that certainly fits in with the hellish cacophony. There are elements of Anaal Nathrakh here for sure but as ‘Skin Is Not Enough’ flails more layers of flesh away the thudding beats are also reminiscent of bands such as Diabolicum and Aborym too. Despite the bleakness of music that topically “rages against the oppressive systems and institutions that seek to control our brief lives” songs like this do so with a sense of jubilation from the vocal clamour and it sounds like they are revelling in the forthcoming apocalyptic way the world is going. This is paradoxically full of glory at times but don’t worry there is plenty of embittered hate too as The Sky Opens and all manner of hungry beats come tumbling out on a hunt for souls to devour in an inhuman and rabid quest. Now it sounds like ‘Useless,” “Wiped Out,” Curse them” and “Hate” are being spat out by this gibbering demons, you get the picture, all hail the new flesh!
With some John Carpenter stylised instrumentation pulsing sinisterly on ‘The Approach’ we prepare to be flung back into the void. Death stalks between the crevasses and ‘Bleak Affirmations’ are there to greet it in tumultuous flair as the electronic elements are unleashed and what sounds like The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse ride forth. The joy has gone; famine, death, war and pestilence are the sounds of unrelenting fury. This is nasty and downright scary stuff! I particularly like some swirling atmospheric keyboard sound here too that sounds like it could have escaped from Goblin’s soundtrack of Dawn Of The Dead. ‘Depopulate’ is the sound of the world they now hungrily stalk. Whatever they have ingested it has put a bounce in the steps of the ‘Death Cults Of Abraham’ and as the drums thwack and some swaggering groove is injected this lethally and virulently swarms in a mass of lunatic vocals sounding like someone has unlocked the asylum doors and all the psychosis within has seeped out to attack with sharpened implements. By this point you might want to lock yourself up safely and throw away the keys but the album continues to shred nerves right down to the climatic lunacy of 10 minute plus finale ‘Schwarzchild Radius.’ Think of being pulled into a black hole and the album’s Event Horizon literally leaves nothing standing.
This really is a perfect album to release towards the end of annus horribilis 2020 and if anything, it leaves you dreading just what is to come next. If the future looks dark this is an album to ride its coattails out on and for a debut a hellish achievement as a soundtrack to very dark days ahead…
(8.5/10 Pete Woods)
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