Mechanical Organic - Flat Earth Society (Self-released)

Review by James Young

Madness, madness I tell you! Let’s get things straight from the start -
there is no way in a million years I can do justice to this album through
words, dear readers. You may read this and gain a little more understanding
about the Australian mind-meddling merchants, but there are only so many
words I can type before I begin to sound like I’m struggling. Which is
mission accomplished in the eyes of the band, who have aimed to make this
one heck of a challenging listen (and review for that matter), pulling out
all the stops to create something musically unique. Well, here’s a futile
attempt to try and describe the sound - in their biography, Mechanical
Organic claim to play heavy music with an electronic and industrial element

mixed with a progressive edge. This is almost fathomable, but when
you take into account the vocal harmonies, sound effects and plethora of
synths and sound effects from Connie D, what we end up with is a very
interesting combination indeed. Eddie Katz’ vocals are extremely mellow, and
comparisons could be drawn with Spock’s Beard at their most relaxed; they
are arranged in order to almost hypnotise you, almost chant-like at times,
carrying the listener away in a non-chemically induced trance. I was never
quite sure of how much of the percussion was programmed or actually played
by Laurence Belviso, but the fairly simple patterns, in conjunction with the
trance-inducing synths, certainly do combine to produce an exotic sound that
is one of a kind. An industrial flavour predominates the album, but there is
a definite progressive edge, found in the carefully crafted mood changes
throughout the course of the tracks. This could be as subtle as a flourish
of twiddly electronica such as in the oddly funky ‘Hacking Humanity’, or
sometimes more obvious techniques such as a sound effect or sample which
divides the sections of a song. We are even treated to a winding prog-style
solo in the heavier ‘All According To Plan’, which brought the threads of
all the aforementioned genres together.
An issue which some may have with the album is that it is a bit on the
lengthy side - eleven songs spanning over an hour and a quarter can hardly
be classified as easy-listening, despite the soothing effect that comes
attached. Each song is unique and totally different in terms of production
and feel, but it would be a mistake to single out a given track for
description, as it is the overall experience of Flat Earth Society which
gives the ultimate impression. I would not describe it as an uplifting
listen either - yes, I did say that the vocals were gentle and mellow, but
they are incredibly melancholy at the same time, and the subject matter is
anything but positive. Tracks such as ‘What Have We Become’, with its
non-stop repetition of the title, and ‘The Bitter Truth’, which loops the
lyric ‘Learn the truth’ again and again, not forgetting the finale ‘This
They Must Never Know’, which is basically a ten minute diatribe against life
itself, are not what I would call happy in the slightest. But if you don’t
have a medical history of depression, and you do have a couple of hours to
let this gloomy music infuse into your mind, you will no doubt benefit from
this bizarre record. I for one thought it would be a struggle to make it to
the end in one sitting, but the mixture of calming, and sometimes downright
oddball, samples with the mesmerising vocals had me see the whole thing
through, and again…and again. But don’t take my word for it, get onto their
web pages and test their material for yourself. If you feel invigorated by
what you hear (that is, after the initial thought of ‘what the hell?’ which is perfectly

natural), you may finally have found a perfect drug-free way to
escape reality - the question is, can you handle it?
www.mechanicalorganic.com | www.myspace.com/mechanicalorganic

http://www.live4metal.com/reviews-451.htm

http://www.live4metal.com/