Mechanical Organic - Flat Earth Society
2006

01. What Have We Become
02. Stealth
03. Hacking Humanity
04. Nothing Is Real
05. Username and Password
06. All According To Plan
07. To Bridge The Void
08. Weapons Of Mass Distraction
09. Nostalgia
10. The Bitter Truth
11. This They Must Never Know

Australia: 2006
Genre: Industrial Progressive Metal/Rock
Label: Self-Released

Line-Up:
Lead Vocals, Keyboards: Eddie Katz
Lead/Rhythm/Synth Guitars: Connie D
Drums & Percussion: Laurence Belviso

I will have to admit, after all it's well-known, that i don't like progressive rock/metal music, i won't explain the reasons here because it's not my intention as this is a review about Mechanical Organic's debut album, "Flat Earth Society", an album that managed to leave me speechless with its variety and inspiration. Mechanical Organic hail from Australia and in an era when personal identity in music is so rare to be found they unfold a whole new world through their compositions, a personal way of expression that can't be stigmatized by someone else's glory, something highly positive and admirable! I mean, if they had appeared in the birth of the 90s they would have become a cult band in my opinion, but offering something new during nowadays when almost everything has been played this is even more impressive because the chances are few you will get to overwhelm your influences and offer something on your own.

Although it's hard to characterize the sound of Mechanical Organic i will give it a shot and allow me to say that the band presented their sound in the most appropriate way with their name simply because their music is mechanical and organic. Mechanical due to the use of industrial/electronic elements and organic due to the use of real instruments, you put these two elements in an equal quantity together and you get the sound of this Australian trio. The most appropriate way to label their sound would be industrial progressive metal/rock and i put the term rock because there are times the guitars are not so heavily distorted, they have a more rock-oriented distortion. The atmosphere Mechanical Organic tend to present has many faces, at times they tend to evoke a serene feeling or a more menacing one as well as an abstract aesthetic that is always present through the whole duration of "Flat Earth Society". All in all, the atmosphere could be compared to the feeling of being lost in a scientific centre somewhere in space where the most obscure experiments and philosophies take place.

Of course we're talking about top quality music and a variety of ways of expression concerning every single instrument, from the guitars and the synths/keyboards to the drumming and the vocals. Something that is easily noticeable from the first minutes of the album has to be the role of the vocals. The vocal melodies have a common core for sure, but after this point they tend to offer an intense variety of expression since Eddie Katz sings in different climaxes and along with the echo and other FX and the backing vocal harmonies that flow from beyond, accompanying the lead vocal lines, the atmosphere becomes more overwhelming, intense and surrouding, imprisoning the listener in a unique apocalypse of feelings. I'd like to mention as well that the vocals at times have a glimpse of Garm's majesty and astral allurement. The guitar work is just fabulous, top quality floating solos are always present, taking the place of the simple riffing in the most appropriate way leading to the outcome that the overall guitar work of "Flat Earth Society" is based mainly on solos, something very positive and clever since it's done in such a marvellous way. The interesting thing as well has to be the fact that the guitars won't rely on a single distortion, yet they offer variety in terms of sound while lying in the midst of many distorting faces, from the softer one to heavier ones, while the FX adorn even more the magical touch of the guitars! As for the rhythm section it might not be the most complex one but you will always find here and there some very creative passages in the drumming, whereas the bass lines lend depth and groove in the compositions. The electronic elements blend with the sound of the band in a succesful way, without sounding out of place, on the contrary, they make the sense of the abstract atmosphere more vivid and intense and the sound of the band more complex! As for the production, it is very good, helping the compositions keep their magical feeling, but i think such a band requires a better one!

"Flat Earth Society" might be lengthy, reaching dangerously the 78 minutes, but i think it won't matter a lot since as the album goes on you will be losing yourself in it more and more, caring not for the duration simply because you won't want this journey thourgh the infinity of space and thought be over.

Concluding, i would like to call all the fans of progressive music to check this out, it won't disappoint you, not at all! Let the toughtful lyrics/music of Mechanical Organic overrun you...


Website:        http://www.mechanicalorganic.com/      


Performance:    10             
Songwriting:    9              
Originality:    10             
Production:     8              
Overall impression:     9     

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Review:  http://www.metalstorm.ee/pub/review.php?review_id=3382