Eight Moons

Biomechanical (a name, a guarantee) are, more than a band, a war machine led by the great John K, undisputed leader, as well as lead singer and composer of the group; on drums there is the disruptive Matt C., whose power would be capable of shaking the foundations of the Earth; on bass John Collins; and on guitars Chris Webb and Jamie Hunt, very skilled in giving birth to granite riffs and memorable solos, as well as wonderful and often touching melodies.

The peculiar feature of this metal album (and also of the subsequent Biomechanical records) is the presence of keyboards and orchestrations, which help to give the work a varied sound, without hindering the fury and sonic massacre wanted by John K., who, with these very particular additions and almost never present in the metal world, also wants to suggest a sense of drama and tragedy that overlaps that of fury and anger present in almost all the songs of the lot.

Just think of the track that opens the disc, The Awakening, a real masterpiece that perfectly embodies the typical sound of Biomechanical, a thrash/groove metal that joins orchestral parts that are never invasive and perfectly inserted within the piece. The riff is monolithic, it sweeps everything that stands in front of it without thinking twice, supported by Matt C.'s drums which, combined with Collins' bass, strikes martial blows. The listener can only enjoy all of this. The solo is, to say the least, perfect, performed with a very good dose of technique and a taste that not everyone can boast of having. But to dominate everything is the voice of John K., which takes on different connotations during the piece, first furious and angry, then crazy and dramatic, capable of arousing ever-changing emotions and sensations in the listener, and this is not a foregone conclusion for a lead singer of a metal band. But this is only the opening piece.

The wonders continue with the subsequent Do You Know Me, which has almost the same structure of the first piece (like almost all the songs on the disc, but it's not a defect). In any case, it has a wonderful refrain, punctuated by the exceptional voice of John K., whose expressive power never ceases to surprise and enchant. Impossible not to mention another wonderful track like In The Core Of Darkness, a song full of pathos, which manages to be dark and dramatic at the same time. The central songs, although excellent, cannot be defined as masterpieces, in fact I consider them, in a certain sense, unfinished: they seem like primordial and rough, but pure sketches of what the band's sound would have become on the next album.

Very particular is the case of the title-track, in which the powerful electric guitars appear only for a few moments, leaving the field free for the orchestrations (of which John K. is very passionate), which take over, mixing with absolutely evocative narrated parts. It is certainly a piece that no one would expect. While it's not my favorite of the album, it has to be admitted that it's really well done.

The ballad Save Me is another really emotional song, capable of touching the listener deeply; it has very personal and interesting acoustic parts and presents an unforgettable refrain. It must be said that this track is also really unexpected, unlike the final Point Of No Return, also wonderful but perfectly in line with the band's standards, which prefer this spectacular union between the purest, rawest, fastest and most angry metal and the most touching melody.

In conclusion, the debut of Biomechanical is truly exceptional. A raw and hard disc (with a production that is perhaps not the best) greatly influenced by the great metal bands of the past, such as Metallica (for example the ballad Save Me can be associated with Fade To Black), Judas Priest (for the voice of John K. which in some cases recalls that of Rob Halford) or Pantera (especially in the sound of the guitars, in the riffs and the solos, probably indebted to those of Dimebag Darrell). Despite this, however, it must be said that all these influences are perfectly mixed, and reinterpreted by the great John K. in a completely intimate and personal key.

Those who were at least starting to be interested in heavy music during the '00s will surely be familiar with Biomechanical. Personally, I wasn't into extreme stuff until my coming of age, with very few selected exceptions, but I distinctly remember discovering the existence of this menacingly named project on no less than Earache's videogame for PlayStation 2. Please tell me I wasn't the only one having one of these in my house! Anyway, I also remember spending more time scrolling through the pages of the booklet, detailed with photos and biographies of the several extreme bands featured (and often wondering what the hell was our own melodic hardcore output Linea 77 doing between them), than actually playing the game, which probably didn't go down in history books. Still, a bunch of them intrigued me, and among them stood the here presented one. Looking back at it, they were probably the most unfortunate ones (if compared to Morbid Angel, Napalm Death, Municipal Waste etc.) as their parabola literally precipitated, like, a couple of years later. If nothing else, they suffered a better fate than all the bands relegated to their demo- or, at most, debut album-state, having had the possibility to make up an intimidating three-album concept by visionary Greek vocalist and mastermind John K, starting with the here presented Eight Moons. Better waste no ulterior time and let the music do the talking.

'The Awakening' is a more than aptly titled opener for Biomechanical's career: after a sinister short intro, it's all about the frequent tempo changes, while remaining substantially fast and overwhelming (sort of an outsider here, in this aspect), vocals thrown all over the place, very powerful, original lyrics (a constant of the project) and a memorable chorus section... you already have it all in four minutes. I have to point out, if compared to later albums the vocals seem less refined, with John K sounding less like a psycho Rob Halford and more like a... psycho Tobias Sammet, or at least that was a similarity that stood out to me the most on the absurdly catchy mid-tempo groove 'Do You Know Me'. But if you're not a huge sucker for the voice of Avantasia's iconic frontman, like me, fear not as K can show a much wider range with ease, not to mention his versatility, and you won't find any abuse of vibrato notes. I'm just not too fond of the higher pitched final choruses, mostly because sometimes I can't help but feel they sound artificially made and fake; check for example that exact song or 'No Shadows' for that matter.

Still, it was already clear that Biomechanical weren't exactly going for the most uplifting album ever with Eight Moons, but 'In the Core of Darkness' reaffirms the concept with its desperately, almost hopelessly sounding march, broken only by a sick thrash metal segment, with particularly intense lyrics. This is where the album may start to sound a bit tiring for the uninitiated, with the slightly forced high vocals not helping in this regard, and it's also probably the song where the production stands out the most, in a negative way. This album simply cannot handle every element at once in the instances where they gather (two guitars, bass, drums, at least two voice tracks, symphonics) and is forced to drown something in the mud, which is really a shame, but also something to expect from a debut album on a small label, even more so considering that most of the times the production remains leastwise adequate and doesn't hurt the experience. Its imperfections may even accentuate, by chance, the aura of chaos of the scenario.

The groove machine goes on, but in the middle part, unfortunately, it stumbles on some drops in quality. 'Hunted', the first non-demo song, is probably the furthest from being a filler in this section, I also sincerely loved the traditional metal-inspired, quasi-Tim Owens howls in the pre-chorus. Only side note: the first solo sounds basically identical to the one on 'Do You Know Me', but I admit the whole part is superior. Good news is that, luckily, we have yet to witness Eight Moons' most original moments, namely the final triplet. The title-track, as you may expect, is the most ambitious cut off the album. The particularly complex lyrics are, for the majority, narrated, over a symphonic background, with the almost total absence of the other instruments except for the fist-raising chorus, if we can call it as such since it appears only once. I personally think that the climax is awesomely built into it, at about half the song, but then the return to symphonic and narration only felt a little disappointing. If nothing else, this track alone may make yourself imagine the eyebrows they raised with this debut album, and the consequent attention they received from Earache.

'Save Me', instead of going back to full assault mode, catches us off guard, being a sort of half-ballad, with hands off the strongest chorus of the album. I honestly didn't expect Biomechanical to have this much of an ear for melodic hooks, and barring the guitar tone, it sounds strangely like a... Queensrÿche song at times? All I know is that I can't stop picturing Geoff Tate in it. Also, it builds somewhat of an unintentional continuum with the former composition, and the clean guitars in the end also flow so smoothly onto the last track 'Point of No Return', which unfortunately is not that high of a note to close Eight Moons. On a positive note, and probably a conscious decision by the band, in the second half the band lets all hell break loose in the most headbangable part of the album. Dare I say... Machine Head-like, but don't beat me. Again, at times it becomes arduous to discern everything that's happening, but it feels pretty good.

There are more than glimpses of what the band was capable of, once in a while you get a nice bass noodling which shows a pretty cool tone ('Do You Know Me'), rumbling double bass on the scarce speedier sections (think of the opener and the closer), hints of sheer madness unleashed (same as before), even some really heartfelt solos which go beyond pure shredding (something that would sadly disappear in the future instead), but if you're used to their other releases, for the majority of time this will sound like Biomechanical taking a step back, probably warming up during a sound-check. And you know what? I like it this way. It's probably their only album you can listen from start to finish without feeling like the near nightclub bouncer made you kiss his fist several times. It sure is different than The Empires of the Worlds, and the production doesn't completely give it justice, but it stands particularly strong on its own.

You can also find this review on MetalBite.com.

Biomechanical are a small UK-based progressive metal band that borderlines purebred thrash in a classic Pantera-vein with some melody thrown in. And god damn are they good! On their debut "Eight Moons", Biomechanical combined fast-paced down-tuned guitars with some strong drum work backed by some ever-present keyboards that never seem to get a spot to shine, but to the trained listener the keyboards provide a rich, atmospheric and staggeringly complex musical show for an instrument that receives no real solos and isn't very high in the mix. Good effort on the keyboardist's behalf but it's almost wasted.

Pop Eight Moons in the CD player or turn winamp on que up the songs and get ready for some serious headbanging. Starting with "The Awakening", a high-speed thrashy-proggy piece that never seems to drop in pace despite the fact that there's a hell of a lot of technical wizardry and complex instrument movements going on here. That's something I really like about this band, they can be incredibly diverse while keeping very consistant, they don't fall into the wankery trap like other bands. Next up is "Do You Know Me" which is mindblowingly awesome, slower pace than before but unlike previously, tempo changes are prominant here. This song is so different from the last I could of sworn I put on a different release by the same band, good stuff. Third track, "In The Core of Darkness" is even slower, and again so much different from the previous songs. The keyboards are granted a rare chance to shine and boy is it good, a slow, brooding, almost omninous intro which opens the song, slower and more crushing this song doesn't leap out and force you to start headbanging, it instead sneaks up on you and smothers you, warning you not to drop your guard (Don't worry, it speeds up at 2:40).

A slow bass-solo intro? Oh my I know what you're thinking, another slow piece and you're wondering if this album will pick up back to "The Awakening"'s' speed? by halfway through you might be starting to get a little bored and those brief heavy interludes aren't helping are they? Snap back to reality! Track four, "Distorted" is giving you some moments of relaxation... Track five, "Hunted" is a mild return the speed of the opener! Headbangers start your engine, the flag is waving. "No Shadows" picks up the pace in leaps and bounds giving your neck a well needed excersise. The title track's first two minutes are rather dreamy and the keyboard has it's biggest role here on the whole album. The rest of the song is a rather epic sounding slow-midtempo piece with a strange voice over backed by the keyboards. The last two tracks are rather melodic but both contain some strong metal moments. Yes the album slowed down after the first track and never returned there. But in a way that's a good thing as every song here is diverse and interesting to listen to.

Overall a decent album, pick it up it just might interest you.

However bad I am at reviews, I just had to review this. This is one hell of an album. I checked these guys out on a whim and god was I suprised.

When I first saw the it classed as progressive I shrugged it off, expecting it to be something like Dream Theater, which to be honest, apart from a few songs, I can't stand them. Take that however you will, bad, good, I don't care....but if you get a chance to hear this, don't pass it up.

Straight away this album grabs your attention, especially when John's vocals kick in. He's got the type of voice that Rob Halford would be proud of. He has one hell of a range and they can be harsh yet soothing at the same time, one moment he sounds like he's gone so high pitched he's going to burst something vital and the next moment he sounds like a completely different person.

The guitaring is precise and the solo's are great, which aren't overused like hell and the band do not sound like they are showing off, which is definately a good thing in my book.

There is no filler songs on here and no song sounds like another. Each song has it's own style and sound which makes you want to listen to the album again and again.

The only problems I can find with the album, which aren't really problems at all, are that there really aren't any standout tracks, as they all grab your attention and make you want to headbang along. There's also the point that it's only 38 minutes long and as soon as it's finished it leaves the listener craving for more.

Anyway, I really don't want to go into too much detail as I want people to hear it for themselves and give their own judgement on the album.

Go out and get it now!