Machina Genova

Skymning had really found its lane with Artificial Supernova, and if anything, Machina Genova takes them further down that direction with an even more electronic, industrial sounding evolution of the death and thrash metal which formed the basis for that sophomore. The cyber tendencies have now crept deeper beneath the flesh, with electrodes pumping through the band members' veins, and yet they manage to do this without switching over to exclusively electronic percussion or losing the impulsive death/thrashing of the guitars. It feels like a band that adapted its electronic personality, rather than an electronic band that just decided to punch a few guitars into its recording software. And it's still bloody exciting, arguably even more so than its predecessor, since there's a simpler, punkish energy to some of the guitar riffs.

Groove metal, industrial metal, a little thrash, Machina Genova exists at the nexus with an interesting hustle and flow to its percussion, and guitars that center in a lot on chugging rhythms and then lots of quirky techniques above them to represent circuit boards, assembly lines or whatever other mechanistic vibes are going through their brains. The bass has a great flow to it, occasionally reminding me of the mid to late 90s Voivod stuff with Eric, and this has the most interesting drumming of their catalogue because it's so adept at emulating more purely industrial bands. Lots of weird little riffs on tracks like "Scrapleech" and "Swallow the Holy Piss" keep the record pumping fresh, but there are also a lot of more familiar, thrashing rhythms, as well as a few that might teeter a little too much towards the nu metal sound, but never more than, say, Prong did, a band that continues to have some parallels to these Swedes, only over a much larger catalogue.

This is a very good album overall; it might not have left quite the impact on me as its predecessor, but I will certainly never argue that this was successful at mutating them even further away from their roots in a positive direction which kept them distinct from their Swedish peers. It's certainly a nastier and more pissed off sound than Artificial Supernova, but still maintains plenty of atmosphere and a few surprises that will keep you guessing what's around its welded corners. It's a bit of a bummer that the band decided to call it quits after this was released, but I can never fault them for quitting while they were ahead...there are no disappointments in their discography, and I think the small handful of folks who would track such albums as this down will be quite thrilled with what they discover.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Industrial metal is pretty much a gamble, most of it is pretty fucking awful. A lot of bands use the industrial guise to cover up their own short comings. "I can't play that riff man, throw some ambiance in there instead..." or they use the term industrial to warrant dousing their metal in electronica/club stylings. Though there are some really special bands out there with the tag 'industrial'. Sweden's Skymning is one of them. They specialize in extremely violent industrial death metal without relying on gimmicks. This band is definitely metal, it's not up for argue. (unlike a score of other industrial bands who's metaldom is extremely questionable..)

Back in 2004, I randomly came across this band and checked them out based on their name alone. (Skymning was a really attractive name for some reason..) and ever since I've been utterly in love with this record. It's incredibly dense and violent, the guitar tone here is so crushing and destructive, one of the heaviest albums I've ever heard. I still cant believe this band used to play power metal....

The vocals on this album are insane, guttural and tortured. Anything other would throw the entire balance of this album off. The riffs? obscene, every guitar note thrown at you on this is just an aural attack. death metal riffs with so much groove and force. The drumming is also excellent, the pacing is impeccable and adds a sense of urgency to the songs and gives the atmosphere of psychological torment. This album is to me, the soundtrack to an insane asylum. Don't expect anything typical though, this drum work here is very different than what you'd normally hear on a metal record, full of weird time signatures and all that good stuff. The lyrics? Well, I've never bothered to pay attention. The years Ive spent listening to this album have been basically spent being mesmerized by the frightening aura. It's death metal anyways, who gives a fuck about lyrical content?

In the time I've spent with this album, I've yet to find a single person other than myself who enjoys it and thats just horrible. This album NEEDS to be heard. The fact it's horribly obscure isn't an excuse, I was 16/17 when I found it, and if a retarded teenage can find an album, anyone can. Stop what you're doing and get this album now.

Recommended Listening: Prokill, Riot Revolution, Scalpleech. Swallow the Holy Piss.