Machinae Supremacy
Overworld
Released: February 13, 2008
Reviewed by CENOTAPH
Posted on 7th February, 2008
Average time to read: 3:09 minutes
1. Overworld 04:21
2. Need for Steve 04:11
3. Edge and Pearl 04:00
4. Radio Future 04:40
5. Skin 05:24
6. Truth of Tomorrow 04:35
7. Dark City 05:56
8. Conveyer 03:51
9. Gimme More (SID) 03:25
10. Violator 03:04
11. Sid Icarus 03:58
12. Stand 04:47
How many tubs of vodka should a pig drain to come over as a human? None. It will kick the bucket before you can say knife. An average human being of mature age, on the other hand, is able to turn into a pig as easy as falling off a log. Just declare the end of the world closing in on the planet and a global part of its adult population will get tight as a tick in no time. Happily, people have lots of other, not so “animal” entertainments than just getting tanked up like pigs. For instance, humans invented heavy metal which has mutated into a multitentaculate monster of a musical genre over the years of its prolific existence. With all the new subgenres and sub-subgenres in metal today, you never know for sure where to put this or that band so that the genre-definition won’t fail to correspond with the reality. Thus, starting with pig-humans and human-pigs, we’ve come up to an outstanding Swedish metal phenomenon known as Sid Metal, the subgenre of melodic metal represented so far by the only group in existence that is Machinae Supremacy, an off-the-wall yet very talented five-piece from Luleе.
Yes, you got it right if you’d thought that the term “Sid Metal” is directly connected with the term “Sid Station”. The point is that the guys did manage to find the right balance between the station squeaky tones and heavy leads making it the integral and unique part of their music. This is how the band described their sound in the treehouse interview conducted by Holly Ferret a couple of years ago: “Machinae Supremacy has a unique sound in more than one aspect, but I believe the main thing, if you were to ask the average fan, is the use of video game influences and sounds in combination with serious shredding metal … Though we’re never afraid to sweeten it down a bit now and then, either. The vocal style is also not one commonly heard in metal bands, and I think that makes us stand out from the crowd even more.” Yes, the vocals here are not for everyone and it is this very thing that took me some time to get used to the band when I first heard their previous album Redeemer. Moreover, Robert (”GAZ”) Stjдrnstrцm’s singing hardly falls into the metal category at all, recalling the sarcastically whining delivery of Robert Smyth (The Cure). However, once you overcome it, you will find this type very suitable for the band’s musical décor, and maybe even start liking it a lot, like I did myself in my time.
In the matter of the music on Overworld, the album under consideration, there is some evident improvement in the overall sound and approach to the songwriting. The Sid Station clichés being further developed and enriched with some more diverse tonalities, the songs themselves sounding even catchier and tastier this time. Most of the tracks get a hold of your attention pretty instantly by way of adorable nearly sing-along tunes and heavy captivating lead patterns that accompany almost every part of the performance reminding you about its metal origin. The composition structures are rather simple, yet there are some interesting, I would even say progressive, moves that show up at this or that point of the album so as not to bore you with the trite verse-bridge-chorus formula. The multiple solos, though not being of the super-virtuoso type for the exception of one or two pieces, are extremely melodic and fit the bill very well. In fact, the band sound fairly original and the only counterpart that Machinae Supremacy is slightly reminiscent of is Tarot from Finland. Once you listen to both groups one after another, the comparison just stares right in the face, for the guys not only work nearly in the same field of metal and use the similar poppy approach to the songwriting but also their singers, Robert (”GAZ”) Stjдrnstrцm and Marco Hietala sound somewhat alike.
All in all, a very suitable album both for solitary winter evenings at home and good drinking bouts with your buddies. Just remember that people are not pigs and don’t get dead drunk in no time. There is always an option for sweet musical intoxication at your disposal, and Machinae Supremacy offer one of the best non-alcoholic cocktails without any hangover in the morning. Yet it is highly addictive and you will hardly avoid the temptation to repeat the pleasure again and again.
THOD’s other reviews and interviews:
http://www.treehouseofdeath.com/?p=360
http://www.treehouseofdeath.com/?p=85
http://www.treehouseofdeath.com/?p=245
MYSPACE ADDRESS:
http://www.myspace.com/machinaesupremacy
This entry was posted by CENOTAPH on Thursday, 7th February, 2008 at 20:30 and is filed under Reviews, Machinae Supremacy.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response below.
You may view a 
printable version of this page. You may download this page in 
PDF format.
I don’t get the Marco Hietala comparision… The vokillist (
) in MS is kinda “pop”, metalcore clean-vocals type sounding… And the music in that Myspace song is just generic Melodic DM… Of course, IMO.
The second song in their myspace sounds a little better because of the “electronic” elements, but the music is still
Again, cool review Ceno!
I don’t know why but I’m singing “Spider Pig! Spider Pig! Does whatever a spider pig does!…”
Now it came “Overworld” in their myspace… is better… they have 5 new songs in there!
I like their cover of the Britney song!
When they are more fun-electronic type of band they are better, that’s for sure.
Gimme! Gimme!
I like this album. The vocals are a little sticky sweet, but its grown on me. Nice review once again my brother, and sorry I didn’t have time to have a read before you posted it.
Your current state of family affairs explains everything so that’s ok with me.
Awesome job!
This probably has the weirdest opening few sentences I’ve read in a while. Definitely caught my interest.
I have an excuse for everything I do or don’t do. I’m awesome.
I must have been living under a rock cause I had no clue what a “Sid Station” was until I Googled to find out it’s a synthesizer device made with the sound chip from a commodore 64!
Regardless, I really liked the sample tracks quite a bit. I agree that the interesting music more than overcomes the ‘unusual’ sounding vocals. Thanks for the links too, I never knew that Ferret interview existed. It was a great read.
Btw, If Detox hadn’t told us, I never would have known there was a Britney song on their Myspace. Shame on Detox!
sweet, soemeone else knows these guys!!! they’re pretty sweet. the vocals never bothered me, but i can def. see why they’re weird. GREAT REVIEW BTW!!, oh and keep it FRESH!
I must say this is a decent album but their SID elements are very limited now, excluding track 9, most songs feature SID sounds only in the distant background or at least I didn’t notice it as much as here compared to the last album…
I’d give it a 7
I still find lots of them, but I would say they are not so explicit now and are presented through lots of different tones.
I listened to the whole album now and have to agree that this is fun Pop-y metal. Good high energy music thats very infectious. The vocals aren’t so strange either once you get used to them. It’ll definitely get some more plays from me.
i know this sounds weird, but the more and more i listen to this album it reminds me of My Chemical Romance… haha. the vocal melodies and that guitar playin… anyone agree?
Definitely not.
I’m a pretty big My Chemical Romance fan (they’re a guilty pleasure), and I hear no similarities.
thats weird, i had these guys on today and my roommate said it sounded like them as well… It’s us crazy Bostonians….
Just been going through the reviews archives and seeing what I missed out on! Good review Ceno
I don’t think this album is a patch on Redeemer, but it’s still very enjoyable. It lacks Redeemer’s precision (at least the original version of that album), feeling more like a collection of songs than a meticulously structured album. I also missed the more over presence of the Sid, but there songs are still a lot of fun, although I miss the longer tracks. I think this does sound a bit more generic though than their other stuff, which is a shame. The Sid isn’t something that should be toned down, it’s a unique approach which should be emphasised more not less! I’d give it a 7.