Empires of the World

Biomechanical | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 9, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Earache Records
• ASIN: B0009ESSJC
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #195,658 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Enemy Within

2. The Empires of the Worlds

3. Assaulter

4. Relinquished Destiny

5. Long Time Dead

6. Regenerated

7. DNA Metastasis

8. Survival

9. Existenz

10. Truth Denied

11. Absolution, Pt. 1: Final Offence

12. Absolution, Pt. 2: From the Abyss

13. Absolution, Pt. 3: Absolution

14. Absolution, Pt. 4: Disintegration

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Metal surprise of the year!, October 18, 2005

By 

Murat Batmaz (Istanbul, Turkey) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Empires of the World (Audio CD)

Biomechanical's The Empires of the Worlds is the metal surprise of the year for me. Its relentless power yields intense moments of crushingly heavy extreme music with touches of thrash, traditional, industrial, and even progressive metal. Built around complex harmonies and song structures, the music is meticulously produced resulting in a hybrid of dense staccato string bends, semi-melodious and semi-growled vocals that easily tear the stratosphere, and a hyper-speed chaos of rhythm intensity. All elements are combined in order to make a lasting musical statement that fearlessly transcends boundaries making the album impossible to categorize.

The dark cover art done by Nat Jones suggests Swedish thrash/death ala The Haunted or Hypocrisy, though Biomechanical shares little in common with either band, except their undeniable thrash metal riffery that characterizes their sound. Biomechanical does play a perfect mix of post-thrash and industrial with vivid traditional heavy metal overtones that often suggest Judas Priest or early Mercyful Fate, particularly in their guitar work. Add to this John K's inhuman vocals that can range from a deep Devin Townsend-like growl to majestic high screams from the likes of Rob Halford or Wade Black. The title track illustrates said amalgamation with its focused clean vocals contrasted by aggressive low growls and some Swedish scream harmonies. However, all extreme elements are put aside when the band's guitar tandem throws a swirling guitar solo that brings to mind the best moments of Downing and Tipton as well as Hank Shermann and Michael Denner (Mercyful Fate). Aside from the heavily Priest-inspired lead solos, Biomechanical's guitar duo Chris Webb and Jamie Hunt also lay down some amazing rapid-fire riffs coloured with post-thrash motifs and a Gene Hoglan-type of drummer that plays his instrument with ruthless aggression and stunning speed. Injected with a massive orchestration sound, the first track "Enemy Within" immediately recalls Strapping Young Lad, moreso than any other band. Industrial sound effects, swift keyboard layerings and a demonic twin guitar tandem that impresses with their sweep and pinch harmonic work are melted into the track to both define the sound of the band and expose their diversity.

Moreover, The Empires of the Worlds has a great film continuity to it, as main composer John K is very much into film score. From the creepy sound effects and heavily orchestrated "Regenerated" to the Cronenberg movie-inspired "Existenz" to the epic-sounding "Survival", the disc is filled with audio moments that give the album a visual feel. Given that this is also the second chapter of a huge concept piece, the band has incorporated these elements with great attention to detail. This is far from the typical "write a song and slap an orchestra on it" attitude. The orchestral arrangements actually are the song itself and they play a very vital role in the music. What's better, however, is that not even a single minute of heaviness has been compromised; the orchestra is there to add texture and enrich the arrangements. What we have in the foreground is sped-up twin guitars that, as on "Assaulter", can go from a Testament feel with melodic vocal lines and instrumental breakdowns to sludgy build-ups littered with a symphonic vortex of sound and Meshuggah complexity on "Relinquished Destiny". The four-part "Absolution" epic finds the band going back to film score with a blaring horn and string section on "Final Offence", horror movie voiceovers on "From the Abyss", and back-to-form aggression on the later two pieces that emphasize the band's ear for orchestration centred around mercilessly fierce guitar, bass and drum foundation.

Andy Sneap's production makes things only better and this disc will takes its place in his ever-growing list of works. The sound is far larger than the average metal release out there and embodies controlled chaos and a very precise vision of songwriting. This disc should be right up there with Strapping Young Lad's Alien and Nevermore's This Godless Endeavor, two of the year's best metal releases.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Blend of Great Metal, June 24, 2005

By 

M-12 "mgndva" (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Empires of the World (Audio CD)

Those of you that read the reviews on some of the better metal websites out there will probably already know how this album is being categorized. It's "Pantera meeting Nevermore meeting Priest meeting Queensryche". After listening to this album that is pretty much dead on in the vocal department. The songs themselves have a great blend of heavy riffs, speed, blistering solos, and great atmospheric effects. Sometimes the songs combine all at once other times it's one or the other. Check out their website for some samples, and you should get the picture.

The best way to put it is that the vocals tend to pay tribute to those bands listed above while the music speaks for itself and tends to forge its own path. I definitely recommend this album for fans of the above bands as well as those of you loving Mercenary, Dark Tranquility, Into Eternity. Well worth the $. Enjoy it!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ultra technical, downtuned black thrash... power metal?, April 15, 2006

By 

Aquarius Records (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Empires of the World (Audio CD)

Holy [...]. This band is so completely mindblowing. Ultra technical, downtuned black thrash... power metal? An impossible mix of techgrindthrash a la Meshuggah, Dillinger Escape Plan, Strapping Young Lad and the like, but with plenty of chugcrunchmosh as per Pantera, but most importantly, a huge heaping dose of classic melodic power metal: blazing leads and harmony solos like they were plucked straight from some Iron Maiden b-side, wailing and soaring eighties style Rob Halford like vocals, all plopped smack dab in the middle of a dense sludgy, churning whirpool of brutal pummeling technical thrash metal.

Imagine your favorite eighties metal record, Avenger, Obsession, Omen, doesn't matter, now imagine that band going through one of those science fiction transformations, you know like where the dinky little robot is dragged down the conveyor belt, strapped down and then is suddenly awash in a blur of sparking machines, and molten metal, a hundred mechanical arms with all manner of alien tools welding and cutting, sparks spraying everywhere, flames and smoke, until the tiny robot emerges a hulking armored battle machine, all sharp edges and planet crushing firepower. That's basically Biomechanical. Imagine Iron Maiden or especially Queensryche (the singer sounds a hell of a lot like Geoff Tate) with a 21st century makeover. A blurred buzzy blast of totally brutal thrash metal, technical and convoluted but super catchy. With those wailing vocals that at first sound so completely out of place, but immediately make Biomechanical so much more interesting than their grunting shrieking thrash metal brethren. Plus they smear the proceedings with all sorts of bizarre keyboards which gives the whole record a demented alien vibe.