Mechanics of Dysfunction

Beneath the Massacre | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 20, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Prosthetic Records
• ASIN: B000MCICMO
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,505 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Coming from a rich, albeit relatively modern heritage of brutal Canadian death metal bands, Beneath The Massacre is perhaps the band most likely to take the title for the heaviest and most technical band from its northern forefathers. 'If it's true that Montreal is assembling an army to take over the metal scene, Beneath The Massacre may very well be is atomic bomb. These guys are unforgiving, uncompromising and unstoppable'. Into Obscurit.com. We wrote those songs so fast, so primed to release a CD in fall 2006, that we didn't have much time to analyze what we were writing musically and lyrically. The result is a much deeper album than anything we could have written if we had more time to work on the songs.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brutal, Vicious, and Unrelenting, October 2, 2007

By 

Jeremy Brackeen "themetalbeast" (Cameron, WI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mechanics of Dysfunction (Audio CD)

Beneath the Massacre have got to be without question one of the best, and most brutal, vicious, unrelenting technical death metal bands out there today. I bought their 2007 full length debut "Mechanics of Dysfunction" over the summer, and I gotta say that whenever I listen to this album, my mind is just completely blown away every time. This neck-snapping technical death metal assault is as intelligent and self-aware as it is carnivorous and blood mad, and is just chock full of vicious death roars that will grab you right by the throat, fast, relentless technical riffs, back scorching leads, punishing breakdowns, and pummeling destructive blast beats. Lead grunter Elliot Desgagnes's roars are just brutal, vicious and throat ripping. Guitarist Christopher Bradley shreds, shreds, and shreds throughout with a neverending barrage of relentless gut-punching technical riffs, and wild scorching leads. Dennis Bradley's bass lines are sick and very heavy throughout. Justin Rousselle's drumming is just dare I say incredible. His blast beats are like a jackhammer pounding away at your senses, and his double bass kicks are like a machine gun firing off countless rounds of ammunition. Higlights include: "The Surface", "Society's Disposable Son", "The System's Failure", "The Stech of Misery", "Modern Age Slavery", "The Invisible Hand", "Better Off Dead", and "Sleepless". If you're a fan of technical death metal, you'll definately like Beneath the Massacre. Sure this whole album may be 30 minutes long, but it's worth every single penny, I'm sure glad I bought it, and I hope you enjoy it too. Well, enjoy!!!

Jeremy's song ratings:

1. The Surface (2:41) - 5/5

2. Society's Disposable Son (3:28) - 5/5

3. The System's Failure (3:29) - 5/5

4. The Stench of Misery (2:57) - 5/5

5. Untitled (0:58) - 4/5

6. Modern Age Slavery (3:22) - 5/5

7. The Invisible Hand (3:07) - 5/5

8. Better Off Dead (2:36) - 5/5

9. Long Forgotten (3:33) - 5/5

10. Sleepless (3:46) - 5/5

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Intense, High-Quality Progressive Tech Metal, February 9, 2008

By 

Joel Israel "Professional Shark Wrestler" (Cedar City, UT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mechanics of Dysfunction (Audio CD)

Prosthetic records brings us another great "extreme" metal release, "The Mechanics Of Dysfunction". Beneath The Massacre can go toe to toe with some of my other favorites in the genre (Prosthetic's own Byzantine, Decapitated, Meshuggah, etc.), and this is definately one of the better metal releases of 2007.

A nihilistic whirlwind of off-kilter time signature riffing, bizarre and sudden rhythmic shifts, dissonant soloing, and very tight musicianship all around. Very heavy, intense and satisfying for fans of the genre. It's true that perhaps this band doesn't bring anything new to the table in this style, but they don't really need to....very cool, ferocious death/prog/tech metal. Recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed bag, April 17, 2007

By 

A. Stutheit "Teyad" (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mechanics of Dysfunction (Audio CD)

It's hard to know what to make of the full-length debut by Canada's Beneath The Massacre. It has as many good aspects as flaws. On one hand, anyone who has been exposed to technical death metal in the past will find nothing new or novel on "Mechanics of Dysfunction," and may even think the album's overall sound is somewhat cliche.

Bur with that out of the way, let it be known that listening to "Mechanics of Dysfunction" is like going on an extremely fast, wild, intense, and exhilarating roller coaster ride, mainly because Beneath The Massacre's musicianship is positively staggering. It overflows with chunky riffing, absolutely scorching leads, and fluid, Necrophagist-esque guitar sweeps that add a touch of tonal variety to the mix. Then, add Deicide-worthy vocals, and an impossibly tight rhythm section, and the result is a monstrously brutal and very gifted young band that is brimming with potential. They manage to retain the highly technical aspect of their music, even while blazing along at lightning speeds. Drummer Justin Rousselle is probably the most talented one in the band. In fact, he's probably the best skinsman the death metal community has heard since Misery Index debuted in 2003. Throughout this album's thirty-minute running time, Justin repeatedly flies from a dead-stop to murderous and insanely fast (yet still very technical) multi-limbed blast beats that rain down on your eardrums like bricks, and may leave some listeners disoriented and dizzy. True, like many tech death bands (see, for example, Origin and Dying Fetus), Beneath The Massacre use drum triggers (so Justin's feet are QUITE as fast as he wants you to think they are), and overall, the band's musicianship sounds too great to believe (it is clearly a product of studio perfection). Nonetheless, even though one can't help but wonder if the album was made entirely by robots, the listener still can't help but marvel at the virtuosic and almost godly instrumental abilities heard here.

Another problem "Mechanics of Dysfunction" has is that (with the exception of the untitled interlude track at the halfway point), it is completely one-dimensional and practically devoid of melody. As a result, the songs becomes monotonous fairly quickly, and very few of the individual songs stand out to or stay with the listener after the disc has stopped playing (all you remember is one long, black blur.) There are a couple of highlights - like the punching, blistering riffs and blast beat hailstorm of set opener, "The Surface," the thunderous, earth-shaking "The System's Failure," and the breakneck tempo change in "Modern Age Slavery" - but the listener is advised not to try and distinguish between tracks, because that is almost impossible. Instead of taking the album too seriously, just sit back, relax, and let the music consume you.

In the end, "Mechanics of Dysfunction" is, like almost any technical death metal album, all hit-or-miss. Death metal diehards will eat it up, but newcomers are likely to find it rather silly. Personally, I could take it or leave it. It's nothing I haven't heard numerous times before, but it is still a mostly satisfying album, and it can be fun to pop in my player from time to time.