Cannibalised (Special Edition)

Biomechanical's third album, 2008's somewhat prophetically named Cannibalised [sic], followed some wholesale changes within the U.K.-based ensemble, since the band's Greek-born founder and leader, John K. (real name Yiannis Koutselinis), had recently fired his long-serving cohorts in cold blood and replaced them with new henchmen. Well, sucks for them but, to be perfectly honest, the original team's absence has little effect on the album's sonic presentation, which still entails a dense mixture of power, groove, progressive and speed metal, performed at maximum, speaker-melting overdrive -- like a Euro-flavored spin on Strapping Young Lad, minus the sense of humor. Not that there's anything wrong with that (or much time to contemplate the issue) when intensely hyperactive sound-blasts like "The Unseen," "Predatory," and "Violent Descent" are insistently tearing one's face off. In fact, if Cannibalised lacks for anything, it's subtlety; even when its makers step off the throttle long enough to visit Meshuggah's parallel universe of off-kilter rhythms and broken-gear riffs (see the title track and "Reborn in Damnation"), add dazzling flourishes of symphonic colors to the prevalent darkness ("Fallen in Fear," "Consumed," and the especially striking "Through Hatred Arise"), or even feint a ballad on the eventually apocalyptical "Breathing Silence." Through each one of these, John K.'s multiple vocal disorder rages relatively unchecked, alternating petrifying growls and high-pitched, Halford-esque vocals that stab out of the maelstrom. In the end, it's borderline amazing to think that classic metal producer Chris Tsangarides (Thin Lizzy, Bruce Dickinson, Helloween, etc.) did anything more than hang onto the mixing board for dear life, even though he did oversee Judas Priest's Painkiller, which was clearly a major influence on John K., no matter how many layers are added here. And ultimately, Cannibalised's love/hate quotient greatly depends on the listener's ability to see through the aural overkill, and into Biomechanical's not inconsiderable songwriting sophistication. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia|