Demo Title: Mythelectronicon
Band Members: Scworm - Vocals; Scott Fitches - Bass, Programming; Mike Bryant - Guitar, Programming
Location: Canada
Rating: 4 Skulls
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Band Name: Nanochrist
Demo Title: Mythelectronicon Band Members: Scworm - Vocals; Scott Fitches - Bass, Programming; Mike Bryant - Guitar, Programming Location: Canada Rating: 4 Skulls
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Redwolff's Review:
Well, this is a concept I didn't know the world needed: a Messiah small enough to fit in your bloodstream. Can repair your faith from the inside, I suppose. But faith is not enough to become a rock star in this world, you've got to have some talent as well. Fortunately these guys do have talent, although they do not have a drummer - all percussion is taken care of by a drum machine, which means the beats are impeccable throughout the album. I'm torn about the use of a mechanized drummer in general; it feels especially like a cop-out when all the other instruments are live, as if the band just couldn't find a fourth member that they could stand. Or perhaps, as in Spinal Tap, they keep losing them to bizarre accidents. In any case, according to the band's website, this is the band's fourth album, and the tenth that guitarist Mike Bryant has been party to. They must be getting damn tired of putting out these self-releases.Now, judging by the use of "nano" and "electron" in this release, I automatically assumed that this would be a type of industrial metal band, and for the most part it is. But then in the middle of a song come these prog-like guitar interludes, which is a bit confusing. Equally confusing is the production on this disc, regarding the vocals. In most industrial bands, especially those using a drum machine, the entire production is effect-laden, and the vocals are almost never naked, there's usually something to make them sound a little less human and a little more robotic. The choice on this album was to leave the vocals totally alone and put them high in the mix so they are in your face. For the most part this is OK, but the singer's clean vocals are a bit weak - I definitely would have chosen to beef them up electronically. Also, the singer breaks a passage once in a while with a breath, he needs to time those better; either breathe before or after a line, not in the middle, in order to avoid a choppy sound.
Other than the above criticisms, this band is overall quite good for an unsigned act, and the packaging and website are both impressive. Fortunately the very discernible lyrics are tolerable, ranging in theme from cyborgs to mathematics to some sort of vague cry against warmongering capitalist fatcats and their ill-gotten monies. A lot of the words were probably just chosen because they sounded good together, some of these songs don't make a lot of sense to me. But I've never been one for poetry. I think these guys have gotten to the point where their songwriting and tightness as a group are getting to be the best they're ever going to, and what they need now is someone to produce their studio work really spectactularly. They seem to like the fact that their sound is a little hard to define, what with the prog/industrial mix, but it may be time to stop doing either halfway and commit to a definite sound. I think with a little guidance these guys could do very well for themselves; I don't really see them as ever being another Devolved or ...And Oceans, as they don't have enough of an edge, but they should have no problem carving a little niche for themselves in the industrial genre.
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