ALBUM REVIEW: Confidimus In Morte – The Machinist
Just when you thought our cup runneth over with exciting new bands in metal – here’s another one to lose your mind over. THE MACHINIST take unadulterated anguish and blend it with a razor sharp groove, it’s a concoction which is simply quite stunning. The quartet’s debut full length record takes the concept of death and surrounds it with an extreme metal sound that’s as harrowing as it is thrilling.
An extreme metal record based around death is certainly not new ground for THE MACHINIST to tread, but don’t be fooled by this – Confidimus In Morte textualises its morbid tropes with an intense musical structure. Yet, it still has an innate sense of accessibility to it too; this doesn’t go as far as VENOM PRISON‘s latest offering Samsara yet its delivery is just as shattering, and in some ways, even more so. Though its concept isn’t original, Confidimus In Morte stomps its way into prominence and remains there throughout its playtime. The screams of “There will be no making peace with God!” on No Peace etch themselves into your brain just as heavily as the wincing pinch harmonics that burn through Predatory. This is a record where every millimetre of fat seems to have been trimmed – what’s left is alternative music excellence.
To purely pick out one performance throughout this record feels counter-productive, as THE MACHINIST have an ensemble of precision in literally every musical corner. However, vocalist Amanda Gjelaj manages to be the show-stealer in a record full of quality. From her stomach churning lows on Strength Through Suffering to her blistering sirens on Paradise Lost – Gjelaj arrows her way into the highest level of extreme music vocalists. ITHACA‘s Djamila Azzouz, VENOM PRISON‘s Larissa Stupar, even WHITECHAPEL‘s Phil Bozeman; she is up there with every single one of them.
Even with all this considered, Confidimus In Morte‘s greatest attribute is its ability to never quite stick to the same attack pattern. Truth be told, with a guitarist the calibre of Josh Gomez in their ranks the quartet could quite simply get away with 9 tracks that do nothing more than rattle off a succession of down-tuned riffs one after the other with a few formation changes along the way, but that’s not the case here. Yes, the pummelling absolutely exists on beatdown tracks like The Sound Of Shame and Turn Away, but the straight up death metal tonality of As You Lie and the break neck thrashing of Empire State Of Emergency add brutal nuances to this work of art.
The greatest metric to determine just how brilliant this effort from THE MACHINIST is – would be to realise that 2019 has been littered with a host of high quality extreme metal releases this year, and Confidimus In Morte is the king of the pack. Accessible yet punishing, tempo driven yet provocative – this is an album that literally does it all and then some. This New York four-piece have just taken the leap from hot prospects to overnight heroes, and there’s every chance you’re about to come across your album of the year.
Rating: 9/10
Confidimus In Morte is out now via Prosthetic Records.
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