ALBUM REVIEW: MEAT MACHINE – Obsidian Kingdom
OBSIDIAN KINGDOM have undeniably become one of present-day metal’s most potential young groups. Now three albums into their career, their dissonance made of metal, hardcore, experimental, and alternative styles is setting new confines for heavy music. With their critically acclaimed albums Mantiis and A Year with No Summer, OBSIDIAN KINGDOM were able to cut out their place into the metal scene, as well as serve listeners the coalesced sound that is OBSIDIAN KINGDOM. With the band’s newest full-length release – MEAT MACHINE, out via Season of Mist – they carry on with pushing sonic frontiers they previously put into place, but effectively do so in a way that not only raises them to new heights but the genre of heavy music altogether.
OBSIDIAN KINGDOM have always given an impression of an act that grew up as a hardcore group, and over the course of time adopted a plethora of different elements that were thrown before them. MEAT MACHINE surely has them speaking a hardcore language, but with these other influences in-between, the band is displaying an unparalleled rendition of the metal sub-genre. From the get-go in the shape of The Edge, more than half the record’s task is put in front of the listener; penetrating odd time breakdowns, percussive patterns, and cinematic shifts. However, the implementation of this sonic mix is what makes MEAT MACHINE and OBSIDIAN KINGDOM be unlike every other modern metal band.
From a lyrical point, singer (and also a guitarist) Rider G Omega sermonises complex sections of detachment from life, destructive idolatries, and common disputes with modern-day humanity. It’s no exuberant business, and while the lyrics are subject to interpretation, they are put down with the same purpose and resolution as the instrumental parts, only fortifying the album’s progressive perception. However, once the song Naked Politics is on the loose, all the hard work gets laid out for the ten-tracker. This song displays one of the many melodic mid-tempo breaks OBSIDIAN KINGDOM take throughout MEAT MACHINE. Songs Flesh World, Spanker, and the closing A Foe all lay out a necessary break from the sublime mayhem.
MEAT MACHINE boosts all of the remarkable elements that made their previous two releases fascinating, all while introducing a handful of new sensory twirls that take the Spanish group to the next level. This album presents such strong craftsmanship from an abundance of sub-cultures, with the final result being stimulating at the very least. There’s so much on display here, from the composition, execution, and extremely good production that often it can come across like a sensory overcharge. As a matter of fact, that could actually be what turns some listeners off most with this album; OBSIDIAN KINGDOM are firing on all cylinders, constantly.
OBSIDIAN KINGDOM dare to actually try something different in an extremely jammed genre. MEAT MACHINE is by far the band’s best work to date, and it truly is an experimental classic in the making. Even so, based on one’s enthusiasm to venture into something different from typical heavy music, MEAT MACHINE is either a marvellous feat or a hard-to-swallow pill.
Rating: 9/10
MEAT MACHINE is out via Season of Mist.
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