Cannibalised, the third full length from Biomechanical, is my introduction to the band. I caught wind of the band earlier this year through another site and promptly checked out their Myspace. The one song I heard from this album there left me reeling my jaw from the floor – it was like hearing the chaos of Strapping Young Lad coupled with some clean, traditional metal styled vocals among of other vocal outbursts reminiscent of Phil Anselmo – I needed to hear more. Then I find out the promo is waiting on me and I lick my lips and rub my hands with anticipation, only to get it, play it, and become somewhat let down with the entire product.

The song I heard on their Myspace page was lead-off track “Fallen in Fear”, so things started well. It continued well enough through “The Unseen” which has an undeniable Pantera influence wrapped up in the madness, and the self-titled track that comes off as a SYL/Meshuggah hybrid with its technical/progressive thrashing chaos. It’s at this point that things start to turn a little. “Breathing Silence” is made up mostly of that which reeks of Queensryche like ballad-y type stuff alternating with more Pantera groove and SYL intensity – it just doesn’t work, at least for this listener. There’s more Pantera to be heard in the two following tracks “Predatory” and “Slow the Poison”, the latter of which has a slower and sludgy quality to it in parts, and the two keep the album afloat thus far. Then things get a little weird with “Consumed”, which sounds like and orchestral SYL. The thick grooves of Pantera make and appearance once again in “Reborn in Damnation”, and no surprise, it’s one of the better tracks here. The annoyingly bombastic and orchestrated “Through Hatred Arise” had me reaching for the skip button each time, but album closer “Violent Descent” is a lesson in all that’s heavy and intense – it grooves, it thrashes, it’s schizophrenic and most of all, it kicks ass and closes the album out proper.

The biggest downfall of the album is the production – it’s just a muddy mess. Even after messing with the EQ on my media player for at least 15 minutes each spin of the disc, it’s still painful to listen to. There is some really good stuff going on here in some songs, but the production just flattens it to the point that it’s almost completely unlistenable.

Cannibalised has peaked my interest in Biomechanical enough to check out their past works, but as it stands, Cannibalised is a passable effort. A better production job would have done wonders, but even then, there are a few songs that felt just mediocre, or downright annoying.

[Visit the band's website]

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