Beneath the Massacre - Mechanics of Dysfunction

[circus_brimstone]

Beneath the Massacre – Mechanics of Dysfunction
Prosthetic Records – 6561910042-2 – February 20th, 2007
By Jason Jordan



Ever since the impressive Evidence of Inequity – Beneath the Massacre’s 2005 debut on Galy – I’ve been waiting to hear a full-length from this brutal, technical Canadian outfit. Mechanics of Dysfunction, I’m pleased to report, delivers on every front that matters: songwriting, musicianship, artwork, etc., etc., etc. So what have BtM achieved with MoD? To put it bluntly, this is easily the first great technical death metal release of 2007, and a tremendous way of beginning what should prove a mutually beneficial relationship between Prosthetic and themselves.

While they don’t necessarily sound exactly like anyone out there, this four-piece can be compared to many of their countrymen, and fit in well, I might add. They’re dense (Cryptopsy), technically intricate (Martyr, Neuraxis), and oftentimes unpredictable in a stop/start rhythmical sense (Despised Icon, Ion Dissonance). Also, most of the guitar leads are of an Arsis/Necrophagist variety, as heard in ‘The Surface,’ ‘Society’s Disposable Son,’ ‘Modern Age Slavery,’ ‘The Invisible Hand,’ and others. The only real breather, however, comes in the form of ‘Untitled,’ which serves as a relaxed bridge between ‘The Stench of Misery’ and ‘Modern Age Slavery.’ The production’s solid, of course, though I’d prefer less click-happy bass drums. Even so – despite the fast and bone-crushing manner in which the material is delivered – I must still assert that there’s not a trace of emotion to be uncovered. Rather, Mechanics of Dysfunction is cold, clinical, calculated. I felt the same way about Martyr’s Feeding the Abscess, but during the course of this 30-minute lesson in asskickery, Beneath the Massacre hooked me – hooked me real good.

Again, aside from the utter lack of emotion, BtM wowed me in nearly every possible way. Some may argue that the length is insufficient, but because the songs aren’t radically different from each other and thus have a tendency to feel same-y as the disc approaches its close, I actually think the quartet benefit from offering only a half an hour blast of blistering music. By the end, you’ll be a bloody, breathless mess, and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it. I mean, why would you want to?

Official Beneath the Massacre Website
Official Prosthetic Records Website

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Very good shit.

[The Living Fields]

Man, do I HATE this album. Or more accurately, what it represents, as I have nothing against the band that made it...

It sounds like machinery. No trace of human playing whatsoever. Maybe that's the point and this will appeal to the same people that think Meshuggah are so good (they're not), but to me, it's the most plastic, ProTools'd-to-death, fake-drums, quantized, cut-n-paste albums I've ever heard. It's brutal, but it's not real. Even if it IS real, it doesn't sound real so why go to the effort?

If they can pull anything close to this off live, then I tip my hat to them for the technical acheivement, but they still can't write a song to save their lives.

Craft is NOT art.

[King Chaos]

Class review. Can't wait to hear this in it's entirity. Heard some tracks and they have quickly become favourites when Im in the mood for something smart and brutal. Their stuff gets played alot at a local club night around and about my way. Sounds so crushing in that environment.

[sorceron]

i really want to hear this. i liked the ep alot.

[arkael]

Originally Posted by The Living Fields

Man, do I HATE this album. Or more accurately, what it represents, as I have nothing against the band that made it...

It sounds like machinery. No trace of human playing whatsoever. Maybe that's the point and this will appeal to the same people that think Meshuggah are so good (they're not), but to me, it's the most plastic, ProTools'd-to-death, fake-drums, quantized, cut-n-paste albums I've ever heard. It's brutal, but it's not real. Even if it IS real, it doesn't sound real so why go to the effort?

If they can pull anything close to this off live, then I tip my hat to them for the technical acheivement, but they still can't write a song to save their lives.

Craft is NOT art.

Having heard their myspace samples I can definitely say that this particular style is not for me, but to compare it to Meshuggah and say neither band can pull it off live and just protools their albums to death isn't true. I've seen Meshuggah live and they pull it off just like it sounds on the album.

[The Living Fields]

Originally Posted by arkael

Having heard their myspace samples I can definitely say that this particular style is not for me, but to compare it to Meshuggah and say neither band can pull it off live and just protools their albums to death isn't true. I've seen Meshuggah live and they pull it off just like it sounds on the album.

I never said EITHER of those bands couldn't pull it off live. I questioned BtM's ability to, but left the door open on that one.

As for Meshuggah, again, I made no such claim. I've seen videos of them live and Haake is certainly an EXCELLENT craftsmen, but that doesn't stop the band as a whole from being relentlessly unpleasant to listen to.

Maybe the bit about fake drums was confusing? By that I meant that it doesn't sound like a real kit and it TOTALLY feels like an "enhanced" performance. Maybe it's not and the guy's human metronome, but these days it's a lot easier to fake the drums than find a good drummer.

For comparison, take Krisiun. I'm not arguin real/fake (just like BtM, I don't know), but their albums FEEL real. It FEELS like a real band playing at hyperspeed.

This BtM album doesn't. You can hear the cuts where riffs are pasted together (at best, it's VERY heavy gating cutting off the resonance on the stop/start riffs) and there's no variation in timbre on ANY drum hit because it's all triggered samples. Once you're triggering, it's VERY easy to quanitize and line it all up. Maybe he DIDN'T but it sounds like it and if he's just good enough to play that tight, damn dude, loosen up! A little slop can be a good thing.

So, as I said before, maybe they CAN play that tight, and if they can - as I said, "then I tip my hat to them for the technical acheivement, but they still can't write a song to save their lives."

What's REALLY funny is that you bastards have me listening to the album again it's not THAT bad

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Originally Posted by The Living Fields

Man, do I HATE this album. Or more accurately, what it represents, as I have nothing against the band that made it...

It sounds like machinery. No trace of human playing whatsoever. Maybe that's the point and this will appeal to the same people that think Meshuggah are so good (they're not), but to me, it's the most plastic, ProTools'd-to-death, fake-drums, quantized, cut-n-paste albums I've ever heard. It's brutal, but it's not real. Even if it IS real, it doesn't sound real so why go to the effort?

If they can pull anything close to this off live, then I tip my hat to them for the technical acheivement, but they still can't write a song to save their lives.

Craft is NOT art.

Shut up.

[GorillaSuffocate]

how can anyone hate this album, the songs are so fast and the work is so technical that even if you do hate this sound or type of music you havet to respect the work on the album, even if their live show may seem a bit flaky to some they still are very talented people playing very complicated stuff. can't wait to see them with Animosity.

[\m/FRNK\m/]

Originally Posted by V.V.V.V.V.

Shut up.

Great album. Great review too! Spot on. But.. emotion.. intensity. I get a definite strong intense energetic and happy feeling when listening