Sybreed – God is an Automaton

0
515

Every time that my family and I go out to a restaurant my dad orders the same thing; pasta. He doesn’t like to try new things and has often referred to my cooking as being “Indian” tasting because I used oregano and pepper. Some people simply don’t like to try new things and that’s the way it is. Fortunately, I do. It leads to great new experiences, running into Sybreed and their new album God is an Automaton is one of them. It’s a deliciously diverse album that mixes multiple genres; industrial, death, nu, with progessive tinges; on the dime stop and starts; it’s easy to get sucked into a blackhole of selfish headbanging and horn throwing in the middle of the subway. Whether you come to God is an Automaton for the industrial elements or the metal, you’re sure not going to leave unsatisfied.

God is an Automaton is an album that strives to make a strong impression on several fronts; it’s not just an album that is a little bit of this, a little bit of that, it’s a full on serving of everything. Sybreed unabashedly uses full on helpings of Raymond Herrera/Dino Cazares double bass/guitar attacks through out the entire album that remind me of Demanufacture  era Fear Factory and a singing style that bridges between Reroute to Remain In Flames and Ghost Opera Kamelot. But it’s not just the pure metal elements that make me fall in love with this album; on the contrary, it’s the sure headedness of Sybreed to include full on industrial elements including techno flavoured synths that really push the boundaries; it’s extremely rare to find an industrial album this heavy. It’s not something that’s always done right, as Sixth Bullet for You found out. Make no mistake, this is by no means frilly laced, pom pom waving, auto-tuned garbage, this is the real deal.

Through the album Sybreed manages to define a sound almost uniquely their own, they sometimes fall victim to their self-imposed constraints; in order to create their own sound, they develop their own patterns; their own ways of approaching music becomes exactly predictable… almost too familiar; their staccato approach to most riffs becomes somewhat dull in the middle of the album. Luckily, the album picks up without much bother. Without a doubt, the beginning and ending of the God is an Automaton  are strong enough to support whatever song(s) one may disagree with in the middle. Tracks like “A Radiant Daybreak” really showcase the strength of both the album and the band as a whole. The ironically titled “Into the Blackest Light” shines as one of the album’s best tracks and definitely leaves you wanting a second helping. And while not the heaviest tracks “Post Human Manifesto” “No Modern Wisdom Brings Solace” and “The Line of Least Resistance” serve as great ways to kick off the album and will be stuck in your head long after you have listened to them.

All in all, God is an Automaton is an extremely strong entry and should not be missed by anyone that wants to hear industrial metal that leans more to the metal side.  Despite the album’s highly tailored and intentionally catchy choruses, this isn’t album isn’t for weak hearted; this isn’t your nanny’s late 90’s industrial collection filled with Orgy and the like; this is like Oomph! Just with more oomph.