Scorngrain
Cyberwarmachine
6.9
If you were to take a look at a picture of the future, you would find that there is no future. We tried to stop them, but the MetalCorps armies sprang into action in unprecedented numbers and are multiplying as we speak. We go to bed at night hoping that the nightmare will end, only to awaken in the morning and discover that the KarateMosh troops have somehow further fortified. I haven’t slept well in months. I lay here listening to the sounds of rebel counterstrikes and long for resolve; noble men and women like you and me, that disapprove of the current state of metal. It seems for every inch of ground we gain toward defeating the MetalCorps legions, we’re knocked back a foot or more because we are just too few. Controlled from the shadows by those who are only slightly less mindless than themselves, the MetalCorps strike teams have invaded and seized once reliable allies such as Century Media and Nuclear Blast. Together, these super powers have swiftly brought the end. We’re losing the war. All is gone and hope is but a fleeting memory. Though it’s yet to be seen, wise men prophesize of they that will lead us into victory and restore order in our once great land. Time is running out…
Shellee: Harley. Baby, wake up.
Harley: Huh? Wha… What is it?
Shellee: You’ve been tossing violently in your sleep again. You’re all sweaty and talking in your sleep. Was it the dream?
Harley: I saw it, Shellee! I saw it through their eyes! Oh God! (begins to sob)
Shellee: Saw what?
Harley: Metalcore! All those women and children innocently cut down for not… (dramatic pause) …Shit, what time is it?
Shellee: Just a bit after eleven.
Harley: Why didn’t you wake me sooner!? I have a review to write. (rushes to office)
Taking a piece of the thrash blueprint drawn out by the likes of Slayer in the late 80's and pasting it to The Kovenant's 21st century design, Finland's Scorngrain emerge from the burning rubble with a cyber assault on all things trend. Layered with galloping riffs and computer programming, CyberWarMachine is a blackened industrial thrash injection of life into the dying, core-infested metal world. Though they are not the most diverse set of musicians, their ideas are at least somewhat innovative; a quality that seems to be in short supply these days. On occasion the band will harness a sort of Bodom-ish orchestra hit, but it is far more subtle than what you typically hear from their fellow countrymen. Samples surface in every track and give off a computer-speak ambiance. Vocals are generally of the very raspy black metal kind, but there are moments where normal death and clean vocals come into play.
CyberWarMachine is a breath of fresh air for those of us who are choking on the pollution of the dime-a-dozen metalcore acts that always seem to make their way to the forefront of metal. My only complaint is that the album could have been a bit more varied. Many of the songs lack their own identity and sort of just bleed together with the rest of the disc, with the exception of “Killing Breed” and “No Funeral For The Last” which both offer a sundry of tempos and styles blended together to create some pretty mind-blowing music. While one band alone cannot erase an entire movement, other acts can follow the example set by Scorngrain and play what they want to play, not what they think they need to play. We don’t have to compromise and we certainly don’t have to conform.
