ninehertz

Whether its epic doom or black metal, or elongated psychedelic jams, I haven’t had much on my playlists so far this year where brevity is key, where disposing of pent-up aggression in short sharp blasts is the aim. Happening upon Detroit’s Mechanophile and their Metanoia album helped change that.

What’s great is that this is an album of rich variation too – when you think you have it nailed and you set yourself for eleven tracks of intense powerviolence or metallic hardcore, they subtly but significantly shift gears. The 35 second opener, with its harsh vocals and static noise indeed promise anything from The Body style industrial doom to feral hardcore menace, and when that leads into Perfection or Suicide, with intensity levels matching the likes of Leeched, Burnt Body or Nails, it is here premature conceptions are formed.

Yet even on that same track they change up, a growling, tempo-changing beast that starts ferociously but drops down by its end – always, of course, fearsome. There are tracks where the chunky guitars churn so as to enter sludge territories, others which are clear noise-rock imbibed. There is a noticeable change in the speed midway through the album, times here when I’m thinking of comparisons to the excellent Human Leather, although admittedly holding the right to spark into metallic attack on occasion.

This is the joy of the album, it has a heaviness and hardcore mindset throughout that could easily dominate, take over and become uniform. It’d still be a great listen, but by changing up, adding in noise-rock, doom and sludge, it makes for an always interesting, often excellent record.