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BIOMECHANICAL
The Core of Darkness
By Alvin Wee
One could put it down to the difficulty of categorizing the band’s
music, or their complex lyrical concept of technology and human
psychology. It might just be the lack of a catchy "Thy Dragonwatch"-type
power metal moniker. Whatever the case, Biomechanical has endured
international obscurity far too long, and the band’s official
debut Eight Moons represents the culmination of years of hard work
in the underground by some of England’s most underrated metal
talent.
After the slew of superlative demo releases showcasing and refining
most of the material found on the album, it’s surprising that
Biomechanical took a full two years to clinch a real album deal
with a major label, when countless other sub-par bands have been
annoying the scene with their childish efforts.
"We had a lot of management changes and many people took ages
to come to any decisions," explains lead vocalist John K. "I
started to manage the band after me and Steve Brown, our first manager,
parted ways. I did whatever any other manager would do: send tons
of CDs to all the A&R guys out there. By doing so we gained
a lot of interest from SPV, Sanctuary, Spitfire and some smaller
companies. One of these labels believed in us so much that it was
inevitable to secure a deal with them and release our debut album.
This label was Revolver Records. I have to say it was quite hard
to get things going as a lot of major labels took a very long time
to get back to us, and they have taken a lot of our time that could
have been used otherwise. But this is how things go and we are now
glad that our debut album is finally out!"
Given Revolver’s experience in the metal industry since the
earliest NWOBHM days (label manager Paul Birch founded the legendary
Heavy Metal Records), and their apparent enthusiasm in promoting
the band, Biomechanical’s chances at worldwide recognition
are finally becoming a reality.
"Revolver has released some of the bands I was listening to
when I was a kid!" says John. "It’s great to know
that there is a lot of experience behind the company! They have
done a lot more than any other label of that calibre would have
done for us. Tons of CDs have gone to Web sites around the world
and we have had adverts on major UK metal magazines, plus we are
about to release our first video ‘The Awakening.’ So we
are really excited that Revolver is supporting the band in this
way."
But is the band getting more attention overseas now that their music
is distributed commercially rather than on the home-made CD-Rs their
demos were pressed on? Is the notoriously picky North American market
picking up on Biomechanical’s singular style of prog-power-thrash?
"I’m happy to say that so far we have had great support
from the U.S. and a lot of people are saying nice things about us
and are generally supporting us. A prime example is the fact that
we have more than 50 per cent of our Web site hits coming from North
America."
Unlike many of the European power metal acts ridiculed in North
America for being overly pompous and overblown, the epic scale of
Biomechanical’s sound stems not from cheesy, sing-along choruses
or abused keyboards. Rather, a keen ear for complex melody and mood
has allowed the band to craft passages of escalating grandeur and
orchestral magnitude, all the while retaining a grim-faced hostility
borne by the neck-breaking rhythm guitars. This singular aggression
and melding of tech-thrash elements with the more commonplace prog-power
stylings could well gain Biomechanical footholds in countries leaning
towards the more aggressive genres.
"We have power metal elements, but as you said the music is
much more aggressive and it will continue to be even more aggressive
with the arrival of our next album The Empires of the Worlds. But
even so we retain melodies and complexities in the writing. Plus
there are contemporary orchestral elements that hopefully give Biomechanical’s
sound a slightly different feel from what’s out there at the
moment."
Trying to individuate the myriad stylistic references in Biomechanical’s
music is nearly impossible: rising orchestral strings vie with blazing
guitar solos as headbang-inducing thrash riffs tear apart the symphonic
fabric, only to be drowned out by John K.’s tormented wails
(reminiscent of Queensryche’s Geoff Tate). What musical styles
exactly go into creating Biomechanical’s sonic world?
"I am pretty much influenced from the ’80s to beginning
of the ’90s metal scene, like Maiden, Priest, old Metallica,
Slayer, Queensryche, Pantera, et cetera. My other big influence
is music for films. I have been listening to film scores since I
was a kid and the textures and harmonies created by composers such
as John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith and many others have shaped the
way I think about compositions and songwriting in general."
How does John fit so much into each single song while keeping the
musical progression meaningful?
"The reason that the music approaches different styles (but
within one sound) is that it follows the story that goes through
the album," explains the songwriter. "The main character
goes through a lot of emotions that (like a film score) are reflected
in the writing. It starts with fury (‘The Awakening’)
and it ends with schizophrenic emotions through to the ‘Point
of No Return’ and goes through many other emotions throughout
the album. Our music is more of a storyteller than a collection
of songs in one particular style that have been written to fill
an album. This different feel that our album has as a whole can
be considered to be our style I suppose."
Speaking of storytelling, Eight Moons indeed proceeds with a strong
narrative drive, almost cinematic in nature, chronicling the depressing
life of a tormented, confused soul.
"When I first got interested in writing this album I wanted
to talk about human emotions and real-life situations through a
futuristic feel and a dark type of story," John says about
the album’s unique psychological/futuristic theme. "I
have been influenced by real life and also by stories from people
who believe in parallel universes and stuff like that. What really
stuck with me over the years is the notion that fear is an actual
entity and that it feeds off our weaknesses. It preys upon us every
step of the way."
Preyed upon by fear? Parallel universes? As if in answer to my unasked
questions, the loquacious frontman continues his explanation.
"If you think about it we all live on different realities that
could be defined as different universes. Someone is dying somewhere
in the world from starvation, war, torture, or drugs at the same
time as I order a nice takeaway. My problem could be how to pay
my next bill when at the same time someone else in another part
of the same world won’t know whether he or she will see another
day.
"Even though the horrors of life bleed through the television
into our lives from time to time we seem to be back to ‘normal’
as soon as the news ends and the next commercial for the latest
PC or car is on. I find this reality very dark and disturbing. That’s
where I’ve drawn inspiration for the material—real life
and its unspeakable horrors.
"I wrote a story of a man who has no other hope other than
to die a painless death and every night he goes to a small dark
place of his mind. There he becomes what he wishes to be—not
a frail person but someone with the ability to destroy his fears
and to abolish them from his life. By doing so he is filled with
hope once more, thus surviving another day until desperation and
fear creep back into his soul. The horrors of everyday life are
more extreme than any fictional story, and that has drawn me into
writing the story of Eight Moons."
Having worked with their trademark concept and sound for years,
is Biomechanical expected to follow the same track in future, or
does John have different plans for the next album?
"The next album will be more aggressive than Eight Moons. It
will retain melodies but it will have a much rougher edge to it.
The complexities will develop more and the orchestral writing will
remain a part of the sound. The Empires… will take the character
somewhere else. I will keep the story going but I will put different
messages on this album. Eight Moons is talking about fear and our
ability to fight it. The Empires… will talk about the destructive
inevitability that defines us as humans."
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