FEAR FACTORY meets CHIMAIRA on newcomers' KAETS debut album "Human Machine"; a musical tale about man turning into a man-machine hybrid and descending into madness and decadence to the sound of Post-Thrash and Death Metal, imbued with hints of Industrial and Groove Metal.

Bar the intro track, this album is on all-out crush and destroy mode from the first second to the last, leaving little to no room for afterthought, sense of progression, or, you know, breathing. This is in many ways a double-edged blade, because on the positive side, it leaves the album ample space to do what it does best: Produce crushing riffs, blasts and roars that delivers far above what most veteran bands in their sphere are capable of, making "Human Machine" something of a "Reign In Blood" in its formulaic approach.

But on the negative side, what also made the almighty "Reign In Blood" into the classic that it is was some of Metal's finest songwriting, and on that note KAETS have much to learn, because I found it very difficult to find anything special about any individual track bar one: "The Last Dance", which marks the point on the album where the music starts to replace the fury of the Post-Thrash for a more lamental Black Metal fusion to its otherwise solid Industrial Death Metal core, allowing melodies and distinguishing marks to make the second half more interesting than the first, of which "The Last Dance" is the clear highlight.

But beyond that, there's not a whole lot to go on in terms of standout songs or noteworthy songwriting, and as the album progresses that will be a damaging factor if the listener, like me, enjoys progression and diversity over focus and cohesion. And any listener regardless of preference will note that the album lacks standout tracks to go back to, making "Human Machine" either something you listen to as a whole, or not at all.

So surprise, surprise; your personal preference will determine whether or not you like KAETS's debut effort "Human Machine". It's a good album at its core, but will either stay or fall based based on the extent at which you enjoy their somewhat repetitive formula, and whether or not you can deal with a lack of standout tracks in turn for a more cohesive experience. If these boys can up their songwriting however, the next album could be quite something.