What's up, brothers and sisters of Metal? I'm here to give you an insight on this Finnish quintet known as MACHINAE - signed via the Concorde Music Company.

Here we have a five-piece Melodic Metal Band who combine influences from STONE SOUR to AMORPHIS. I'd mostly say AMORPHIS but I definitely see the resemblances with STONE SOUR. "Clockwork" is MACHINAE's debut album; formed by Eriksson (on Guitar/Keys) and Romppanen (on Bass), we have here an album that influences the melodic charm of AMORPHIS but combining the Rock flavour from STONE SOUR into one epic band, and believe me - they're epic.

Naturally, at first I had a hard time trying to open my mind but oh boy, I'm glad I did. "Clockwork" just got better and better. Inducing gritty growls from Piipponen which had me astonished at around midrange of the album; finding out that they implement hardcore traits really worked for me, especially considering that clean vocals are utmost present the most here. This is an album that sings of independence, untimely death situations and an overall tone of overcoming hardships in life that we face off with everyday.

As I begin "Destroy And Rebuild" I think to myself: "this is definitely festival music". The atmospheric build-up with pianist implementations, clean Finnish vocals from Piipponen and just outright heavy music. This "feel-good" vibe continues in "Never Coming Back" and "This Day Will Come"; where it gets more upbeat and more "darker" toned, almost as if "Clockwork" can be pulled off for as a concept album. While keeping the musical, upbeat tone in-check; the sort of independent song writing comes in with "Casualties" and "Frozen Ground". But what I find fascinating the most is how emotionally adept the song writing is, and how powerful the instrumental tone is. Karenko can pull off some fine riffs and with the added powerhouse of Kauppinen on bass and Romppanen on drums; you can imagine the scope of enjoyment that I ensued on.

As I continue; "Into Light", "Forever One By One", and "Almost Human Doll" really range things up a bit with the gritty growls that build up and a more solo-based riff patterns with the evolving vocals that continue to inspire me. "Don't Get Used To This" brings back the more emotional side while keeping the trademark brutality in-check, and "Blank Canvas" has a particularly fascinating atmospheric touch built it, with the use of the keys high-strong here with added elementary effects to keep you in that "epic" mood.

So what else is most enjoyable about "Clockwork"? Well, the sound production is fine as noted above, memorability - average and most of all, originality is quite well presented. With the theme of independence, which, granted is mostly the theme of Metal; it felt like more of a "true story" event infused with music. As I end the album; I can only give this record props for the originality and production. Memorability is there...just not too much of it, which is probably a good thing if you don't want a particular lyric lodged into your brain for you to remember constant.

I conclude this review by saying - what are you waiting for? Check it out for yourself.