From Bandcamp, “We are very happy to present you our first album, “Mechanical Era." You will travel through post-apocalyptic and futuristic worlds. It will also continue among the different sounds used by the group which passes by different type of Metal: Industrial Metal, Death Metal, and Progressive Metal.” They underwent a nearly complete line-up change in 2024, and with all of the new members on board, are now ready to present their debut album, which has ten songs. “Forbidden Flesh” is first. Tension builds in the beginning, and then the song is off and running, with a slow, weighted pace, and a combination of clean and harsh vocals. As it plays, you can hear the band working in a variety of elements, and all of the pieces are there, they just aren’t quite connecting as well as they could. Play longer with that wonderful melody following the final chorus, because it is excellent. “Factory” features more Industrial and Death Metal tendencies and the female cleans are there in contrast. The title track has dark features from the pounding of bass and drums, and some well-done guitar leads. The divergence of the two extremes is what bands in this genre do best, and they are fierce here.

 “Steel Body” works in some electronics into the sound, but the band is relying a bit too much on the bottom end open notes. It’s calming to a lot of bands to be able to rest on it, but they need to venture out more. “New Hope” hears a change in sound come to table…something more gentle, and introspective. Showcasing the clean vocals of Yu Chen, you can really heat the inflections in her voice. But the transition to the gutturals is very sharp. Again, if they let that melody ride out a little longer, it could really enhance their sound. “The Final Day” goes the other direction, with weight and gutturals. Even the cleans are done with a brutal riff underneath them. “Programmed World” begins with a clean melody that is quite catchy, but they abandon it too quickly. There are also some nice ambient moments and melodies in the song.

“You are my Target” has slow and weighted sound out of the gate that is augmented with more deadly gutturals interspersed with cleans. Again, the transitions are just a little too sharp for the listener. “Iron and Ice” has some very nice melodies once again, and it’s clear that the band has a handle on this side of their music. The melodies keep running as a thread through the song as the skies change from blue to gray and back again. “Digital God” closes the album, as the band presses the gas pedal to the floor and goes for broke.

Both of the singers are great, and the contrast between their styles is well done. The band is also talented, and considering this is their debut effort on a record label, that is an accomplishment in and of itself. Some areas of critique, however, include the sudden and sharp transitions in and out of the competing passages, and making a stronger synergy on the songs. This comes as the band spends more time together and learns each other’s tendencies, and their willingness to explore.