Round Two

Well, I'm back. And I'll get straight to the point. I'm going to review an album by a similar band, who are inspired to a certain degree by Fear Factory, in that the lyrical content is vaguely science fiction inspired, the drumming is laser precise, if not quite as furious, and a great deal of electronic backing is used. The album reviewed, as with Mechanize, has not seen a US release as yet. So, without further delay, I give you:
Sybreed
The Pulse of Awakening-2009
Sybreed's newest release sticks to the general formula established by their first two releases. Prominent synthesizers, filtered clean vocals, off-kilter drumming in the style of Meshuggah, and a massive guitar sound (provided by seven-strings) give the album the characteristic Sybreed sound. The lyrics are quite good, although the songs have individual concepts rather than the pseudo concept that united the previous album, Antares. This makes the album more accessible to casual listening. The album is solid from start to finish, although some tracks are definitely stronger than others, and the ten minutes of ambient noise tacked onto the end of From Zero to Nothing, the album's closer, feels unnecessary.
Curiously, the songs I enjoyed most, Nomenklatura, Doomsday Party, Lucifer Effect and From Zero to Nothing, were among the album's less aggressive offerings, and the harsher tracks, such as the blast fest I Am Ultraviolence or the Meshuggah-aping Meridian A.D., felt more generic. I was disappointed by the absence of an ambient instrumental track along the lines of Ex-Infernis from Antares, but In the Cold Light almost makes up for it. There's even a cover song, Love Like Blood, originally performed by Killing Joke.
If you live outside the US, in a country where this record is actually being sold, I highly recommend this release to fans of Fear Factory, Mnemic, or the band's previous albums. As to fans in the US, cross your fingers, or send a few hundred emails (each) to Listenable Records. This is a consistent and enjoyable release from one of Switzerland's brightest acts.