Perfectly encapsulating the implications of its title, and seamlessly blending the ferocity of metal with the essential embrace of rhythm, concept, character and even melody, Death Culture fires up a brand new album with a powerful opening track, and proceeds to impress throughout the intense and addictive Man and Machine.
Breach is a powerful track to begin with, offering an engaging balance between the weight and distortion of the metal sound, and this rap/rock vocal style that runs alongside. The music is spacious, somewhat light and stylish, and that precision and audience awareness makes a huge difference throughout this album.
Then there’s the leading voice, and the subject matter, even the moments of delicacy as the guitar sets an ambiance of thoughtful reflection later on. There’s so much to unpack, and the music is brilliantly immersive at every step – never overloading the intensity nor holding back when the passion is needed, just utilising contrast in a masterful fashion.
Code and Fury brings the power and presence to higher plains, and still the musicality rings out – as well as the purposeful voice, the clear and concise poetic lyrics – everything has intention and connects brilliantly.
The title-track Man and Machine stands out in particular for its fresh vocal tone and the epic cinematic progression of the soundscape, but the album Man and Machine in full is loaded with moments of value and unrivalled escapism. Absolutely one to dive into this summer.
Download or stream Man and Machine.
