OCEAN MACHINE - BIOMECH

There are some LPs that are more than only music. I have nothing against music as entertainment. In fact, I would say that the majority of what we consume will fall into that category, music that has the only objective of being a fun time. However, from time to time you'll find artists that are more than simple music, who are feelings too. Who hasn't that special band that achieves making you drown in a sea of feelings such as sadness, melancholy, happiness, love... And that's what this album does for me. Devin achieves to surround me in all his feelings of loneliness and sadness.

Ocean Machine: Biomech is a journey, and it has to be faced has such. In fact, if I'm being completely honest with you, the first time I listened it I didn't even finished it. I faced it in the wrong way, taking it as a simple combination of songs, so when the interludes started fallen upon me I was completely lost. Because the correct way to handle this work is to flow between its songs as a whole, as a river which ploughs through its line steadily until it reaches the ocean.

This album had a very long preparation, as it was in the making since the promotional tour of Sex and Religion ended in 1994. Townsend keeps saying to this day that what he really loves about this album is that it was the only time in his whole career that he dind't have to finish it in a hurry, and that's the reason why he believe it's one of his best. Besides the long writing process, problems that escaped from his hands made the delay even bigger. In the words of Devin, the album was recorded in Málaga (Spain), in a dump of a studio in which the famous actor Antonio Banderas used to go partying, and the noises from his parties ended contaminating the recordings. In the end, Devin even fighted with the owner and had to sneak in to grab the masters of all what he had recorded.

For all this reasons he decided to re-record all the album in a little home-studio, achieving that way the sound he was looking for. But the problems didn't end there, as no record company wanted to release it. Finally, the album saw the light through HevyDevy Records, an independent record company founded by Devin himself.

And what can we expect from the brilliant mind that only 4 months before had released the acclamied City with Strapping Yound Lad? Well, something completely different. In the word of Devin this was the music that really moved him, stating that when he was writting this album he started to see the music of Strapping Young Lad even as a parody. And that's clear when we hear "Seventh Wave", a lot of Dream Theater influence, heavy riffing and above it all a lot of feeling. The voice of Devin is capable of moving anyone, both when he uses soft registers and when he rips us with heavy guttural voices.

"Life" is a more commercial song, and one of the better ones Devin has released on this vein alongside the legendary "Chisteen" from Infinity. On the other side, "Night" is much more darkest, alternative and melancholic, with the synthesizers taking the reins, something that he will continue to take advantage of troughout his career. "Hide Nowhere" drives us to the part of the album that was an uphill climb on my first listen, and it is one of the ones that I enjoy the most today. "Sister" and "3 A.M." aren't songs in the traditional meaning of the word. Rather they are ambient passages, showcases used by Devin to make some melodic ideas flow in them. Said this way it could appear like it's filler, but I can't imagine the album without this two songs, just like I can't imagine this songs outside of the album. As I said before, this album is not a combination of songs, is a whole that cannot be shred into his parts.

"Voices in the Fan" is similar to the first songs of the album, while "Greetings" takes more of a minimalist approach, one that could even belong to a sci-fi movie OST. "Regulator" is the most metal song of them all, and for me, although not being bad, is the worst the album has to offer.

Until now we have a very good album. However, it's what comes next what makes Ocen Machine: Biomech a masterpiece. "Funeral" starts enigmatic, slithering slowly upon the cemetery, and when it finally blows into full force it makes me question myself: How is it possible that a song which talks about the funeral of a friend can transmit melancholy and happiness at the same time? Melancholy beacuse he's not with us anymore, and you will never hug him again, and happiness because, in the end, you have been able to be part of his life.

And if "Funeral" has taken your breath away prepare for the magnificence of "Bastard". Blueprint for songs that would come later such as the famous "Deadhead", and for me the best one from his career. A heavy riff travels with us for minutes, but it never tires you. And that's because the music, that riff, the synthesizers which help in the making of an ambient landscape... are only the basis so that Devin could give us one of the best vocal performances I've listened on my entire life. Do you believe that is not possible to move someone using guttural voices? Well, I believed it until I heard that raging scream that sounds at 5:55 and it moved me to tears.

And to end this trilogy of great songs we've got "The Death of Music", a song that may not please everyone, since it moves away from metal to take the ambient side of Devin's music to the forefront for more than ten minutes. I don't understand ambient music that well, and I don't usually listen to it. In fact, the first time I listened to this song it did nothing for me, but in the long term it made an impression on me. Now I believe is one of the three best songs from the album alongside "Funeral" and "Bastard".

Devin's career continued in leaps and bounds up from this point. However, he would never make a masterpiece like this later on. Maybe it was beacuse he was not in an hurry by a record company, or maybe the feelings he was experiencing were more intense at this stage of his life. The only thing I'm certain about is that he gave us one of the albums that more things has made me feel in my life, and that goes beyond simple music.

[Originally written for El Portal del Metal in spanish - translated for Prog Archives]