This album exemplifies the phrase "Iron Fist in a velvet glove." The music is deceptively ambient, belying the innate heaviness and brutality. The result is an oppressively melancholy soundscape with understated blast beats and sorrowful melodies. The clean vocals are surreal and dreamlike, and some tracks even incorporate the female voice. This is no "Beauty and the beast" nonsense, however. The arrangements are tasteful and demure, often interrupted by more intense gutteral vocals. The drastic contrast between delicate beauty and brute power is more of a blending of styles, instead of sounding disjointed or scattered. The masculine and feminine qualities of Empyrean are inexorably intertwined, like a yin yang.
Unlike technical bands who focus on playing fast, difficult pieces, Mechina focuses on milking each note for all its worth. They are masters of virtuosity, and the mid-paced progressions convey their melodic prowess. Empyrean is a brilliantly executed pinnacle of ambient metal, and it speaks volumes of Mechina's talent as performers and composers. Four stars out of five.
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