Albums•November 29, 2011•8,877 views

Diskreet Engage The Mechanicality

01. Engage (Intro) 02. Valley Of Kings 03. Serpents Tongue 04. Spinal Cord Collection 05. Bishop Of War 06. The Fall Of Mankind 07. We Are Legion 08. Human Harvest 09. Pawning The Sanctuary 10. Graves 11. Haunt Of Fear
2010 Candlelight Records
Our score 5
10/18/2010
I think it pretty much goes without saying that modern technical death metal isn't generally very thrilling. Sure, there are some bands that are producing music worth getting excited about, but by the time you dig them out of the ever-expanding heap of rubbish this genre has to offer, even those bands can become difficult to appreciate. At some point in this lengthy excavation process, you might encounter American death metallers Diskreet's full-length debut, Engage The Mechanicality. Before you just toss it over your shoulder with the rest of the trash, you might notice that the album carries the Candelight Records logo, as well as a "Best new band in death metal" slogan from Kerrang. If, for whatever reason, you value either of these endorsements, you might give this record a spin. As one might expect, the music you'll find on Engage The Mechanicality definitely hits closer to mechanical than it does to engaging. Track after track, these guys rip through as many notes as they can cram into a song (which, granted, isn't quite as many as some bands can/choose to). A lot of the focus here is on high-end riffs and solos which, given the surprising abundance of more melodic content, is actually kind of refreshing. The midsection of opener "Valley Of Kings" even comes damn close to being catchy. That said, if I wanted catchy melodies, I wouldn't be looking in the technical death metal genre to begin with. Maybe it's the crystal clear production, but Engage The Mechanicality hardly even sounds heavy. The lackluster drumming performance does nothing to remedy the situation, let alone hold interest. Judging by the band's obvious goal of making something of a guitar record, I'm sure the drummer is quite content to just take a backseat, uninspired approach to the music. Don't get me wrong though, the guy definitely has some chops, and I could see some people digging the mostly straight-forward style. However, regardless of your preferences, the drum performance and mix rarely deliver the level of force that the genre requires. Likewise, the vocals here aren't much to write home about. Vocalist Steve Babcock growls his way through these songs as well as the next guy, but unfortunately, he also sounds pretty damn similar to the next guy. At least he occasionally tries his hand at higher pitched and layered vocals, not unlike the kind you can hear on most deathcore records, which helps break up the monotony slightly. Given his place near the top of the mix on the album, a little bit more variation in rhythm and tone could have done wonders for the record's replay value. It's not exactly a good sign when the most memorable vocal piece on an album is a Watchmen sample. Bottom Line: Engage The Mechanicality is definitely better suited for the generic death metal pile than it is for the unique and interesting pile. These guys seem to have set out to make a guitar record, but while the guitars are generally fairly entertaining, they get little support or reinforcement from the other instruments. By no means is this a bottom-of-the-barrel release; it's just yet another technical death metal album by a band who is a little bit too comfortable sticking to a formula.

19 comments

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plaguestricken_ 10/18/2010 11:26:25 AM

probably the dumbest artwork i have ever seen

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Jamey Diskreet_ 10/18/2010 11:26:55 AM

You f*cking shithead. You don't know the first thing about technical death metal; we put a lot of time and effort into this CD, and it's one of the technicalest releases of the year. We better not catch you around at any shows, because if my crew sees you, you'll wish you never got out of bed that day. Oh, and to everyone who actually CARES about this record, listen up! Thanks to everybody who bought it already but for those who have not been able to find it, try TARGET, yes TARGET is stocking i

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frank_ 10/18/2010 11:44:15 AM

i wonder who's going to fall for it this time...

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ser_ 10/18/2010 1:35:24 PM

these guys play too much magic the gathering

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HEAVYWORK_ 10/18/2010 2:57:18 PM

what a horrible review. im gonna go ahead and say the new diskreet is top 3 best metal albums of the year. everything about this album kicks ass. the drumming is a whole lot better than you think it is as well. this review seriously pissed me off. this album should of really gotten a 9/10

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JesseJam3s_ 10/18/2010 5:09:33 PM

He was probably listening to this album while doing a bunch of other stuff. Most of the time tech death metal and or stuff at this speed is not articulate, and uninspired. I was really impressed with the riffing, the drumming (which is definitely not on a one way blast beat road like the review makes it out to be) this album is precise, balanced with brootality, melody, and well structured songs. It's hard enough to be able to play at this speed, but to actually write melodies that work withi

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needhope_ 10/18/2010 6:30:50 PM

seriously, this was one of the best albums of this year. super underrated.

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anonymous 10/18/2010 11:24:46 PM

Lambgoats review made JesseJam3s cry

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butt_ 10/19/2010 12:54:08 AM

might be good if its not another despised icon rip

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anonymous 10/19/2010 7:26:18 AM

very mediocre...

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jickmagger_ 10/19/2010 9:33:25 AM

I read, and actually value, a lot of lambgoat's album reviews, and I know that they've been pretty desperate to get some reviewers in. Noticing that this is this guy's first review for lambgoat, and having listened to this record front to back quite a few times already, clearly this is just some random douchebag off the forums who couldn't wait to just talk shit on the first record he got his hands on. Lackluster, straight forward drumming? These guys rip through as many notes as they can throug

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anonymous 10/19/2010 9:46:31 AM

diskreet is the gay and terrible remnants of what's left of the mash-up between deathcore and tech death metal

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imcoolyournot_ 10/22/2010 10:59:41 AM

Go see them live and then tell me that he's "lackluster." Cause I have and he's an animal.

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nilorthenile_ 10/23/2010 3:01:38 PM

this review was too kind. you wordy, complaining gays need to get outside more.

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Sandwiches_ 10/25/2010 4:59:02 AM

Reveiwer is a twat. Andy rips. They all rip.

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greg_ 10/28/2010 4:45:31 AM

theyre not even a deathcore band, idiots. jesus christ any death metal album that has anything that even remotely sounds like a breakdown gets a 'deathcore' label attached to it by new jack wannabe 'purists'. i suppose dying fetus is a deathcore band too based on your ridiculous assertions. album was way underrated, reviewers a f*cking tard. great band. great album.

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anonymous 10/28/2010 8:15:08 AM

bands like Dying Fetus and Suffocation def have some deathcore leanings ya...cept those bands are actually good...

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Ryan_ 10/29/2010 12:50:57 PM

you're a f*cking retard. They are not 'kinda Deathcore bands'...bands like Suffo, Internal Bleeding and Fetus INVENTED Deathcore. Except it wasnt called that back then, it was simply Death Metal with a strong influence from Hardcore. Christ. Diskreet are one of the best bands on the circuit and it's only a matter of time before people realise this.

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jirka_ 5/15/2011 9:41:01 AM

Well, it is funny to read all the teenager's comments. You know nothing about death metal kids. The review is correct, even too kind to this mediocre music (call it whatever you want, it is not death metal). This Diskreet thing is one of a thousend, the same sounding, trying to make riffs complicated etc. Very boring, no ideas. One song as another, still the same all around. Where is the base???? Can't hear it! Quick fingers don't make good music, sorry guys.

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