Yes, it's a terrible band name...but what about the CD?
The third album from Swedish melodeath/thrash troupe Construcdead, this disc seems to promise much, but never quite delivers. Every so often, your ears catch a snatch of top-notch metal being played, but then it's lost amongst the downtuned, repetitive riffing and the ear-offending vocals. "The Grand Machinery" is not a bad album by any means, it's just not really a very good one, either.
Kicking off as it does with a rapid, pounding drumbeat and some brutal, but unchallenging guitar riffs, my initial impressions of this album weren't exactly great (and I'll admit that I tend to be a bit sceptical about bands with such "witty" names. "Construct" plus "dead" equals Construcdead! You see!? Oh, nevermind). The vocals which are less death metal and more metalcore, didn't exactly set my world alight either. Yet, gradually, I found myself nodding along, and appreciating the atmosphere of pure, concentrated anger that characterises almost every song. This is due chiefly to Jens Broman's vocals, which, while unambitious and quite frankly poor at times, certainly convey an effective "don't spill my pint" attitude. Also of note is the variety of styles he employs - deathy growls, hardcore-style shouting, a semi-clean style and, on 'The Eye of Revelation', an (unintentionally, I assume) hilarious effects-heavy voice which makes him sound like the possesed bloke in a low-budget horror film!
While the vocals may drag this album into the depths of mediocrity, the guitar work goes some way towards raising it back up again. While occasionally settling for low-end, chugging riffs that are the definition of "generic", The dual-guitar assault, with flamboyantly melodic lead parts overlaying a menacing, heavy rhythm section, are reminiscent of another group of Swedish melodeath metallers - the better-known band Arch Enemy. While Christian and Rickard's fretboard acrobatics don't impress quite as much as the Ammot brothers at their best, they certainly help to at times, lift this release above the ordinary. The shred solo on 'A Moment of Sobriety', the intro of '8 Inches of Flesh', and best of all, the apocalyptic sound of instrumental track 'Forever Cin'. Construcdead certainly have a couple of talented guitarists.
However, no amount of technical skill can prevent poorly-written songs from remaining pretty much that. This is one of the main ways in which 'The Grand Machinery' falls down. The songs are generally of the same tempo, and at times fall too close to melodeath-by-numbers to be worthy of more than a couple of listens. The unambitious songwriting means that, after a while, one "heavy bit/screams/melodic guitar part/growl/heavy part" style song starts to sound a lot like another. Even after listening to this album several times, I had difficulty remembering any individual songs - they seem to blend into one, after a time, with only the occasional track, such as the highly experimental 'The Eye of Revelation', distinguishable from that which preceded it.
So, while this isn't the kind of life-affirming, genre-defining album that sets your pulse a-racing, it's not a total travesty either. While there are many bands ploughing the same melodeath furrow, so to speak, and doing a far better job of it, there are also many doing so a lot more poorly. If you already own the finest albums of this genre, and can't get enough of the stuff, or if you have a particular appreciation of good guitar playing, then this might be worse purchasing. But for everyone else, I'm inclined to say your money would be better spent elsewhere.