Mechina (band)

Formed by guitarist Joe Tiberi and vocalist David Holch on January 1, 2004 with the first of two demos, after releasing their debut album The Assembly of Tyrants in 2005 and a re-recording EP Tyrannical Resurrection in 2007, Mechina began their "As Embers Turn to Dust" saga with their next three albums, each released on January 1; Conqueror (2011), Empyrean (2013), and Xenon (2014). A triple-CD pack for those three albums to celebrate the band's 10th anniversary was released on January 1, 2014, the same day as the release of Xenon.{{cite web|url=https://metalstorm.net/events/news_comments.php?news_id=20316 |title=Mechina - New Album Title And Artwork Released |website=Metal Storm |date=2013-06-13 |accessdate=2025-01-09}} Empyrean was received positively for its "more consistently stellar" songwriting compared to Conqueror which was considered "an oft-overlooked industrial death metal tour de force that was nevertheless just flawed enough to fly under the radar of most genre fans."{{cite web|url=https://metalstorm.net/pub/review.php?review_id=11537 |title=Mechina - Empyrean review |website=Metal Storm |date=2013-01-28 |accessdate=2025-01-09}}

The band has also released standalone singles that connect to the storyline, one of which, "To Coexist Is To Surrender", was released on June 3, 2014. It introduces Melissa "Mel Rose" Rosenberg as guest vocalist and serves as the prelude to their next album Acheron.{{cite web|url=https://metalstorm.net/events/news_comments.php?news_id=23633 |title=Mechina - New Single Released, Available Online |website=Metal Storm |date=2014-06-03 |accessdate=2025-01-09}} The album was released on January 1, 2015, with cover artwork by Daniel McBride, known for his work for progressive metalcore bands Veil of Maya, Born of Osiris, and After the Burial.{{cite web|url=https://metalstorm.net/events/news_comments.php?news_id=25366 |title=Mechina - New Album Available For Streaming |website=Metal Storm |date=2015-01-03 |accessdate=2025-01-09}} Acheron has been given a more mixed reception, as it "further rectifies some of Xenon's problems, yet at the same time delivers new problems." Mel Rose makes her first appearances in a Mechina album, appearing on the upbeat "The Halcyon Purge" and the "strings/piano female vocal-driven ballad", "Ode To The Forgotten Few".{{cite web|url=https://metalstorm.net/pub/review.php?review_id=13354 |title=Mechina - Acheron review |website=Metal Storm |date=2015-02-26 |accessdate=2025-01-09}} The album was followed up by another single, "The World We Lost", released on August 23, 2015, the band's longest song to date at 19 minutes and serving as a prequel to Conqueror, marking the conceptual beginning of the "As Embers Turn to Dust" saga.{{cite web|url=https://metalstorm.net/events/news_comments.php?news_id=27312 |title=Mechina - Stream New Single |website=Metal Storm |date=2015-08-23 |accessdate=2025-01-09}}

The band's next album Progenitor was released on January 1, 2016. The song "Anagenesis" was released in advance on December 26, 2015.{{cite web|url=https://metalstorm.net/events/news_comments.php?news_id=28230 |title=Mechina - New Song Released |website=Metal Storm |date=2015-12-26 |accessdate=2025-01-09}} Progenitor has been noted to continue the band's streak of "positives and pitfalls", and Mel Rose guest appears again, singing the entirety of tracks "Cryoshock" and "The Horizon Effect".{{cite web|url=https://metalstorm.net/pub/review.php?review_id=13839 |title=Mechina - Progenitor review |website=Metal Storm |date=2016-03-07 |accessdate=2025-01-09}} The album was followed by As Embers Turn to Dust, the namesake album of the storyline, released on January 1, 2017. The album was received more positively than their previous three albums, and it is the first album in which Mel Rose was deemed a full-time member.{{cite web|url=https://www.metal1.info/metal-reviews/mechina-as-embers-turn-to-dust/ |title=Mechina - As Embers Turn To Dust |website=Metal1.info |date=2017-04-07 |accessdate=2025-01-09}}

After releasing their eighth album Telesterion in late 2019 following a nearly three-year gap, its follow-up Siege was released on January 1, 2021, earning both lower-rated and favorable reviews.{{cite web|url=https://metalstorm.net/pub/review.php?review_id=16635 |title=Mechina - Siege review |website=Metal Storm |date=2021-02-02 |accessdate=2025-01-09}}{{cite web|url=https://chicagoreader.com/music/chicagoland-prog-metal-band-mechina-spin-a-vast-interstellar-saga-almost-15-years-in-the-making/ |title=Chicagoland prog-metal band Mechina spin a vast interstellar saga almost 15 years in the making |website=Chicago Reader |date=2021-02-17 |accessdate=2025-01-09}} Although the album's vocal style consists mainly of just clean singing by Mel Rose and David Holch, Conflict vocalist Anna Hel guest appears with harsh vocals on the title track.{{cite web|url=https://chicagoreader.com/best-of-chicago/best-entry-in-a-long-running-science-fiction-saga-by-a-power-metal-band/ |title=Best entry in a long-running science fiction saga by a power-metal band |website=Chicago Reader |date=2022-03-02 |accessdate=2025-01-09}}

The band's next album Venator was released on January 1, 2022. The album has also been given good and bad reviews, the divisive point being the main focus on clean singing, apart from David Holch returning to harsh vocals on tracks "The Embers of Old Earth" and Anna Hel guest appearing again in "When Virtue Meets Steel".{{cite web|url=https://metalstorm.net/pub/review.php?review_id=17386 |title=Mechina - Venator review |website=Metal Storm |date=2022-01-04 |accessdate=2025-01-09}}{{cite web|url=https://chicagoreader.com/music/tireless-collaborator-reno-cruz-steps-out-with-his-debut-solo-album/ |title=Tireless collaborator Reno Cruz steps out with his debut solo album |website=Chicago Reader |date=2022-01-04 |accessdate=2025-01-09}} The ballad "Totemic" features guest vocals by "Treasur'" Necole Wright.{{cite web|url=https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/84261/Mechina-Venator/ |title=Review: Mechina - Venator |website=Sputnikmusic |date=2022-01-07 |accessdate=2025-01-14}} The album was followed by Cenotaph, released on January 1, 2023. The song "The Grand Hunt" was released in advance on December 27, 2022.{{cite web|url=https://metalstorm.net/events/news_comments.php?news_id=48169 |title=Mechina - New Studio Album Coming Out On New Year's Day |website=Metal Storm |date=2022-12-27 |accessdate=2025-01-09}} While once again gaining more positive reviews,{{cite web|url=https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/86071/Mechina-Cenotaph/ |title=Review: Mechina - Cenotaph |website=Sputnikmusic |date=2023-01-05 |accessdate=2025-01-14}} Cenotaph was received more poorly than any of the band's previous albums, with criticism towards the aforementioned clean singing being its sole vocal style, along with the metal instrumental track "Broken Matter Manipulation".{{cite web|url=https://metalstorm.net/pub/review.php?review_id=18153 |title=Mechina - Cenotaph review |website=Metal Storm |date=2023-01-04 |accessdate=2025-01-09}}

The album was followed by another 18-minute single, "Blessings Upon the Field Where Blades Will Flood", once again having David Holch return to his earlier harsh vocals, in his final appearance with the band.{{cite web|url=https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/87607/Mechina-Blessings-Upon-The-Field-Where-Blades-Will-Flood/ |title=Review: Mechina - Blessings Upon the Field Where Blades Will Flood |website=Sputnikmusic |date=2023-09-18 |accessdate=2025-01-14}} Following two more pre-release singles, the band's new album, Bellum Interruptum, was fully released on March 23, 2025, receiving the most positive feedback in years, due to the full-time return of harsh vocals, this time by new vocalist Dave Lowmiller, frontman of A Dark Halo, a band in which Mel Rose is also a member.{{cite web|url=https://deadrhetoric.com/features/a-dark-halo-elements-of-unreality/ |title=A Dark Halo – Elements of Unreality |website=Dead Rhetoric |date=2023-07-04 |accessdate=2025-04-11}} The album also features returning guests harsh vocalist Anna Hel, clean vocalist "Treasur'" Necole Wright, guitar soloist Dean Paul Arnold, and new guest harsh vocalist Ricky Lewis.{{cite web|url=https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/89634/Mechina-Bellum-Interruptum/ |title=Review: Mechina - Bellum Interruptum |website=Sputnikmusic |date=2025-03-25 |accessdate=2025-03-26}}

Mechina and its albums have been described as a variety of genres including symphonic metal, industrial metal, industrial death metal, symphonic death metal, cyber metal, djent, progressive metal, death metal, power metal, and heavy metal.

Despite having a prolific discography, Mechina is primarily a studio project, having never performed live except in their earlier years, nor released any music videos or even been signed to a record label. About the possibility of playing live, Joe Tiberi has stated, "In the past days of playing live, we had to resort to backing tracks for the orchestra and industrial sounds. It really is the only way to present that sound live without an actual orchestra. That would be a dream come true though."{{cite web|url=https://www.metal1.info/interviews/mechina/?lang=english |title=Mechina - Interviews - Metal1.info |website=Metal1.info |date=2017-07-26 |accessdate=2025-01-09}}

Several of the band's influences include Metallica, Dimmu Borgir, Fear Factory, Devin Townsend, Ludovico Einaudi, Meshuggah, Aborted, and Peter Gabriel. David Holch has stated his fondness of sci-fi films like the original Star Wars trilogy and Aliens.

Source:{{cite web|url=https://metalstorm.net/bands/band.php?band_id=6785 |title=Mechina - Metal Storm |website=Metal Storm |accessdate=2025-01-09}}

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Current

• Joe Tiberi – guitars, programming, keyboards, synths, piano, orchestrations (2004–present), bass (2013–present), drum programming (2014–present)
• Melissa "Mel Rose" Rosenberg – clean vocals (session member: 2014–2016, full-time member: 2016–present)
• Dave Lowmiller – harsh vocals (2024–present)

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Former

• Kirk Pillar – drums (2004)
• Dan Haas – bass (2004–2005)
• Scott Oloier – drums (2004–2007, small break in 2006)
• David Holch – clean/harsh vocals (2004–2024)
• Jon Oloier – bass (2005–2006)
• Vince – drums (2006)
• Randy – bass (2006–2007)
• Anthony Havemann – bass (2007–2010)
• David Gavin – drums (2007–2010, 2011–2014)
• Dan Anderson – drums (2010–2011)
• Steve Amarantos – bass (2010–2013)

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Guests

• Dean Paul Arnold – guitar solos (on "Planetfall", "Telesterion", "On the Wings of Vecterra", and "When Honor Meant Something")
• Anna Hel – harsh vocals (on "Siege", "When Virtue Meets Steel", and "The Plague Pit")
• "Treasur'" Necole Wright – clean vocals (on "Totemic" and "On the Wings of Vecterra")
• Ricky Lewis – harsh vocals (on "The Overwhelming Harmony of Collective Suffering")

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Source:{{cite web|url=https://metalstorm.net/bands/discography.php?band_id=6785 |title=Mechina - Discography |website=Metal Storm |accessdate=2025-01-09}}

• The Assembly of Tyrants (November 4, 2005)

{{Track listing

| title1 = Shattered Cry

| length1 = 6:10

| title2 = Reclamation of Mortal Nature

| length2 = 4:10

| title3 = Clash of Cultures

| length3 = 5:10

| title4 = Machine God

| length4 = 7:51

| title5 = Apothica

| length5 = 1:42

| title6 = Skin Deep

| length6 = 3:30

| title7 = After Image

| length7 = 3:47

| title8 = Assembly Intro

| length8 = 2:20

| title9 = The Assembly of Tyrants

| length9 = 7:51

| title10 = Clash YSAF mix

| length10 = 4:06

| total_length = 46:37

}}

• Conqueror (January 1, 2011)

{{Track listing

| title1 = Incipient Tragoedia

| length1 = 2:26

| title2 = Pray to the Winds

| length2 = 6:00

| title3 = Anti-Theist

| length3 = 3:33

| title4 = Non Serviam

| length4 = 3:51

| title5 = [Error 36:48.58/Connection Lost]

| length5 = 4:30

| title6 = Internecion

| length6 = 5:21

| title7 = The Iron Law

| length7 = 5:27

| title8 = Conqueror

| length8 = 3:28

| title9 = A.D. Astra

| length9 = 3:06

| total_length = 37:42

}}

• Empyrean (January 1, 2013)

{{Track listing

| title1 = Aporia

| length1 = 1:26

| title2 = Asterion

| length2 = 3:34

| title3 = Interregnum

| length3 = 5:33

| title4 = Imperialus

| length4 = 3:18

| title5 = Anathema

| length5 = 5:23

| title6 = Catechism

| length6 = 5:51

| title7 = [Cryostasis_simulation__2632_01]

| length7 = 0:55

| title8 = Elephtheria

| length8 = 4:21

| title9 = Empyrean

| length9 = 4:53

| title10 = Infineon

| length10 = 4:01

| title11 = Terminus

| length11 = 10:06

| total_length = 49:21

}}

• Xenon (January 1, 2014)

{{Track listing

| title1 = Xenon

| length1 = 7:34

| title2 = Ailthea

| length2 = 4:54

| title3 = Zoticus

| length3 = 4:06

| title4 = Terrea

| length4 = 5:23

| title5 = Tartarus

| length5 = 5:41

| title6 = Phedra

| length6 = 4:55

| title7 = Thales

| length7 = 6:55

| title8 = Erebus

| length8 = 3:28

| title9 = Amyntas

| length9 = 3:49

| title10 = Actaeon

| length10 = 2:55

| total_length = 49:40

}}

• Acheron (January 1, 2015)

{{Track listing

| title1 = Proprioception

| length1 = 3:00

| title2 = Earth-Born Axiom

| length2 = 8:34

| title3 = Vanquisher

| length3 = 6:46

| title4 = On the Wings of Nefeli

| length4 = 7:24

| title5 = The Halcyon Purge

| length5 = 5:04

| title6 = Lethean Waves

| length6 = 4:55

| title7 = Ode to the Forgotten Few

| length7 = 6:55

| title8 = The Hyperion Threnody

| length8 = 9:34

| title9 = Adrasteia

| length9 = 2:57

| title10 = Invictus Daedalus

| length10 = 6:35

| title11 = The Future Must Be Met

| length11 = 4:28

| total_length = 66:12

}}

• Progenitor (January 1, 2016)

{{Track listing

| title1 = Mass Locked

| length1 = 1:40

| title2 = Ashes of Old Earth

| length2 = 6:24

| title3 = Starscape

| length3 = 7:31

| title4 = Cryoshock

| length4 = 6:26

| title5 = The Horizon Effect

| length5 = 7:55

| title6 = Anagenesis

| length6 = 8:19

| title7 = Planetfall

| length7 = 5:57

| title8 = Progenitor

| length8 = 6:08

| total_length = 50:20

}}

• As Embers Turn to Dust (January 1, 2017)

{{Track listing

| title1 = Godspeed, Vanguards

| length1 = 9:24

| title2 = Creation Level Event

| length2 = 6:47

| title3 = Impact Proxy

| length3 = 8:24

| title4 = Aetherion Rain

| length4 = 3:56

| title5 = The Synesthesia Signal

| length5 = 7:00

| title6 = Unearthing the Daedalian Ancient

| length6 = 7:11

| title7 = The Tellurian Pathos

| length7 = 7:40

| title8 = Thus Always to Tyrants

| length8 = 5:31

| title9 = Division Through Distance

| length9 = 5:23

| title10 = As Embers Turn to Dust

| length10 = 4:26

| total_length = 65:25

}}

• Telesterion (November 1, 2019)

{{Track listing

| title1 = The Etimasia

| length1 = 6:13

| title2 = Realm Breaker

| length2 = 7:24

| title3 = The Allodynia Lance

| length3 = 7:56

| title4 = Tyrannos

| length4 = 6:00

| title5 = Gene Heresy

| length5 = 10:40

| title6 = Telesterion

| length6 = 8:47

| title7 = The Archivarius Chaos Ritual

| length7 = 6:48

| title8 = Homeworld Salient

| length8 = 6:12

| total_length = 60:00

}}

• Siege (January 1, 2021)

{{Track listing

| title1 = King Breeder

| length1 = 3:01

| title2 = The Worst in Us

| length2 = 8:24

| title3 = Shock Doctrine

| length3 = 4:33

| title4 = Purity Storm

| length4 = 9:47

| title5 = Siege

| length5 = 6:40

| title6 = Claw at the Dirt

| length6 = 9:23

| title7 = Blood Feud Erotica

| length7 = 8:04

| title8 = Freedom Foregone

| length8 = 11:39

| total_length = 61:31

}}

• Venator (January 1, 2022)

{{Track listing

| title1 = Suffer

| length1 = 9:12

| title2 = Praise Hydrus

| length2 = 8:15

| title3 = Sacrifice Zone

| length3 = 6:12

| title4 = Totemic

| length4 = 5:15

| title5 = Venator

| length5 = 6:28

| title6 = Aphelion

| length6 = 4:09

| title7 = The Embers of Old Earth

| length7 = 5:23

| title8 = When Virtue Meets Steel

| length8 = 6:39

| total_length = 51:33

}}

• Cenotaph (January 1, 2023)

{{Track listing

| title1 = Petrichor

| length1 = 2:12

| title2 = For All to See

| length2 = 5:01

| title3 = Cenotaph

| length3 = 7:44

| title4 = Starlifter

| length4 = 6:52

| title5 = The Grand Hunt

| length5 = 7:28

| title6 = Spasms of Human Tragedy

| length6 = 8:37

| title7 = Broken Matter Manipulation

| length7 = 6:09

| title8 = The Haruspex Sunrise

| length8 = 8:44

| title9 = Andara's Will

| length9 = 7:30

| total_length = 60:17

}}

• Bellum Interruptum (March 23, 2025)

{{Track listing

| title1 = Cruelty is the Point

| length1 = 5:23

| title2 = The Plague Pit

| length2 = 5:22

| title3 = The Wasteful Energy of Words

| length3 = 6:17

| title4 = Bellum Interruptum

| length4 = 10:12

| title5 = On the Wings of Vecterra

| length5 = 6:01

| title6 = Invictus Thales

| length6 = 6:48

| title7 = When Honor Meant Something

| length7 = 7:51

| title8 = The Collapse Promised to All

| length8 = 3:17

| title9 = The Overwhelming Harmony of Collective Suffering

| length9 = 5:09

| total_length = 56:20

}}

• Embrace the Breed (January 1, 2004)

{{Track listing

| title1 = Skin Deep

| length1 = 3:22

| title2 = After Image

| length2 = 3:52

| title3 = Flesh Fair

| length3 = 5:18

| total_length = 12:32

}}

• Demo (April 19, 2004)

{{Track listing

| title1 = Machine God

| length1 = 7:46

| title2 = Skin Deep

| length2 = 3:52

| title3 = After Image

| length3 = 3:22

| total_length = 15:00

}}

• Tyrannical Resurrection (re-recording EP) (November 4, 2007)

{{Track listing

| title1 = Machine God

| length1 = 6:56

| title2 = Clash of Cultures

| length2 = 5:06

| title3 = Reclamation of Mortal Nature

| length3 = 4:52

| title4 = The Assembly of Tyrants

| length4 = 8:40

| title5 = Shattered Cry

| length5 = 5:31

| total_length = 31:05

}}

• "Andromeda" - 9:22 (May 15, 2011)
• "Zero Signal" (Fear Factory cover) - 5:46 (January 26, 2013)
• "Cepheus" - 10:32 (August 1, 2013)
• "The Moment Between Cause and Effect" ("Tartarus" abridged orchestral demo) - 2:32 (August 25, 2013)
• "Phedra" - 5:00 (November 1, 2013)
• "To Coexist Is to Surrender" - 12:33 (June 2, 2014)
• "Vanquisher" - 5:48 (December 30, 2014)
• "The World We Lost" - 18:48 (August 22, 2015)
• "Godspeed, Vanguards" - 9:10 (December 5, 2016)
• "Realm Breaker" - 7:35 (June 21, 2019)
• "Siege" - 6:20 (December 4, 2020)
• "Aphelion" - 4:11 (December 20, 2021)
• "The Grand Hunt" - 7:48 (December 20, 2022)
• "Blessings Upon the Field Where Blades Will Flood" - 18:13 (September 9, 2023) (remastered edition appears as a bonus track in the beginning of the digital release of Bellum Interruptum)
• "The World We Saved" - 14:23 (April 4, 2024) (remastered edition appears as a bonus track in the beginning of the digital release of Bellum Interruptum)
• "When Honor Meant Something" - 7:51 (October 30, 2024)

• The Compendium (May 25, 2018)

Contains remastered editions of Conqueror, Empyrean, Xenon, Acheron, Progenitor, and As Embers Turn to Dust, with the singles "The World We Lost", "Andromeda", "Cepheus", and "To Coexist is to Surrender" added to the beginning of the first four albums of the boxset, one single per album.

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Category:American symphonic metal musical groups

Category:American industrial metal musical groups

Category:Musical groups established in 2004