MECHANICAL POET - Woodland Prattlers

[General Zod]

Label: http://www.auralmusic.com/
Release Date: November 29, 2004
Home Page: http://www.mechanicalpoet.net

When I first received MECHANICAL POET’s debut CD, Woodland Prattlers, I took one look at the cartoonish cover art, rolled my eyes, and threw it aside. As it sat on my desk, collecting dust, I began to note a small buzz beginning to build about it on the net. This buzz, along with the band’s affiliation with Code666, piqued my curiosity about what awaited me.

The promo sheet describes MECHANICAL POET as a mix of “Tim Burton, Progressive Metal, Japanese cartoons and East-European Gothic atmospheres.” Suffice it to say, that’s not a description I would have ever arrived at. It was time to let the music do the talking:

1st Listen – headphones, in bed… I fell asleep half way through.
2nd Listen – driving in the car... I struggle to get through it, wanting to throw on something I actually want to hear.
3rd Listen – headphones, in bed… the music is pretty cool, but I’m just not digging the singer’s approach.
4th Listen – sitting at my computer… about to write my review and pan the CD. Hmmm… I like this.

Russia’s MECHANICAL POET puts forth a truly intriguing blend of Progressive Metal. They start with a traditional Prog Metal approach, then blend in touches of orchestral sounds and trance electronics. By and large, this approach works, and works well. After the opening instrumental, “Main Titles”, the CD is off to the races with its heaviest track, “Stormchild”. As this song begins, I found myself taken aback by Tom Tokmakoff’s superb drum style, as well as the excellent drum sound that was achieved on this recording. As vocalist Max Samosvat makes his first appearance, he conjures up memories of TAROT vocalist Marco Hietala. However, whereas Marco’s approach tends to be one dimensional, Max has a certain playful quirkiness in his delivery that gives the vocals a sense of variety.

This is the part of the review where I’m supposed to tell you what combination of bands make up MECHANICAL POET’s sound. Forget it. I’m not getting lured down that rabbit hole. While MECHANICAL POET doesn’t reinvent the wheel, they’ve certainly beaten the old wheel into a rather unique shape.

Woodland Prattlers is, as too many other CDs these days are, a concept album. Sadly, MECHANICAL POET’s command of English isn’t strong enough to convey the storyline in a coherent manner. Perhaps the 20-page supplement that comes with the retail version of the CD, will help clarify the story. Regardless, the lyrical short-comings do little to diminish the overall quality of the songs. MECHANICAL POET’s greatest strength may be their ability to keep things varied, without ever drifting into anything indulgent or gratuitous. In this respect, they succeed where so many Prog Metal acts fail. While their songs take a number of interesting, and often unexpected turns, those turns are always taken to create a stronger song, rather than for flexing their musical chops.

All in all Woodland Prattlers is a truly enjoyable experience. As a listener, you just never know where these guys are headed. And once you grow comfortable with that fact, the ride is a great deal of fun.

Rating: 7/10
Reviewer: General Zod

 

[lurch70]

this record, while technically proficient, bores me to tears.

on a side note, how come movie reviewers do reviews and base their opinions of flicks on a single viewing ... but record reviews need repeated listens ???

enquiring minds want to know

 

[Demilich]

I've definitely seen movies that took more than one viewing to enjoy/understand fully!

 

[General Zod]

this record, while technically proficient, bores me to tears.

It bored me to tears on the first listen as well. However, I just ordered it from The End. They had it as their Daily Special for $10.50.

on a side note, how come movie reviewers do reviews and base their opinions of flicks on a single viewing ... but record reviews need repeated listens ???

enquiring minds want to know

How many times have you seen your 10 favorite movies? How many times have you listened to your 10 favorite CDs?

Zod

 

[lurch70]

It bored me to tears on the first listen as well. However, I just ordered it from The End. They had it as their Daily Special for $10.50.

How many times have you seen your 10 favorite movies? How many times have you listened to your 10 favorite CDs?

Zod

Don't take this personally as it was not meant that way ... it is common practice amongs music reviewers ... to listen to a disc multiple times before reviewing it.
But I am not sure I understand the practice ...

Repeated watches of a bad movies, does not make them better for me. Same thing with CD's ...
I can maybe "learn to appreciate" certain things about it, but does not make the disc more "enjoyable" or "entertaining".

 

[JayKeeley]

Most of my favourite CDs emerged from having listened to them repeatedly, and they just got better and better. You're only using your hearing senses, so your imagination is put to use. (Some of the albums I liked instantly may have actually faded in interest quickly too).

With movies, it's all eyes and ears, and you're pretty much spoonfed. Although I suppose there are some movies that require repeat viewings.

I dunno really.

I will say this - to be fair to the artist, I will listen to it several times to try and comprehend what they're doing. It just seems a tad unfair to dismiss an album on one listen, particularly where the artist spent months/years creating it (musically and lyrically). I don't get how people listen to something once, decide they don't like it, and never go back to it!!! That is way too unforgiving IMO.

It's all down to quick downloading today though. People have the attention span of a retarded goldfish. Back in the day, you were forced to read up on reviews etc, go to the store, spend your CASH on an album, and then you'd want the investment to pay off by listening to it a million times.

 

[Evil C.]

Zod,

I would be interested in hearing this one a few times. You have intrigued me.

Evil C.

 

[General Zod]

Don't take this personally as it was not meant that way ... it is common practice amongs music reviewers ... to listen to a disc multiple times before reviewing it.

I didn't take it personally at all. You seemed to be asking a question, and I just tried to give my opinion, by illustrating a point.

Repeated watches of a bad movies, does not make them better for me.

Which begs the question; do films have as much depth as music? I thing there some films, such as "Mulholland Drive", that probably needs to be watched several thousand times to be understood/appreciated. I've seen it twice, and still have no idea what it was about.

Zod

 

[lurch70]

Which begs the question; do films have as much depth as music? I thing there some films, such as "Mulholland Drive", that probably needs to be watched several thousand times to be understood/appreciated. I've seen it twice, and still have no idea what it was about.

Yes, Mulholland Drive is a good expample as it is something like the Mechanical Poet disc. Technically proficient, appreciated by some for it's artisitic integrity ... but really has no "entertainment" value so to speak.

But movies like Mullholand Drive, when I watch them, realize that they are not my cup of tea and most likely never watch them again. I don't think movies are "spoonfed" to the viewer like JK said. And certainly there is much more sweat, time and money pumped into them than a CD ... yet movie reviews are often brutal and based on a single initial viewing.

Still I do not get how a disc that initially put you to sleep ... gets so many chances and then ends up almost with an almost perfect rating ?!?!

 

[matt99_crew]

I've found that I end up loving a lot of things that I initially wasn't fond of.

 

[General Zod]

Still I do not get how a disc that initially put you to sleep ... gets so many chances and then ends up almost with an almost perfect rating ?!?!

Well, I think I probably would have fell asleep regardless of what I was listening to, as I was pretty tired. As for its score being perfect, I wouldn't say that. As I'm new to scoring reviews, I'm still working the kinks out of my scoring system. To me, something over 7.5 is worth purchasing. And true to my word, I've purchased this CD.

There are a fair number of CDs that would be in my Top 25 of all-time, that I didn't truly enjoy until a good number of listens. Still Life by Opeth and Towers of Avarice by Zero Hour come to mind. I believe JK has said that Agalloch's The Mantle takes something like 50 listens to fully comprehend.

You don't own any CDs that you didn't like the first time you heard them, and then later came to really enjoy?

Zod

 

[MetalAges]

I freakin love this band! I originally got a hold of their EP Handmade Essence on their original site (it's in the limited edition of Woodland Prattlers). I actually like the Handmade stuff a hair more than the Woodland material. Both are supreme though. My original description for Mechanical Poet is "Danny Elfman meets Metal". Definitely one of the more refreshing and unique bands to come out in a while on many levels. Lyrical, "look" (art, titles etc.), musically, you name it. Just a great band. Definitely get the Limited Edition if you can find it. I think they pressed less than 800 or something like that. I know www.lasercd.com had it.

 

[lurch70]

true, I can be a little impulsive at times and there were some CD's that gre on me over time ... but not usually one that I did not like at all from the first listen.

I like things that hit me in the guts from the first time around, music, movies, books and women (although this is dangerous )

 

[General Zod]

true, I can be a little impulsive at times and there were some CD's that gre on me over time ... but not usually one that I did not like at all from the first listen.

I think for everyone, it's a little different. For instance, my wife, who likes Metal but not to the extant that I do, usually knows how she feels about a band immediately. For me, if often takes time. That being said, when I truly dislike something, my opinion almost never changes. Keep in mind, I never said I disliked this CD. Essentially what I said, in respect to my first two listens, was that it wasn't doing anything for me.

I like things that hit me in the guts from the first time around, music, movies, books and women (although this is dangerous )

I do to. But some music, especially the more progressive and more extreme stuff, may take a few listens to wrap your mind around. I don't think Zero Hour's Towers of Avarice clicked for me up until one week before their PPIII performance. Previous to that week, I don't think it I was ever able to get through it in one sitting. Now, I consider it one of the greatest CDs of all-time.

Zod

 

[lurch70]

actually what changes my mind about a band or a particular disc is watching them live.
most recently Vehemnece and Killswitch Engage come to mind. Watching them live and going in with zero expectations, and then being blown away by the band live ... has made me seek out material that I did not give a fair chance.
Vehemence, sounded just bland to me, but now I absolutely love this band.

Videos have this effect on me as well.

I guess I need visuals to couple with the music to have things fully sink in.

 

[JayKeeley]

There are a TON of albums I can think of that grew over time. It's not that I didn't like them first time round, I just didn't fully comprehend them, BUT my gut instincts told me to stick to it. Off the top of my head, Skepticism is a band that just keeps getting better and better with each listen, but when I first bought Farmakon (as an example) I knew that I had to put it aside for a while and come back to it later.

Some music is deep and requires multiple listens. Like Zod said, it's typically mind provoking stuff, progressive, stuff that pushes the envelope. I don't think I could ever trust myself to decide on one listen.

Some music is spoon-fed (it's derivative and it's been done already, so you already know how the story goes but it's fun anyway), and you can tell on one listen whether it's going to work out or not.

Some music will be shit on one listen but that's because it probably belongs in some -core noisy screamy genre that doesn't appeal to me.

90% of mainstream movies are spoonfeeding the audience. There is no need for imagination, you just sit back and watch. Hollywood movies are the equivalent of power metal.

 

[matt99_crew]

I agree with you. I also think that nearly all music requires more than one listen to be able to form a solid opinion on. Don't get me wrong, I don't need to hear Clint Black more than once to know I hate the shit--I'm really talking about material within the realm of stuff you may enjoy. It takes a couple times through to be able to follow it. Listening to music is a different entertainment experience than watching a play/movie or eating a meal. Not more complex per se, but more dimensional. It takes attention to pursue those dimensions. I hate when people say music was "over your head" and I'm not trying to shovel that shit. After all, it's a fucking song, not physics, but it does take adequate attention/time to assess.

 

[Captain Beard]

It won me over first listen... and second, and third, and fourth. I'm buying the Double Release from CM.

 

[Papa Josh]

movies and cds aren't even remotely comparable. And the fact that movie reviewers usually see a movie once and make an opinion on it usually disqualifies their opinion in my eyes.


Movies= spoonfeeding.