By: Tordah

Posted: Jul 10, 2005

Two years ago the debut album of Machine Men got many positive reviews when it came out. The band was considered one of the best new metal-acts of 2003 in Finland. Their music is heavily influenced by Iron Maiden but with their own distinct sound. The album in question, "Scars & Wounds", didn’t really catch my attention that much. It was an okay album that showed potential but there was something missing. Good vocals, guitar-work and everything but it wasn’t really that memorable. Now it’s time for Machine Men to unleash that second album that's often so difficult to make if you had a good debut album. Luckily though, I think Machine Men has succeeded in that task very well.

Let me start off by saying this right away: Yes, the new album is way better than the first one. It's impossible not to draw comparisons to Iron Maiden when listening to this. The band themselves even started out by playing Iron Maiden covers and have Maiden as one of their biggest inspiration sources. Machine Men has managed to create their own sound and luckily doesn't sound like a second rate Iron Maiden copy-cat. "Elegies" is much heavier than anything Maiden has ever recorded. The songs here are mostly mid-tempo with a few slower ones. The production is very good and crisp and has a heavy and crunchy feel to it. The bass is very loud and audible and that's cool.

The thing that has improved most since the debut is the fact that most of the songs here are very catchy and groovy. The drums and bass provide a solid and heavy rhythm-section while the guitars churns out groovy heavy metal riffs. Maybe not the most original riffs, but the important thing here are the guitar harmonies and leads! The guitar-melodies together with the great vocals of Antony Parviainen is what makes this album a winner. The song-writing has also been improved a lot here. There's no really bad track to be found and no instant classic either. If I were to choose any favourite songs though I'd go with 'October' and 'Door Of Resurrection'. The last track on the album is a cover of the Bruce Dickinson song 'Freak' but it fits in so well with the rest of the songs that I thought it was their own song at first. "Elegies" is a very solid album and I think it surpasses their first effort easily. So if you’re a fan of traditional heavy metal (especially Iron Maiden) then you don’t need to hesitate. Machine Men are here to stay and I think they will grow bigger with each album if they continue this way.

Rating: 8/10

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