Mechanics of Dysfunction (CD - 2007)

Audio Mixer: Pierre Rémillard.

Recording information: Yannick's Room Studio.

You know those random phrase generators some websites have, where you press a button and this mad-lib phrase appears? The concept has been modified to create various styles of band names and album titles over the years. And now apparently, it's been modified even further, because not only do the band name and album title of Mechanics of Dysfunction by Beneath the Massacre sound like they were generated by a death metal phrase generator, the songs themselves sound just as clinical and modular. These ten songs honestly could have been put together by a computer that had been fed the basic clichés of death metal, from the dorky Cookie Monster vocals to the double-time drumming to the faux-shocking song titles. In fact, the untitled minute-long track at the album's midpoint sounds like the computer needed to be rebooted: it's literally nothing but a crash-cymbal loop overlaid with a stuttering start-stop guitar line that was almost certainly played on a keyboard-controlled sampler. Sadly, it's by far the most imaginative thing on the album. The rest of Mechanics of Dysfunction sounds like what people who don't like death metal expect all death metal sounds like. ~ Stewart Mason

You know those random phrase generators some websites have, where you press a button and a mad-lib phrase appears? The concept has been modified to create various styles of band names and album titles over the years. And now it's apparently been applied to the band name and album title of Mechanics of Dysfunction by Beneath the Massacre, which sound like they were generated by a death metal phrase generator. The ten songs themselves don't deviate from death metal expectations, from the Cookie Monster vocals to the double-time drumming to the faux-shocking song titles, although an untitled minute-long track at the album's midpoint features a crash-cymbal loop overlaid with a stuttering start-stop guitar line that was almost certainly played on a keyboard-controlled sampler. ~ Stewart Mason minimize