Review by Rexorcist for Devin Townsend - Ocean Machine - Biomech (1997)
Biomech is a strange case for a number of reasons. First of all, there's the fact that this is actually a solo album by Devin Townsend. Second of all, this is tagged as a prog metal album when it's less prog that Dream Theater (except maybe in the Pink Floyd way), and its behavior is more akin to industrial and shoegaze. Third of all, it's so unique in its extremely aquatic sound. Despite being a part of a genre that's known for its aggression and maniacal behavior, this album is all about longing and empowerment. "Life" is the best example of of the album's tame but anthemic nature, carefully balancing melody with atmosphere on a constant basis. The album also uses static-driven spoken word in a few places to keep the fairly technological behavior that one would assume from the band name. In fact, one could almost label this an industrial metal album due to the repetitive nature of the melodies and the mechanical production. Just listen to songs like "Regulator" and "Night" and tell me there isn't a more-than-noticeable industrial mentality here. But this aquatic atmosphere is also very 90's-2000's, sounding like any of these songs would be the best on the Titan A.E. soundtrack if they were included. And because the album is more atmosphere-focused than melody-focused means any great melodies are scattered in place of noisy, aquatic ambiance.
I'm a bit surprised that this is considered the best Devin Townsend album. I've heard a few of them and I have to say that every great thing about this album has also posed a problem in other better and worse metal albums, so why shouldn't they be problems here? Because these elements all flow so well together, they create an atmosphere that's difficult to replicate. But the problem is that the album is essentially doing this same great thing for 75 minutes. The only real change of pace is the new-age-style track Biomech. So while the album is certainly one of a kind, it's overhyped and mistagged.