Thursday, December 01, 2016

Among The Automated - 2016 - Among The Automated

Among The Automated is an experimental metal project from Waterloo, Ontario. This is truly a one man studio experiment, Mike Rideout performed all music as well as the recording and production aspects. He has produced a confoundingly eclectic but compelling group of songs. This record defies simple categorization and easy listening but there are untold riches inside. My favourite moments are all the more straight forward death metal songs, they gallop along with solid riffs and just a hint of synth based melody around the outside. But if you have an ear for more meditative synthesizer based pieces then there is a lot here for you.



There are roughly two kinds of songs on this record, straight forward death or otherwise heavy metal (Binary Bloodline, Evil Disco, The Room, Design, H.W.A.S.A.Z.) and synth based electronic or ambient pieces (Admittance, Erratic (The Automation), Intro_z, Totality (The Automation), The Last Song He Never Wrote).



My main problem with this LP is how inconsistent is. Clearly Mike Rideout is a talented musician, he writes great songs and performs them with style. The problem comes when it's time to stitch disparate genres together. This isn't an LP that I will come back to as a whole, but more than half of this album will make its way onto various playlists. If you're looking for a record that combines death metal, electronica and ambient sounds Among The Automated will serve well.