Question: Simple question.... What is happening with Biomechanical? Why are there no new posts of them anywhere? Are they done? From: whatthemeh@yahoo.co.uk
Answer: Simple answer- Biomechanical is one guy- John K, and he's currently put the band on hiatus,working a regular job, hence no updates. When I say its one guy, I really mean it, the band has always been the brainchild of John K, as the frontman and chief songwriter, the rest of his band were literally hired hands- this never made for a democratic unit, but thats how he operated his band.
The band released The Empires of the Worlds CD on Earache and we loved it because it was prime Classic Heavy Metal,- actually ahead of the curve of re-interest in the genre by the metallic hordes. It went down well, and the band functioned great.The follow up album Cannibalised - which formed the third part of the Biomechanical trilogy- was a harsh super agressive listen which did not go down so well with fans as the more classic HM album which preceded it.I think this poor reaction hit John K hard.
Maybe you read about the split in the ranks of Biomechanical a year or two ago, where his entire original line up quit on him after the recording of Cannibalised, it was pretty much a mutiny. Unphased, John spent a lot of mental energy and a ton of his own money- flights, transport, rehearsals etc- recruiting a new line up which toured the album for while but eventually this line up proved unstable aswell, and the new look Biomechanical kind of ran out of steam, members going their own ways.
Not many know that fellow London metallers Dragonforce were often sharing stages around London with Biomechanical in the early days, in fact, Dragonforce would be the support.Then the sudden surge and rise in popularity of Dragonforce - due to inclusion in Guitar Hero game- weighed heavily on the bands minds.OK its not directly relevant but I'm sure it made John assess his priorities.
John K has always had a steady regular job in London, I believe its as a sound recordist working in a Soho film editing studio, it pays him well, so the band was always a second option for him.He is working hard at the moment, in his regular job.
From our point of view, John is an excellent, talented songwriter, who definatly prefers writing and recording on his own.He can write in many styles, Metal just being one of them- proof is in the orchestral bonus songs of Cannibalised which are stunning, world class epic film score type material.
The official word is that the band is not over, its on hiatus awaiting the time John can dedicate himself to it again.
See what Biomechanical is all about :
I actually see john k as the british answer to devin townsend in combining old school heavy metal with industrial extreme elements. It was the comparisons to devin that got me into his band and i love his music for it. For me the album that everyone hated was his best work i loved the awkwardness of the record in that it couldnt sit in your mind properly as it sounded deliberatly distorted so the listener had to work to get hooks from it.
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ReplyDeletePlease continue with Biomechanical. There just is not any other comparable artist that creates such sort of ludicrously apocalyptic soundscapes with sheer infinite ferocity.
ReplyDeleteI have been a metalhead for 26 years but was fed up with a lot of the boring stuff that came out. By coincidence I got cannibalized and it is record of the year now! 2014 that is. I am so glad I discovered this record. John, get your shit together and take your place in metal history dude. It is over before you know it.
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