MECHANICAL POET

I remember it was the very end of 2004, when yet another non-wintry winter, as if apologizing, presented us with a wonderful New Year's gift — the debut record by moscow duo MECHANICAL POET, "Woodland Prattlers." It seemed to be one of those discs where, after one listen, you think: "What does everyone see in this?" — and from the second listen onward, you fall hopelessly in love and populate the N.P. field on various forums exclusively with works of "mechanical" manufacture. Already then, right after its release, it was clear that repeating the success of "Woodland Prattlers" would be very difficult — the album was very consistent in terms of style, any departure from which would change the band's face beyond recognition. The most plausible prospect was the strengthening of individual elements that populated the disc: folk, hard power metal, splashes of American-style progressive. However, following subsequent lineup changes (vocalist Max Samosvat and drummer Tom Tokmakov left the band), it became obvious — we would never hear the old MECHANICAL POET again. And so it happened — "Creepy Tales For Freaky Children" came out somewhat... inhibited, let's say. Gone is that stylistic breadth, that palette of feelings and emotions that played in every ray of light on the debut. One of the disc's main "minuses" — and many will agree with me — is the vocals of Jerry Lenin, which are not bad in themselves but completely fail to fit into the album's sonic landscape. However, in all fairness, it should be noted that on the russian-language bonuses, Jerry feels much more confident — "Ghosts of the Old Theater" in its "alternative" rendition cuts to the bone and is, in my opinion, the best track on "CT4FC." Overall, it must be noted that the band opted for a more electronic, rhythmic sound, sacrificing some melodies in the process — and those melodies are sorely missed. The beautiful booklet design partially compensates for the musical shortcomings, but there is no masterpiece here. What we have is a fairly good disc, additionally valuable for its biographical quality, for excellently illustrating a transitional period in the band's life. But going forward — no half-measures! Only new, stunning results!