Album Review: The Schoenberg Automaton - 'Vela'

Who needs Europe when some of the most polished, articulate and carefully crafted metal now resides in our own backyard? The boundaries are removed. Sure, there are the notables and pacesetters internationally, but Australia is no longer the smaller, weaker, little brother.

We know that breakdown-heavy, metal/hardcore hybrid is embraced more than ever before, but now the shift, or perhaps trend, is continuing and the heavy (and by ‘heavy’, we mean HEAVY) bands are getting their due acclaim and reception too. Psycroptic got the ball rolling and now bands like Thy Art Is Murder…even Ne Obliviscaris and Be’lakor are receiving sustained and deserved interest.

Enter Brisbane tech-death metal outfit The Schoenberg Automaton.

Featuring one-time Ne Obliviscaris double kick blazer Nelson Barnes, debut LP ‘Vela’ is crushing from the get go. It almost feels like we’ve stepped back to The Red Chord’s ‘Clients’ heydays. The music is dense, the vocals deep and everything else fits accordingly.

Opener ‘A Stone Face of Piety’ doesn’t exactly grab you with its first punch, but ‘All Roads Lead to Rome’ is where the listener quickly realises this is a release with plenty to offer. Brutal delivery underpinned by abstract yet highly structured patterns and tempos gives ‘Vela' an immediate texture. Death metal can get repetitive, hence the initial variation on this full-length is a very welcome observation.

The sound is positioned somewhere neatly between the aforementioned The Red Chord and Thy Art Is Murder. ‘The Woodhouse Sakati Syndrome’ is dark, fast and quite menacing – yes, adjectives that don’t give a lot away, however not detracting from the fact The Schoenberg Automaton seem to have an acute understanding of the genre.

From a production perspective, Barnes’ bell patterns on the ride shine through prominently in the blast beat moments. The technical side is balanced well with the standard metal changes. ‘Ghost of Mirach’ is the first truly inspired moment, mixing a devastating approach, with a moody instrumental passage three quarters of the way through.

‘Stopping A God Mid Sentence’ gives the album a conveniently and well-timed instrumental break before the full-length finishes off in devastating fashion.

You keep expecting a letdown and point where you are like, “I knew it, I knew they couldn’t maintain it for a full album.” It simply doesn’t come. ‘Vela’ gets progressively better and Australia has another band to parade to the internationals that have been lauded over us for so long.

‘Vela’ is marked by its delivery and characterised by its assertive approach. The Schoenberg Automaton have it all ahead of them if these 10 tracks are indicative of the band’s potential. A good Australian metal release early in 2013.

1. A stone face of piety

2. All roads lead to Rome

3. The woodhouse sakati syndrome

4. Ghost of Mirach

5. Pineapple juice and the tough stuffed olive

6. Stopping a god mid-sentence

7. Arecibo

8. Where are we, in a cube?

9. The worm engine

10. Ultimatewhirringendmachine