Irreversible Mechanism "Graviant" (2025)

My excitement for this album was met with swift shock as Polish outfit Irreversible Mechanism depart from their Symphonic Black Metal foundations. Having released two fine records under Blood Music in the decade prior, the band go it alone with this self released effort. A lack of budget and experience tarnishes Graviant's aesthetics as the muddy production consistently rumbles on the low end. A steadily murky mess but fortunately its emotive musical merits punch through this amateurish recording.

At its offset, one can clearly hear the leftovers of their previous guitar tone. Slowed jabbing riffs and big metallic distortions hold some prior characteristics but as the songs churn by, the influences of Tool and Maynard's vocal style become the dominant theme. Its very much a series of Progressive, Alternative Metal tangents, lingering on emotional pains and exploring them through instrumental ruminations.

Gradual shifts, psychedelic repetitions, rhythmic brooding and percussive excursions forge a tapestry of intriguing songwriting. Armed with time signatures and inspired experimentation, the band take once unusual directions to climaxes that play mildly blunted by the shadow of giants that walked the path before. Its atmospherically intense, a darkly meditation leaving no stone unturned. Hurling itself from the calm before the storm, directly into its eye as aggressive plundering serves its peaks.

Despite this obvious display of excellence, the record is routinely blemished by that muddy production. Blunting its charm and muffling its clarity. A lot of the intricate instrumentation requires a fair bit of focus, thus breaking its spell. Fifth Wall and Croc Hunter served as my favorite tracks, peaks that just about overcome this hurdle with angered intensities illuminating peak progressions within both songs. The band have much to offer with this new direction, its just a shame the budget couldn't support it.

Rating: 6/10

Taylor Swift "The Life Of A Showgirl" (2025)

 

Yet to figure out the secret sauce that explains Taylor's astronomical stardom, I do hear a warming charm. Armed with a fair voice and gratifying range, her tender strength in singing navigates the pop appeal competently. Mostly an ease on the ears, momentary strokes of sensation illuminate a handful of passages on The Life Of A Showgirl. Being primarily a Pop record, one could rattle off a long list of toned-down genre influences each track takes on. Soft Rock & Country feel like the main theme as roomy Acoustic Guitars and snappy percussion grooves guide a core of its songs.

Its the synth and string laden theatrical strides of opening tracks The Fate Of Ophelia and Elizabeth Taylor that sparkles. These are delightful ear worms, exchanging their infectious vocal hooks with grandiose emotive sentiments. Its a powerful opening, extending itself into the crafty dancefloor fusion of a warming Opalite. Taylor flexes her range effortlessly here, soaring in spirit, sailing her voice into the endless sunset.

Father Figure reveals reoccurring blemishes one can linger on when pondering her lyrical sentiments. Its crudeness emphasizes her egocentric battles heard elsewhere on the record, flipping from the sensitive pains of Eldest Daughter, too emboldened sentiments of critical immunity. Across the runtime, one can hear a fair few lyrical contradictions that muddies the point this albums naming hints it might land on. I may be lacking context but it loosens the records grip on a broader overall takeaway.

On the minor topic of short comings, sparse moments of lyrical cadences slipping into casual, direct and coarse wordings, stick out like a sore thumb. Alongside stride breaking vocal inflections, some of Taylor's approach to piecing together her hooks seem odd and unfinished on occasion. It adds some hiccups to an otherwise smooth experience, a pleasing, easily enjoyable record lavishing one in musical pleasures.

After a lengthy string of fair to do songs, it ends on a high with the Americana tinged title track featuring Sabrina Carpenter. Wrapping the record with a bow, the two allure one another for a tuneful peak with charming chorus hook. Its heights reminds one of a gulf in difference to an averageness that flowed on routine Pop songs before it.

I've really enjoyed The Life Of A Showgirl and I'll treasure its best numbers for years to come, however I'm mostly left with the sentiment that Taylor is capable of much more. Still fresh to her appeal, there are moments of brilliance in how she sings. Subtle shifts with inflections, layering and harmonies. The usual tricks, yet subtler in execution, a seemingly "plainer" tone but carrying a persuasive power the best singers do.

Rating: 6/10