M.E.R.S. - Mechanic Paradox

Though I could not find much information regarding M.E.R.S. on the internet, I will tell you what little I know of this IDM/Breakcore act. I do believe this Belgian solo project began out sometime in 2015, with his debut EP Through Misery And Suffering coming releasing that same year via the Bankizz Label. Somewhere in between, M.E.R.S. shifted labels from Bankizz to Kaometry, and that's where we are in the present day. In mid January, M.E.R.S. released his full length album Mechanic Paradox on Kaometry. 

Before you dive into the music that M.E.R.S. produces I think it's highly important that you look over - and even study - the cover art as it will serve as your visual guide through the album. I immediately connected both the sci-fi depiction of a floating city or fortress to M.E.R.S.' music, and with a creative mind it was beautiful, but shifts back into a fast paced electronic rhythm soon enough. 

The title track 'Mechanic Paradox' kicks off the album and serves as a cinematic/electronic build up to what's to come shortly. Hints of M.E.R.S.' breakcore ideaology usher in, but never quite come fully through. However, with 'So Far So Alone', after a minute of ambient build up, M.E.R.S. delivers quite nicely with a breakcore and IDM mixture. 

'Dear Xolotl' brought forth a slightly heavier rhtyhm, with noise slamming down with equal drops of bass. 'Wooden Tooth' takes a few dubstep influences to lunch, offering something a bit standard but different for what's been shown on the album thus far. Next up came a track that was originally produced by minimalist/IDM producer Wisp. However, the track in question 'Negions Fail' was remixed by M.E.R.S., and the end result is a combination of overtop breakcore elements and Wisp's original relaxing intention. 

I would really like to say that 'Symurgie' comes off fairly 8-bit in the beginning, almost as if the songs from a Pokemon game were remixed for the soul purpose of this track. I really like how it gave flavor to the song which was well needed considering it lasted for seven minutes. 'Bye Bye' served as the final song, and mixed a few samples of classical bits of music with a curious sound. 

Though I do think the production values on the album were good and that the technical elements were well done, I do think there is far more potential lying withing M.E.R.S. that was shown here. The breakcore elements serve as the base structure for almost each of the songs on the album, however those elements also seem to never change. What does keep the songs moving and going is everything that surrounds the breakcore sound; the IDM, the 8-bit directions, and the random wobbles from dubstep influence all kept the album alive. Should M.E.R.S. wish to further improve himself, he needs to find a way to keep his breakcore sound more alive and speedy rather than sounding the same at best. If not, then perhaps he should experiment more with electronic music and move away from breakcore. Not completely abandon it, but also not use it as the base for most of his songs. 

But, either way, I had fun with the album. The cover art, as I said, allowed to me to fly through a sky citadel while M.E.R.S.'s songs guided me around and through it. A new world awaited me and I explored it fully - even if the ride bored me a little bit.