TERMINAL FUNCTION — Clockwork Sky (review)

TERMINAL FUNCTION — Clockwork Sky album cover Album · 2015 · Technical Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Clockwork Sky" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Swedish technical extreme metal act Terminal Function. The album was released through Willowtip Records in September 2015. Terminal Function was formed in 1998 and released several demos before releasing their debut full-length studio album "Measuring The Abstract" in 2008. So it´s been 7 years between albums, which even in this day and age is a pretty long recording break. There´s been one lineup change since the debut as bassist Lars Söderberg has left the band. Guitarist Stefan Aronsson handles the bass on "Clockwork Sky".

The music on the album is technical extreme metal strongly influenced by fellow countrymen Meshuggah. At times to the point of "Clockwork Sky" being what I would characterize as a worship release. Thankfully Terminal Function do incorporate other elements too, that seperates them from their more famous countrymen, but there are overall more similarities than differences. Some of the differences include occasional use of clean vocals, keyboards, and the occasional use of more regular rhythms and riffs played in conventional time signatures. The similarities are heavy downtuned riffs and rhythms played in odd time signatures, relatively one-dimensional raw shouting vocals, and fusion/jazz oriented guitar solos.

The material on the 11 track, 40:41 minutes long album is generally well written and relatively catchy although it´s not necessarily memorable in the long run. The musicianship is on a high level on all posts, and it´s hard not to be impressed by what these guys play. They may not compose the most original sounding material, but they sure can play. The sound production is raw, powerful, and suits the music, so upon conclusion there are many positive things to say about "Clockwork Sky". The lack of an original style and a very obvious clone factor are negatives that drag my rating down though, and in the end a 3.5 star (70%) rating is warranted. If you are more forgiving than I am regarding the high clone factor, you can put another half star on top of that.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Unearthly Litanies of Despair Death Metal
ENGULFED
Buy this album from MMA partners
It Beckons Us All....... Black Metal
DARKTHRONE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Death Is Not The End Doom Metal
GLOSSA
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Way Forward Sludge Metal
BLACK TUSK
Buy this album from MMA partners
Till Aska Atmospheric Sludge Metal
WALK THROUGH FIRE
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Agremorta - Adrocitas (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 2 days ago
Agremorta - Ploratus Umbra (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 2 days ago
Agremorta - Vertex Membrana (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 2 days ago
HAIL SPIRIT NOIR - The Temple Of Curved Space (Official Track Stream)
HAIL SPIRIT NOIR
adg211288· 2 days ago
In Sulfur - The Gate (OFFICIAL VIDEO) 2022
IN SULFUR
Bosh66· 3 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed