Album Review: The HAARP Machine-Disclosure

British act The HAARP Machine has gained a lot of buzz amongst the metal community simply by signing with the upstart (and often both heavily praised and criticized) record label Sumerian Records. Their long-awaited and also long-delayed debut album, Disclosure, shows that Sumerian has added another quality up-and-coming band to their ranks.

The HAARP Machine is a mainly progressive metal band with hints of technical death metal, jazz fusion, and Middle-Eastern influences. The progressive and death metal aspects of their sound compliment each other very nicely. The heavier death metal elements to their sound, while rarely the main focus of their sound, are well-executed and make them standout from a lot of the other new wave progressive metal acts. What struck me the most about The HAARP Machine though was the guitarwork and vocals. Guitarist Al'Mumin completely shreds to say the least. You can hear a lot of influence from his Middle-Eastern background as well as contemporary progressive rock and metal acts in his playing, which is awesome. He has influences from all across the board musically and it shows in his dynamic style of playing. Besides guitar, He also plays sitar, which gives The HAARP Machine a really distinct sound and a lot more room to experiment with instrumentation. Al'Mumin has already established himself as one of the great modern metal guitarists with his unique style of playing and amazing technical abilities. Adding to the diversity in their sound is vocalist Michael Semsky. Semsky's clean vocals are very powerful and would fit in perfectly with any traditional progressive rock act while his screams are full of extreme metal intensity. It's rare that you see a vocalist with that type of drastic contrast, but Semsky absolutely nails both melodic singing and death growls.

The best moments of Disclosure are when all of The HAARP Machine's influences converge. Album opener "Esoteric Agenda" shows just that. It opens with a sitar before shifting into a progressive metal anthem with a couple bursts of screaming. The album keeps plugging right along with "Lower the Populace" which leans more towards their tech-death side and is arguably the heaviest thing on this followed by the single "Pleidian  Keys" which again is The HAARP Machine at their finest throwing curveballs and crafting well-written and exciting progressive metal. The album takes a little bit of a lull in the middle with some solid, but overall not spectacular tracks before closing strong with "Extension to One" and the epic closer "Machine Over" which features the best solo of the whole record from Al'Mumin, jarring shifts from beautiful, atmospheric prog to punishing tech death and a great hook that will be beaten into your head immediately.

Disclosure is an impressive debut for these young Brits also known as The HAARP Machine. These guys are super talented, expertly balanced the progressive and death metal sides of their sounds without sacrificing the power of either side of their sound, and most importantly, have created an album full of ambition and great songwriting. Really the only issue Disclosure has is that it's too damn short with only eight tracks and clocking in at just under 35 minutes. I have a feeling with Sumerian backing them and the right exposure on tour, The HAARP Machine is going to be the next big thing in progressive metal. Disclosure is a hell of a way for The HAARP Machine to make a first impression and very well could be the best debut album of 2012.

4/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.Machine Over
2.Lower the Populace
3.Pleiadian Keys