Metal Underground.com

After leaving Spinefarm Records behind, Machinae Supremacy's “Into The Night World” arrives courtesy of the band's own newly-formed Hubnester Records. I only got on board with this video game inspired group with 2014's “Phantom Shadow,” and just in those two years there's already been a clear progression of sound between the two releases.

While the last album was a little scatterbrained and all over the place, there's more cohesion here and a greater unity of sound across each track. The video game sound effects are also more integrated this time around, a marked change from last time when they tended to only be in specific parts of songs rather than woven all throughout.

For those who haven't heard Machinae Supremacy before, the game sound effects are along the lines of the old school Sega Genesis / SNES style rather than anything modern, with a lot of Megaman feel in particular. It's not an overpowering force however, as the 16 bit effects are there to work off the base of melodic power metal. Even if the Sega Genesis sounds aren't quite as prevalent as you'd expect (“Twe27ySeven” in particular is more standard electronica than anything video game inspired), they do offer Machinae Supremacy a unique tone that is instantly recognizable from any other European melodic metal outfits.

Besides the shift towards cohesion, there seems to have been maturation on the vocals as well, with a smoother version of what was heard before that is more comfortable in its range and – more importantly - doesn't try to break out of that range. Some classic metal influences make their way onto the disc for a fun throwback twist, like the guitar solos on “Beast Engine” or that absolutely iconic '80s guitar tone to “Stars Had To Die So You Could Live.” That one in particular is worth noting for its interesting lyrical angle working at odds to the upbeat sound with lines like “we fight over pointless things while one day the sun expands and kills us all, what a waste of space we are!”

For fans of power metal and '90s gaming soundtracks, there aren't many complaints to be had here. “Sid Metal Legacy” is maybe the only issue, which has an epic victorious feel but ends a bit abruptly and sort of feels like the middle of a longer song that got chopped out and turned into its own entity. Outside of any minor nitpick problems, Machinae Supremacy is onto something great here, excavating its own unique sound in an otherwise overplayed genre.