The Mechanical Hand, the new album from self proclaimed "Nintendocore" pioneers HORSE the band. This album is a wild ride that sounds like Dillinger Escape Plan meets the late 80's 8-bit revolution. The lyrics on this album are laced with countless Nintendo references; the first song for example is titled Birdo. Birdo is the first level boss that you encounter in Super Mario 2. Or The House of Boo is referring to the ghost character Boo from the Mario series, and A Rusty Glove might be referring to Nintendo's Power Glove, but the lyrics are a little too vague to be certain.

There is more then just the lyrical references that have earned this band the title of Nintendocore though. The biggest element of HORSE the bands unique sound is their keyboards. Anyone who spent countless hours in the late 80's to early 90's in front of their televisions blowing in 8-bit cartridges and then wiggling that same cartridge around in their NES to try and get it to work will instantly be taken back listening to this album. Especially in the breakdown sections of the songs where there is pretty much only keyboards being played. They have managed to capture the sound of Nintendo perfectly through the keys.

The most impressive part of this album is not the unique sound, but the undeniable improvement in the bands overall talent between their last release , R. Borlax, and The Mechanical Hand. There are points of superb instrumental technicality that would put a grin across the faces of even technical masters like Dillinger Escape Plan or Meshuggah. The Mechanical Hand is by far one of this years best releases. With most music coming out sounding like regurgitated garbage over and over again, it is great to have a breath of fresh air in a band that sounds different but yet not trying too hard to just BE different.

5 / 5

Photo Courtesy of Amazon.com

Links:
Official HORSE the band Website
KOCH Records

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