Mechanical Poet

Mechanical Poet is a Russian metal band formed in Moscow in 2002. The band releases concept albums in post-prog and progressive metal genres with original orchestral arrangements and electronic instruments.

History

Mechanical Poet was founded in 2002 as a studio project by ex-members of Russian avantgarde act Glazemaker Lex Plotnikoff and Tom Tokmakoff.

For a few years the band known as Glazemaker was working on creating a "sound" of their own, till they evolved a sound which was a mixture between melodic metal with progressive metal riffs and symphonic orchestrations using electronic instruments.

In 2003 Sebastian Trifonoff left the band and was soon replaced by Epidemia frontman Max Samosvat. With the new singer the band released its first EP, Handmade Essence. After the EP the band received several offers from various music companies, and finally signed a record deal with Italian label Aural Music

In 2004 the debut album Woodland Prattlers, was released. Though the album had sold well, the union of Plotnikoff, Tokmakoff and Samosvat split in 2005 due to artistic disagreements.

In 2006 the Mechanical Poet returned with a new line-up: singer Jerry Lenin (ex-4 Tarakana, Lady's Man), guitar player Lex Plotnikoff, drummer Vladimir Ermakoff (also Black Obelisk) and bass player Serge Khlebnikoff. In this line-up the band made their first ever live show (Plan B Club, Moscow, 04/08/2007) and released their third album Creepy Tales For Freaky Children (with session work of Epidemia bass player Ivan Izotov). The album had simpler arrangements with a more post-prog sound, something that was not accepted well by many metal fans of the band. Nevertheless, the album was highly acclaimed by punk and alternative rock audience. The album had bonus tracks in Russian, which was the first time the band had Russian songs. After the release of the album, Serge Khlebnikoff left Mechanical Poet.

In 2007 the band released another concept album, Who Did It To Michelle Waters? A double album telling a story about a suicide of a girl and the circumstances that led her to that. The double album consisted of two parts, Music From And Inspired By The Original Sad Story and Original Score. The bass session player on the album was Daniel Zakharenkoff (a member of Black Obelisk).

The 2008 saw band with new vocalist, Vladimir Nasonoff, and a new concept album Eidoline: the Arrakeen Code, based on Frank Herbert's Dune series. The album was well received by Russian media: Mir Fantastiki magazine rated it 9 out of 10^[1] and named it the best sci-fi/fantasy concept album of 2008;^[2] Dark City magazine awarded it with 4 stars out of 5.

On June 7, 2009 Mechanical Poet played their last show featuring ex-singers Max Samosvat and Jerry Lenin and announced they were going on indefinite hiatus. Since then, several side projects from the band's members appeared, including Luna Damien by Plotnikoff and Lenin, Chameleon by Samosvat and Nasonoff, and Hattifatteners by Plotnikoff.

Band members

Session and guest members

• Sebastian Trifonoff - original singer who left the band before its first album release
• Ivan Izotov – recorded bass for "Creepy Tales For Freaky Children" (2007)
• Nik Simonoff – played bass in the period from December 2007 to February 2008
• Alexander Shvetz – played bass in the period from February 2008 to April 2008

Discography

• 2003 - Handmade Essence (EP)
• 2004 - Woodland Prattlers
• 2007 - Creepy Tales For Freaky Children
• 2007 - Who Did It To Michelle Waters?
• 2008 - Eidoline: The Arrakeen Code
• 2008 - Ghouls (CDS)

Side projects discography

• 2010 - Hattifatteners - Stories from the Clay Shore
• 2011 - Luna Damien - Muddlewood

References

External links

• Official site(Russian)
• About the band in Encyclopaedia Metallum
• About the band in Prog Archives
• About the band at Metal Library (Russian)