Jessy Mach - Beyond The Chains

Review by Karl Magi

Overall Album Impressions

Jessy Mach’s Beyond the Chains tells the tale of a renegade cyborg and the child she's tasked to protect from all the dangers he faces. Jessy Mach weaves together consummately skilled guitar playing, excellent melodic writing and varied synths to strongly evoke mood and atmosphere. The end result is an album that takes listeners on a journey and fully immerses them in the world created within the album's tracks.

As part of this tale’s unfolding, Beyond the Chains highlights Jessy Mach's ability to intermingle a wide variety of synth textures and tones to draw powerful, detailed imagery of the world and the action within that world. Each synth sound is carefully chosen to create a mood or evoke an event. Woven together, they create a richly engaging and vivid world. I enjoy the way in which Jessy Mach pulls me into his storytelling through the use of his synth palette.

Beyond the Chains is also a showcase for Jessy Mach’s high level of guitar mastery. He’s able to rapidly shred or smoothly elicit emotion from his guitar, always with skill and expression. The way in which he incorporates his guitar into the other musical elements allows it to become another tool in his repertoire of musical storytelling techniques. The end result is an album that creates a layered musical journey through the album’s story.

I also have to mention the melodic writing on Beyond the Chains. Jessy Mach’s melodies are intense and beautifully drawn, full of beauty and majesty. There are also moments of extreme power and action that further compel me. As the album unfolds, each melody joins with the others to complete the filmic adventure that moves from track to track and keeps me engaged in what's going on in the story.

My Favourite Tracks Analyzed

“Shattered Wires” comes to life as a fiercely glowing, intertwining synth climbs with strength. Crushing bass rumbles with intense power as the glistening notes slowly fade. The bass trembles and throbs with massive energy, while the flashing sounds above glitter. The drums and bass form a dancing, driving rhythm as the swirling notes above carry a slightly mysterious and dynamic melody.

The brushing synth intertwines with lush light as the pulsing low end presses on. Open, levitating notes play out with smooth elegance as the twisting synth sings. A guitar enters with a noble melody, exuding luminosity and positivity, crying out above the steady low end pulse.

Now, computerized notes rapidly tremble and a bending sound howls, roaming outward as the bass rumbles and the drums thud. A coruscating note pattern twirls rapidly over and over as the guitar leaps back in. Jessy Mach’s guitar solo is minutely detailed and executed with breathtaking skill, while the low end continues to guide the music.

Jessy Mach’s guitar skills are unrivalled as he lets loose, carried by his passion. The towering bass roars again as the roaming synth calls out with energizing liveliness. I enjoy the way in which the guitar remains a beautiful and powerful presence, soaring above the continually throbbing low end before the song concludes.

Calming notes float out into a smoothly drifting space as drums lightly tap to open “Leo's Resolve.” A spacious synth climbs upward in trailing lines as the drums drive an active beat along with a quickly tumbling bassline and rapidly flaring synth. The drums and bass are unstoppable pulses as the trumpeting synth flies outward. Jessy Mach's guitar unfolds in an exciting melody that is full of determination and confidence above the pounding low end.

The guitar brims with action as the brassy synth bursts in sharp linesand the muscled bass is full of grit. An expansive sound moves upward and the guitar cries out again in a passionately expressive melody that speaks of strength and courage while the slower drum beat adds weight. The track explodes into motion again as the guitar twists in intricate lines that shred and growl. I find the guitar performance utterly galvanizing and dynamic.

The drums and bass thunder once more as the radiant synth slashes in piercing lines before the guitar returns. The guitar melody captures a sense of battling to survive against the odds as the low end heaves. Upwardly roaming notes glow above the drums, the percussion slows and the guitar growls as reverent noises fade to silence.

“Echoes of Steel” starts as a heavily falling drum pulse joins sharp-edged bass and a vibrating synth swells with harsh brightness. Xylophone-like sounds trickle through the music in spinning motion as the heavily throbbing low end adds shape. beaming notes climb with intense brightness while the low end continues to heave like a heartbeat.

Ringing notes cry out with profound yearning as Jessy Mach transmits emotion through his skillful fingers. Rapidly twinkling arpeggios flow as the guitar captures a nostalgically pained emotion. The drums slowly rebound as the main melody glides with tender luminosity and elevated notes shimmer off in the distance.

The drum beat’s hard-hitting throb resumes as glassily gleaming notes arc through the music. The guitar flies again, mingling sadness with a more positive feeling of progress. The low end continues to heave as scintillating notes shine through the dark bass. There's a metallic sheen to the lead synth that captures the song’s title well in my mind.

The drums slowly throb once more before the guitar cuts loose, with Jessy Mach wringing every scintilla of feeling from the strings while the unrelenting low end pulses on. There's intricacy and complexity in the cascading guitar as it twirls through the music and the track punches through to the end with thrilling notes sparkling high above the soaring guitar.

“Krel's Dominion" begins with a heavily rolling bassline and drums that urgently rush. The ferociously forceful synth surges forward as computerized-sounding, ringing notes leap in the background. The entire track explodes with rocketing energy as breathy, bright synth calls out in a wriggling pattern. This music is unstoppable as a bursting note pulse moves along with a wildly contorting synth. Glimmering notes urge the track onward, driven by the relentlessly slamming low end.

Spacious-sounding synth now drifts into a section in which a wide-sounding arpeggio twirls and gruff sounds shiver as hollow percussion shapes the music. The track forms an intermingled, slicing cohesiveness as razor-sharp, bending notes dance through the music with lacerating energy. Mechanical, robotic sensations infuse the track in a way that I find compelling.

A coruscating synth emanates active luminosity as the low end snarls and tears into the music. Drums continue to rapidly pulsate and rebound as a jagged synth growls. The track ends with raging power and an angular synth that is full of a sense of danger.

A smoothly slipping synth drifts in laid-back waves as the drums and brilliantly dazzling notes start “Chains of Silence.” A luminous synth carries a melody brimming with hopeful emotion and the drums and bass create a steady heartbeat. The main melody bursts with affection as the tender vocals slide out. The singer's touching voice captures the caring and protective nature of the relationship in the song.

Shimmering notes intertwine and carry the embracing melody above the giant bass that surges below. Illuminating notes glide out and the vocals reach toward the listener with richly emotive expression, carrying a nurturing feeling. A gently unfolding, bending synth solo further deepens the sensations of protective love permeating the music. The majestic main melody returns to swirl above the low end before the song finishes.

The narrator, a high-tier cyborg, tells the story of the friendship she has with the young boy she is designated to protect. She starts by talking about the spark in the darkness of shadowy ruins. Although she's duty-bound, "something leaves its mark," and a tenuous connection forms between her and the child she guards—a link that is "hidden and strange” and like a hopeful spark that nothing can alter.

Our storyteller talks about how the paths between "you, child of night, and I, machine of steel" intertwine in opposition to what they should feel. She says that, for the boy she guards, she'll break "the chains of silence" and begin to, bit by bit, exhibit defiance.

“Destiny's Rebirth” opens with massively rebounding drums and gnarly electric bass intermingling. Sparkling synth frolics with fragile lightness as the heavier low end adds contrast. Incandescent synth undulates through the music with lively positivity before the main melody flows into the music on a glittering synth.

The drums and bass interlock as a sax cries out in a sharply staccato, jazz-inflected melodic line, which adds another level of motion and uplift, the solo full and luscious. Brassy synth whirls and skips through the music with a sense of freedom, while the rebounding low end adds form to the music. The sax cries out again with a full-throated, celebratory quality as it weaves through the music and the funky bass wraps around itself.

The drums pulse as the sax solo moves in a freewheeling line. The brilliantly shining synth illuminates the background as the sax solo spins out. The sense of release and freedom is palpable and ear-pleasing to me as the song comes to an end.

Hard-hitting bass and shaping drums open “Ghost in the Circuit” as an expanding synth echoes out into the openness around it. Haunted notes shift in the distance as the entangling, gem-like synth swirls through the music with a floating, unmoored ease while the drums and bass throb. Metallic, sparkling notes hover as the main melody mingles a dreamy quality with warmer sensations and the slap bass adds an additional sonic element.

The main melody grows more noble and victorious as it moves, but the ominous bass keeps the shadows in the background. A smoothly slipping synth with a bright edge sings out with a melody tinged with melancholy and infused with majesty. Hopeful sensations also shift as the huge bass begins to surge and a worshipful sound rings out.

Flickering synth with a diamantine quality trails through the music before the main melody returns, capturing mixed emotions in a way that touches me. As the track moves towards the end, Jessy Mach lets loose with another intensely interwoven and complex guitar solo, driving home the emotional journey upon which the album has taken us before the track concludes.

Conclusion

Beyond the Chains is a thrilling science fiction journey, combining Jesse Mach’s expressive guitar with many sonic layers, atmospheric compositions and melodic strength. The end result is enjoyable and creates an adventurous listening experience.