Music / Mechina

This Last Empire. This Final Horizon

An Industrial Metal band from Batavia, Illinois. Notable for being part of the growing "Cyber Metal" offshoot of Industrial Metal, and for being extremely prolific in spite of being independently produced and created, and have staved off from signing to a major label for about 11 years and counting. Oh, and for being very heavy on the dosage of epic when it comes to creating their songs.

They also are known for their incredibly in-depth storyline that starts with Conqueror, and ends with Xenon, with Acheron and singles, To Coexist Is To Surrender and The World We Lost serving as the prequels, and singles, Andromeda and Cepheus filling the gaps between them. Conqueror and the first half of Empyrean is about an After the End setting where a holy war has begun destroying the planet Earth, and the protagonist, so revolted with how insane both sides of the war are acting, renounces religion and escapes to the stars, looking for "The Just City", where mankind hasn't tried killing themselves over such trivial matters. The second half of Empyrean and Xenon reveal that all of Conqueror and the first half of Empyrean were just memories of a soldier from the holy war, and introduces us to our true protagonists, Amyntas and Alithea, who are stuck on the planet Empyrean, a planet inhabited by cyborgs. Eventually the protagonists find The Just City. However, it turns out The Just City is just full of cyborgs and humans relying on machines to live. At the end of Xenon, it is revealed that Alithea wants Amyntas to destroy Empyrean, which is explained in the album, Acheron, as the planet Acheron, a planet inhabited by humans, was almost destroyed by the armies of Empyrean, and the survivors retreated back to the Cepheus Ring, a giant mechanical ring surrounding the planets of Acheron and Empyrean, and revealing that Amyntas and Alithea are two of the said survivors. All the while, the politics of two planets, the fate of one, and the secrets of how the protagonist got out in space are explored throughout the music.

Current Members

• Joe Tiberi - Guitars, Programming (2004-present)
• David Holch - Vocals (2004-present)
• David Gavin - Drums (2007-2010, 2011-present)
• Steve Amarantos - Bass (2010-present)

Discography:

• Embrace the Breed (2004)
• The Assembly Of Tyrants (2005)
• Tyrannical Resurrection (2007)
• Conqueror (2011)
• Empyrean (2013)
• Xenon (2014)
• Acheron (2015)
• Progenitor (2016)
• As Embers Turn To Dust (2017)
• Compendium (2018)
• Telesterion (2019)
• Siege (2021)
• Venator (2022)
• Cenotaph (2023)

You've probably heard of them through being featured in a couple of Cr1TiKaL's Let's Plays as epic backdrops to absurd things.

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Mechina Provides examples of:

• After the End: The entire narrative from Conqueror to Xenon lies squarely here, as Earth has been completely destroyed.
• Arc Words: Joe Tiberi enjoys these immensely.
  • "A life to reclaim."
  • "Titans, can you hear me?."
  • "Only humans will endure the cruelty of time."
  • "The Leviathan war cry."
• Corrupt Church: TWO in fact. Two religious groups have a full scale war, leading to the destruction of Earth.
• Cyborg: Empyrean is inhabited by cyborgs. Amyntas thinks he is one too, and thinks he doesn't belong to the society of Empyrean, as he thinks his "arguments" were made for war, until it is revealed he is a Titanborn.
• Decoy Protagonist: The protagonist of Conqueror and the first half of Empyrean is just there to showcase the destruction of Earth, and the albums were all just memories of the soldier given to Amyntas, our main protagonist.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: Everything before Conqueror has no story to it, and has comparatively poor sound quality to what would come later.
• Epic Rocking: Few of their songs dip below 4 minutes.
• Hope Spot: The album Empyrean is about the protagonist finding a new planet like Earth, and indeed, the title track basically completely changes the tune of the lyrics, going from nasty introspection about how bad humanity was, to how the new tomorrow has at last been reached, since this is when Mankind finally finds the Just City.
• How We Got Here: All over the place. Acheron and Progenitor are about the war of, and the finding of, Acheron, specifically.
• Humans Are Special: 90% of their lyrics are based in this trope and it's subtropes:
  • Humans Are Bastards: The first main theme of their lyrics appear to have this down. In the storyline, mankind's hatred and malice destroyed Earth, and thus man must go to the stars to place themselves into a new
  • Humans are Leaders: The second main theme. Conqueror and Empyrean have tons of songs that deal with man either rebuilding an empire once lost and reconnecting with the stars or building one to take control of them.
  • Humanity Is Superior: The final main theme of their lyrics.
• Humongous Mecha: Titans, which are the size of cities. The citizens of Empyrean regard them as gods.
• Identity Amnesia: Amyntas, the main protagonist starting with the second half of Empyrean, Xenon, and Acheron, has no memories besides the memories of a soldier of Earth. It turns out that all of Conqueror and the first half of Empyrean were just memories of the soldier fighting in the war of Earth. He eventually regains his real memories at the end of Xenon, at the same time remembering why he and Alithea wants to destroy Empyrean, gaining control of a Titan, and ends the story in a cliffhanger.
• Rage Against the Heavens: Most of Conqueror is about non-servitude, but the title track and Anti-Theist fit this description perfectly.
• Revenge: The main driving force of Amyntas's and Alithea's reason for wanting to destroy Empyrean, Empyrean destroyed Acheron's landscape, leading all survivors to the Cepheus Ring.
  Below these blacked clouds
  My home, my heart
  As long as I breathe
  Empyrean will never know peace
  I will make them see what it is to bleed
  — Alithea, To Coexist is to Surrender
• Rock Opera: From Conqueror on.
• Space Opera: The entire storyline from Conqueror on is called "As Embers Turn to Dust"
• Transhumanism: A central theme to their lyrics. Titanborns, a group of 10 augmented people linked to Titans, are considered transhuman, as they have an almost limitless lifespan. Amyntas and Alithea, the main protagonists of the second half of Empyrean, Xenon, and Acheron, are two of the ten titanborns.
• Tyrant Takes the Helm: Another central theme. Most clearly in Conqueror and Vanquisher. The entire album Telesterion is this for Enyo.
• Updated Re Release: Andromeda got a re-release 5 years after the storyline kicked off, and was re-recorded with better quality and improved orchestral tracks.
  • The Compendium Releases is this; everything. And I do mean everything, has been mixed with much higher quality and by emphasizing the booming orchestral scores that makes everything sound so much more epic than it was.