Review by Allan on November 24, 2002.

If you haven’t introduced yourself to Zao, you’ve got no clue on how much you’re missing out. Mid-career they released an album that absolutely blew me away, and it continues to till this day. That album is “Liberate Te Ex Inferis”, and as of today it has yet to be matched by many of Zao’s metal-core brethren.

“Liberate Te Ex Inferis” is what you get with “Self-Titled”, without as many light sections. Zao give you fair warning and by the time the intro is up, ‘Savannah’ just completely throw’s itself at you and doesn’t stop until you’ve submitted. The guitar lines themselves are enough to hack you to pieces. They are incredibly savage, yet they remain completely organized. The vocals of Dan Weyandt also intensify the performance, from his excellent throat shredding (indecipherable, intense, yet they still carry emotion) to his haunting whispers.

Zao’s song writing is far ahead of what most bands are capable of. The transitions are absolutely flawless between each section. The segments in a song can have nothing that is deeply rooted in both of them and they will still sound as if they’re somehow related. Each member of Zao also brings something unique to the sound of the band. Zao’s music may cause you to make comparisons between them and other bands, but there isn’t any denying that Zao carry a torch of their own.

Possibly the greatest thing about Zao besides the excellent musicianship and song writing is their ability to expose true emotion or feelings. They’ve got the ability to incite melancholy or anger in you, or to create music that can make you look over your shoulder to make sure you’re safe. You don’t find those this trait in many bands, but Zao have got it and they know exactly how to use it.

Bottom Line: The pinnacle of Zao’s career. If you’ve ever thought for a moment that you liked metal, hardcore, or heavy music, if you don’t give Zao the time of day you could very well be missing out on what could become one of your most favored albums.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 9
Originality: 10
Overall: 10

Rating: 9.6 out of 10

Review by Allan on November 24, 2002.

If you haven’t introduced yourself to Zao, you’ve got no clue on how much you’re missing out. Mid-career they released an album that absolutely blew me away, and it continues to till this day. That album is “Liberate Te Ex Inferis”, and as of today it has yet to be matched by many of Zao’s metal-core brethren.

“Liberate Te Ex Inferis” is what you get with “Self-Titled”, without as many light sections. Zao give you fair warning and by the time the intro is up, ‘Savannah’ just completely throw’s itself at you and doesn’t stop until you’ve submitted. The guitar lines themselves are enough to hack you to pieces. They are incredibly savage, yet they remain completely organized. The vocals of Dan Weyandt also intensify the performance, from his excellent throat shredding (indecipherable, intense, yet they still carry emotion) to his haunting whispers.

Zao’s song writing is far ahead of what most bands are capable of. The transitions are absolutely flawless between each section. The segments in a song can have nothing that is deeply rooted in both of them and they will still sound as if they’re somehow related. Each member of Zao also brings something unique to the sound of the band. Zao’s music may cause you to make comparisons between them and other bands, but there isn’t any denying that Zao carry a torch of their own.

Possibly the greatest thing about Zao besides the excellent musicianship and song writing is their ability to expose true emotion or feelings. They’ve got the ability to incite melancholy or anger in you, or to create music that can make you look over your shoulder to make sure you’re safe. You don’t find those this trait in many bands, but Zao have got it and they know exactly how to use it.

Bottom Line: The pinnacle of Zao’s career. If you’ve ever thought for a moment that you liked metal, hardcore, or heavy music, if you don’t give Zao the time of day you could very well be missing out on what could become one of your most favored albums.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 9
Originality: 10
Overall: 10

Rating: 9.6 out of 10

Review by Alex on May 12, 2018.

Immortal Sÿnn is listed as a heavy metal band. However, there are elements of power metal and punk metal in their music vocally, in the lyrics and in the choruses. Their sound overall can be termed as heavy traditional power/punk metal. There are even some instances of stoner metal on the album. Machine Men was released in 2017 but I have heard nothing about it during that time. It's non stop guitar worship from the first to the very last. Immortal Sÿnn leaves no tables unturned when it comes to addressing mental enslavement, human identity and social disarray on their debut full length, Machine Men.

The first song off Machine Men being "Liberty Rising" is a banger of a tune. It has a great mid-paced flow, awesome singing in the chorus segments and a furious guitar solo. It is followed by "Metal and Blood" which you can probably guess is a song worshiping heavy metal, like most traditional heavy metal bands do on their albums as they pay homage to the father genre. "Metal and Blood" has a quicker pace than the song preceding it, and like "Liberty Rising" it has a strong vengeful guitar solo. The kind of solo you can stand on a hill and point your sword towards the sky as you decree war. "Dark Abyss" has more of a punk-metal sound that is mixed with a King Diamond style of delivery pattern on the main chorus.

The soloing on Machine Men is commanding like a headmaster or high school principal walking the halls, on a mission to capture any wandering minds. The self-titled track meets the peak of regime dismantling solos and riffs. Holy moly, Miguel Ruiz and Tony Z have a lot of praise to be bestowed upon them for their salivating display of shredding; they play like machines (ironic isn't it?), I feel like the rest of the band was struggling to keep up with Miguel's and Tony's level of diversity and dexterity. Their soloing throughout Machine Men and more notably, the self-titled track, is nothing short of timeless. Miguel and Tony slay. "Blind Soul" is perhaps my favorite track on the record, it has the best flow, melody, and chorus. "Blind Soul" deals with introspect and soul-searching, it is catchy all the way through and has a very "alternative rock/metal" structure. It takes a break from the heaviness in establishing more emphasis on the melodic area of the music.

How hasn't Immortal Sÿnn's Machine Men generated more attention? Traditional heavy metal with relative issues that don't go crazy with the "political correctness" or "incorrectness" is something worth listening too and having your thoughts absorbed in. The production is clean and the music is well mixed. The artwork is perfect for the themes being explored and the ideologies expressed on the album. For its total play time of 61 minutes, remarkably it never gets boring. The vocalist Chase McClellan does a praiseworthy job of using various vocal styles such as clean singing, speed metal like vocals and even modern hard rock/nu-metal (see "Hatred Nation" for reference). The guitarists slay, while the drums follow the reckoning path. You need Machine Men if you like metal, mechanized guitar solos, awesome vocal diversity and relative social themes.

Rating: 8.8 out of 10