Machinae Supremacy

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100% win and awesome.

Anyone with their ear to the ground
 Knows we will not be bound.
 You can push but you can't beat us down
 We deliver the sound!

—"Elite"

Machinae Supremacy is a Swedish band formed in 2000 whose style mixes Power Metal with Electronic Music. They call themselves "SID Metal" because they use the MOS Technology 6581 SID, the synthesizer chip from the Commodore 64. Many of their songs are inspired by Anime, Western Animation and Video Games; for example, "The Wired" was based on Serial Experiments Lain, while "Return To Snake Mountain" references He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Along with the video game influence, they make a point of basing many of their lyrics on themes of self-empowerment, non-conformity and bringing revolution, quality, talent and depth to the mainstream music scene. They created the soundtrack for Jets 'N' Guns (a newer side-scrolling space shooter for the PC). Three of their songs, "Bouff", "Hybrid", and "Cryosleep", have been included in the In The Groove series.

A lot of their music, including the JNG soundtrack, is available free online.

Current Members:

  • Robert "Gaz" Stjärnström: Vocals (2000-present) Rhythm guitar (2000-2006, 2011-)
  • Jonas "Gibli" Rörling: Lead guitar (2000-present)
  • Andreas "Gordon" Gerdin: Bass (2011-), Keyboard (2000-2006), Rhythm guitar (2006-2011)
  • Niklas "Nicky $" Karvonen: Drums (2009-present)

Former Members:

  • Kahl Hellmer: Bass (2000-2005)
  • Johan "Poe" Palovaara: Bass (2005-2007)
  • Johan "Dezo" Hedlund: Bass (2007-2011)
  • "Tobbe": Drums (2000-2002)
  • Tomas Nilsén: Drums (2002-2009, left due to Creative Differences)

Discography:

  • Studio Albums:
    • Deus Ex Machinae (2004)
    • Redeemer (2006, available in the retail edition released by Spinefarm Records and the earlier and more elaborate Underground edition released under Machinae Supremacy's own Hubnester Industries)
    • Overworld (2008)
    • A View From the End of the World (2010)
  • Compilation Albums:
    • The Beat of Our Decay (2011, UK-only)
  • Webography:
    • Arcade (songs recorded 2000-2002)
    • Origin (songs recorded 2001-2002)
    • Fury (songs recorded 2002-2007)
    • Jets N Guns (2004)
    • Jets N Guns Gold (2006)
    • Live at Assembly 2011 (Live video, 2011)
Machinae Supremacy provides examples of the following tropes:

"Here and now all your doubts are no more: / This is Redeemer."

    • "Dark City" retroactively becomes one for compilation album The Beat of Our Decay.
  • Badass Boast: "Super Steve":

"The fire it knows me / And I can walk through the blaze without a mark. / Forever it owes me / The life I lost in the dark."

    • "Hero":

"They try to beat me / But they will not ever defeat me. / This time we're on my battleground."

    • "Rocket Dragon":

As I burn down and murder, I know that God forgives
'Spite all the things I've done, my soul yet forever lives
And all those caught in the shadow of my wings have cause to fear
I swear on all I've done, no evil shall linger here

    • "Dreadnaught":

I will never grant you ground / Remember me and why you all bow down / To a metal-forged dominion

  • Belief Makes You Stupid: The theme of "Violator" and "A View From the End of the World".
  • Book Ends: A View From the End of the World opens with the title track, a song that criticizes the overly religious and closes with "Remnant (March of the Undead IV)," which criticizes the idea that God is benevolent despite doing nothing to keep horrible atrocities from happening.
  • Catch Phrase: "100% win and awesome."
  • Continuity Nod: The first and last Sidology songs end with the same motif from Out Run, just played at different keys and tempos.
  • Cover Version: "Gimme More (SID)" is a cover of a Britney Spears song.
    • They've also covered Mel C's "I Turn To You".
    • "Freestyler" is also a semi-cover of Bomfunk MC's' song by the same name: the choruses are the same, the verses are different.
    • Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" is featured on the compilation album The Beat of Our Decay.
  • Determinator: "Hero", among others.
  • Digital Piracy Is Okay: They owe their success to the internet and filesharing, as well as their reaction to the infamous Pirate Bay case to which they proudly proclaimed their support for the defendants and their website.
    • They have even publicly proclaimed that if you are not able to buy their albums (either because they're not available in your country or you can't afford them,) then you should feel free to pirate them.
    • Moreover, their show at the Assembly is an official free release which can be obtained in high quality through a torrent on The Pirate Bay, uploaded by the band itself.
  • Early Installment Weirdness: Compare "March of the Undead, Part II" to "Reanimator (March of the Undead, Part III)" and "Remnant (March of the Undead, part IV)". The difference between Part II's fast, upbeat music and the later parts' heavy, brooding tone is quite jarring.
  • Epic Rocking: The band invokes this often. The "Sidology" episodes (Commodore 64 game cover medleys) last over 25 minutes in total, with part 2 weighing in at nearly 13 minutes. "Multiball", their medley of music from DICE's PC pinball games comes in at 6:45, and the album closers for both Deus Ex Machinae and Redeemer ("Machinae Prime" and "Empire", respectively) clock in at over 7 minutes. Many, many other tracks crack the 5 minute mark easily.
  • Escapism: Discussed in regards to video games in "Player One".
  • God Is Evil: The singer in "Remnant" is lashing out at god for allowing, or possibly even causing the March of the Undead to occur.
  • Gratuitous Japanese: Several songs, including "Insidious," "Kaori Stomp" (complete with spotty pronunciation) and "Force Feedback."
  • Heaven Seeker: Criticized by "A View From the End of the World"
  • Heavy Meta: Arguably for the songs that deal with the music industry and the band urging their fans to revolutionize it.
  • Heavy Mithril: A few examples of works their music is based on or references: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask ("Missing Link"), World of Warcraft ("Loot, Burn, Rape, Kill, Repeat"), Serial Experiments Lain ("The Wired"), He-Man ("Return to Snake Mountain"), The Great Giana Sisters ("The Great Giana Sisters"), Kid Icarus ("Sid Icarus"), Half-Life ("Nova Prospekt"), and Death Note ("Shinigami").
  • I Want My Jetpack: Used to criticize religion in "A View From the End of the World":

"600 years of progress lost because of you / Can I get reparations to make up for this abuse? / I want some flying cars, a ticket to the stars / Or even just a world without religious wars."

"We'll give you complete creative control."

  • Un Installment: Subverted. The "March of the Undead" series starts at 2. However, part 1 was made under Robert's original attempt at music, MASUGN
    • Sidology was originally just parts 1 and 3 before they made 2 later on.
  • Unwinnable By Mistake: The singer of "Indiscriminate Murder is Counter-Productive" ruins his game by killing all the NPCs who could've allowed him to continue.
  • Video Game Cruelty Potential: Their song "Indiscriminate Murder is Counter-Productive" is this take to the logical extreme.
  • With Lyrics: To one of their own songs. "Sid Icarus" is "Flight of the Toyota" from the JNG soundtrack with lyrics added.
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