EP Review: Keith McCoy – Dawn of the Machine (Self Released)

Hailing from Limerick, Ireland, Keith McCoy is a solo artist who makes music within the realms of progressive metal. Albeit, influenced by everything from Metallica, Dream Theater and Rush to synthwave, John Carpenter and 80s horror and sci-fi movies.

His new EP ‘Dawn of the Machine’ will be released on March 29th, 2024.

These days, aside from rock and metal, I’d say my favourite genre of music is synthwave. I just love how it sounds and always get excited when a band or artist from the heavier side of things decides to utilise it in their music. So, it should come as no surprise that Keith McCoy’s solo effort is right up my street.

Yet, even then, I didn’t expect to love it quite as much as I do. The man’s super talented and super creative. This is metal, but progressively so, and he doesn’t just stick a bit of synthwave in here and there, it’s an integral part of the EP. Not only giving it a ‘retro’ vibe, but also giving it a sci-fi feel, which is something extremely evident with the intro of The Turing Test and with the vibrancy of H.U.M.A.N. God damn, the synth is so good in this track.

It turns out too, that not only can Keith McCoy create fantastic progressive metal, but he can sing!

You gotta love the traditional metal approach that Hear Me has too, but like everything on this album, it is transformed by a litany of synthy effects and progressive elements. It’s arguably the most infectious track on the EP, even as it gets wilder and weirder as it goes on.

Though if you want to really hear McCoy pushing the progressive boundaries, then the title track will deliver. It’s one of the more erratic efforts, and it has bouts of heaviness, but it’s still wholly enjoyable. Which leads to the outro of Imitation Game, and some more delightful sci-fi heavy synth.

A top artist who definitely deserves a bit more attention, Keith McCoy set out to impress with this EP, and impress he has. The perfect blend of progressive metal and synthwave.

Keith McCoy – Dawn of the Machine Track Listing:

1. Intro… The Turing Test
2. H.U.M.A.N.
3. Hear Me
4. Dawn of the Machine
5. Outro… Imitation Game

Links

Facebook | Bandcamp | YouTube