Mechanical Poet
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Mechanical Poet was a Russian
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band formed in
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, Russia, in 2002, led by composer, guitarist and keyboardist Lex Plotnikoff (1977-2022). The band released
concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
s in post-prog and
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progressive metal Progressive metal (often shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven sound of the former with t ...
genres with orchestral arrangements and heavy use of keyboards. Its music is strongly influenced by film score composers like
Danny Elfman Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer, songwriter, and musician. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since scoring his ...
, and its lyrics are based on fantasy, gothic and science fiction stories. The band split in 2009, however, Plotnikoff continued releasing his music under various new aliases until his death in 2022.


History

Mechanical Poet was founded in 2002 as a studio project by ex-members of Russian avantgarde act Glazemaker Lex Plotnikoff and Tom Tokmakoff. For a few years the band known as Glazemaker was working on creating a "sound" of their own, till they evolved a sound which was a mixture between melodic
metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...
with
progressive metal Progressive metal (often shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven sound of the former with t ...
riffs and
symphonic A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning ...
orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...
s using electronic instruments. In 2003, Sebastian Trifonoff left the band and was soon replaced by
Epidemia Epidemia (, sometimes referred to as 'Epi' by fans) is a Russian power metal band famous for doing the Elven Manuscript metal opera in 2004. It was formed by guitarist Yuri "Juron" Melisov in 1993, with the first songs made in 1995. Histor ...
frontman Max Samosvat. With the new singer the band released its first EP, ''Handmade Essence''. After the EP the band received several offers from various music companies, and finally signed a record deal with
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label Aural Music. In 2004, the debut album ''Woodland Prattlers'', was released. Though the album had sold well, the union of Plotnikoff, Tokmakoff and Samosvat split in 2005 due to artistic disagreements. In 2006, Mechanical Poet returned with a new line-up: singer Jerry Lenin (ex- 4 Tarakana, Lady's Man), guitar player Lex Plotnikoff, drummer Vladimir Ermakoff (also
Black Obelisk The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III is a black limestone Neo-Assyrian sculpture with many scenes in bas-relief and inscriptions. It comes from Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), in northern Iraq, and commemorates the deeds of King Shalmaneser III (reigne ...
) and bass player Serge Khlebnikoff. In this line-up the band made their first ever live show (Plan B Club, Moscow, 04/08/2007) and released their third album ''Creepy Tales For Freaky Children'' (with session work of
Epidemia Epidemia (, sometimes referred to as 'Epi' by fans) is a Russian power metal band famous for doing the Elven Manuscript metal opera in 2004. It was formed by guitarist Yuri "Juron" Melisov in 1993, with the first songs made in 1995. Histor ...
bass player Ivan Izotov). The album had simpler arrangements with a more post-prog sound, something that was not accepted well by many
metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...
fans of the band. Nevertheless, the album was highly acclaimed by
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and
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audience. The album had bonus tracks in
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, which was the first time the band had
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
songs. After the release of the album, Serge Khlebnikoff left Mechanical Poet. In 2007, the band released another
concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
, ''Who Did It To Michelle Waters?'' A
double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording ...
telling a story about a suicide of a girl and the circumstances that led her to that. The
double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording ...
consisted of two parts, ''Music From And Inspired By The Original Sad Story'' and ''Original Score''. The bass session player on the album was Daniel Zakharenkoff (a member of
Black Obelisk The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III is a black limestone Neo-Assyrian sculpture with many scenes in bas-relief and inscriptions. It comes from Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), in northern Iraq, and commemorates the deeds of King Shalmaneser III (reigne ...
). 2008 saw band with new vocalist, Vladimir Nasonoff, and a new concept album ''Eidoline: the Arrakeen Code'', based on
Frank Herbert Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. (October 8, 1920February 11, 1986) was an American science-fiction author, best known for his 1965 novel Dune (novel), ''Dune'' and its five sequels. He also wrote short stories and worked as a newspaper journalist, ...
's ''Dune'' series. The album was well received by Russian media:
Mir Fantastiki ''Mir Fantastiki'' (), officially abbreviated as ''MirF'', is a Russian monthly science fiction and fantasy magazine. The name also refers to the website run by the magazine, Mirf.ru. ''Mir Fantastiki'' literally translates from Russian as ''Wor ...
magazine rated it 9 out of 10 and named it the best sci-fi/fantasy concept album of 2008; ''Dark City'' magazine awarded it with 4 stars out of 5. On June 7, 2009, Mechanical Poet played their last show featuring ex-singers Max Samosvat and Jerry Lenin and announced they were going on indefinite hiatus. Since then, several side projects from the band's members appeared, including Luna Damien by Plotnikoff and Lenin, Sunburst by Samosvat and Nasonoff, Hattifatteners, Last Fighter and Mistland Prattlers by Plotnikoff. On March 1, 2017, PLotnikoff announced in the official VK community that Mechanical Poet is recording a new album called ''The Midnight Carol That an Imp Has Sought''. The release, however, was delayed indefinitely due to Plotnikoff's health problems. On June 28, 2022, his personal VK page reported that Plotnikoff died.


Band members

* Lex Plotnikoff – guitars, keyboards, vocals (2002–2009) * Vladimir Nasonoff – vocals (2008–2009) * Vladimir Ermakoff – drums (2005–2009) * Max Samosvat – vocals (2003–2006) * Tom Tokmakoff – drums (2003–2005) * Serge Khlebnikoff – bass (2006–2007)


Session and guest members

* Sebastian Trifonoff - original singer who left the band before its first album release * Ivan Izotov – recorded bass for "Creepy Tales For Freaky Children" (2007) * Nik Simonoff – played bass in the period from December 2007 to February 2008 * Alexander Shvetz – played bass in the period from February 2008 to April 2008 * Alexander Tavrizian - live keyboards (2008–2009) * Danila Zakharenkov - live bass (2008–2009) * Jerry Lenin - vocals (2006-2008, 2017) * Kirill Kachanov - drums (2017) * Anastasia Petrenko - vocals (2017) * Innar Hanum - vocals (2017) * Veronika Barbutskaya - vocals (2017) * Isadora Cortina - vocals (2017)


Discography

* 2003 - ''Handmade Essence'' (EP) * 2004 - ''Woodland Prattlers'' * 2007 - ''Creepy Tales For Freaky Children'' * 2007 - ''Who Did It To Michelle Waters?'' * 2008 - ''Eidoline: The Arrakeen Code'' * 2008 - ''Ghouls'' (CDS)


Side projects discography

* 2010 - Hattifatteners - ''Stories from the Clay Shore'' * 2011 - Luna Damien - ''Muddlewood'' * 2015 - Mistland Prattlers - ''Music of Mistland, Luceria and the Ocean of Sunset'' * 2017 - Last Fighter - ''Neon Children'' * 2020 - Barrel Wight


References


External links


Official YouTUbe channel

Band's biography with comments from its members

About the band in Encyclopaedia Metallum

About the band in Prog Archives

About the band at Metal Library
(Russian) {{Authority control Musical groups from Moscow Russian progressive rock groups Russian symphonic metal musical groups Heavy metal supergroups Russian musical quintets Musical groups established in 2002 Russian progressive metal musical groups 2002 establishments in Russia