Re:aktor is a extraterrestrial band, which arrived on planet Earth to teach us how metal is played in another dimension. Sounds like a cliché German power metal band? Guess again, because this is Portuguese industrial cyber metal rock. Industrial cyber metal rock? Yes, that’s the music they play and the description isn’t going to be any easier than this.

Re:aktor start off with a firm metal/rock base with rocking guitars and drums and gradually add even amounts of industrial, electronics and just plain weirdness. Names that come to mind are Rammstein, The Count Nosferatu Kommando and even Machine Head. I can safely say that I’ve never heard a band that sounded like this but what I can say is that I hear a lot of different styles in their music. Vocals that sound like Machine Head’s Rob Flynn, clean vocals, screams and distorted vocals are just some of the vocal styles.

The music is equally diverse, maybe sometimes too diverse.

Instead of focusing on the song, my attention was sometimes drawn away by yet another strange sound or an electronic piece. Those moments are very sparse but they are there. They should work on that, in my opinion. Another thing that bothers me is that some pieces of tracks almost sound like nu-metal; including whining vocals which make me want to change this CD for another one. Luckily this doesn’t happen too often but the moments they are present are pure torture to me.

The production was done by guitarist [Nexion] and he did a fine job. Obviously if you write the music yourself you know how you want it to sound. There’s so much going on in each track, it’s essential that the producer knows the music thoroughly.

If you are into heavy music and you’d like to try something new (and are not afraid of nu-metal) this is a record you could start with. Just be sure to give this album a couple of spins before you make your judgment.