Review:
The Cog is Dead - Steam Powered Stories

As a genre, Steampunk is something that is consistently getting more and more attention over the past few years. It has always been a fun setting to have a story take place in, or a costume choice that gave the creator free reign to come up with as many fantastic ideas as possible. The more conventions, stories, and even role-playing systems that I see, the more Steampunk is being put to the forefront of geek culture, and giving everyone something fun to experience.

Music though, is one area where Steampunk hasn’t exploded in popularity. There are, of course, Steampunk fans that perform music, and there are even a few Steampunk branded bands out there, but it is not something that I saw a lot of as I was exploring the topic of airships and gears. So I was quite pleased to try out a new album entitled “Steam Powered Stories” by the band The Cog is Dead.

As the name of the band and the album suggest, The Cog is Dead is a fully Steampunk inspired band. They dress in the fashion the genre demands, their instruments look like they were created and modified using steam power, and the topics of their songs are all tales from a world that is unlike our own. While the band sounds Steampunk and looks the part while performing, the major question one has to ask before listening to the album is “Is this album any good?” For me, this album seemed like a mixed bag.

“Steam Powered Stories” starts off well enough with a strong intro track and a solid piece in “Blood, Sweat and Tears”. This song in particular is a very good mood setter in terms of instrumentation and the lyrics. It gives you those feelings like you are in this place, and you are slaving away on some crazy contraption. That momentum though is lost with the next track “Loverboy”. It’s a fun romp of a song, but it’s short and feels woefully out of place, especially once the next song “The Copper War” comes up. Being sandwiched between those two songs really detracts from the overall Steampunk mood I had been expecting.