Ironically, therein lies my main gripe: even though a lot of work must have been poured into this record, the end result might have worked significantly better as a shorter, more consistently impressive effort. There are some interesting ideas at work here, some worthwhile concepts, as illustrated by "Slaves of Saviours" and "Oblivious". However, scattered across thirteen tracks, they inevitably become diluted by occasional run-of-the-mill riffs and less engaging elements -- only to be expected from the first effort by an independent duo. A more focused and judicious approach could well have yielded a concise nugget of electronic-tinged death to which one would want to go back more frequently. All that said, there is still evidence of hope for this duo: time will tell how Merging With Machines grow from here.