Spiritech is the third full-length studio album

Studio album

A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 by the Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n progressive metal

Progressive metal

Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...

 band, Alchemist

Alchemist (band)

Alchemist is an Australian progressive metal band from Canberra whose style combines death metal, progressive rock, psychedelic, Eastern, Aboriginal and electronic influences. The band formed in 1987 and has so far released six studios albums, an EP and a compilation album. Work began on a new EP...

. It was released in 1997 by Australian label Thrust and distributed by Shock Records

Shock Records

Shock Records is Australia's largest independent record label. It helps distribute records from overseas records labels such as Epitaph Records, and also for small record labels designed specifically for that band such as Cement Records...

. A promotional music video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 for the song "Road to Ubar" was released. "Spiritechnology" samples Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

 speaking on extraterrestrial life

Extraterrestrial life

Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...

 and its possible effect on religion, while "Chinese Whispers" has become popular at live shows. The album has received very positive reviews, with Eduardo Rivadavia from Allmusic suggesting it is "possibly the greatest space metal album since Voivod

Voivod (band)

Voivod are a Canadian heavy metal band from Jonquière, Quebec, Canada. Their musical style has changed several times since the band's origin in the early 1980s...

's landmark Nothingface

Nothingface (album)

Nothingface is the fifth album by Canadian thrash metal/progressive metal band Voivod. It was released by Mechanic/MCA Records on October 13, 1989. The album marked a change for the band, expanding their sound and exploring more progressive sounds...

", adding that Alchemist "meshed [death metal] seamlessly with progressive rock

Progressive rock

Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

, psychedelia, Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

ern nuances, and even native Australian aboriginal music". The album's lyrics tend to explore the relationship between human technology and its impact on nature, and the possibility of extra-terrestrial life.

The first five tracks from Spiritech later appeared on the Embryonics

Embryonics

Embryonics is a double-CD compilation of tracks by the Australian progressive metal band, Alchemist. It was released in 2005 in Australia by Chatterbox Records and worldwide by Relapse Records...

compilation album.

Track listing

Credits

• Adam Agius
  Adam Agius
  Adam Agius is the vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist and a founding member of the progressive metal band Alchemist. He formed Alchemist in 1987 while still in high school and is the group's only remaining original member...
  
   − vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  , guitar
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
  , keyboard
  Electronic keyboard
  An electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...
  
  s
• Rodney Holder − drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  
• John Bray − bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Roy Torkington − guitar, illustrations

• John Hresc − Engineering at Rocking Horse Studios, Byron Bay, New South Wales
  Byron Bay, New South Wales
  Byron Bay is a beachside town located in the far-northeastern corner of the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located north of Sydney and south of Brisbane. Cape Byron, a headland adjacent to the town, is the easternmost point of mainland Australia. At the 2006 Census, the town had a...
  
  , November 1996
• Alchemist and D.W. Norton − Production
• D.W. Norton − Mixing at Backbeach Studios, Victoria (Australia)
  Victoria (Australia)
  Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
  
  , March 1997
• Sally Moore − Design