Label - Prosthetic Records
Release Date - 8 July 2022
Words - Joey
What could you do in thirty four minutes? Well, you could watch an episode of EastEnders, catch up on e-mails, or take a nap. Or, you could fully immerse yourself in the latest album from The Machinist. Plus, let’s face it, since Dot Cotton is no longer in EastEnders, it’s not worth watching.
‘All Is Not Well’ is the title of the sophomore album from The Machinist. Based out of New York and (like every other band on the planet) having to down tools during the pandemic, the band clearly have a LOT to get off their chest, squeezing metal, hardcore and melodic elements into this relatively short record.
There is evidently a lot of bottled up aggression here. Judging from the one-two sucker-punch of opening track PIG (a reference to the police brutality witnessed worldwide) into the electronic heavy opening of Mother Earth, one would think that this is going to be a relentless barrage of harsh vocals and an intense wall of noise throughout. However, this band are so much more than just straight up in-your face violence. Each track is filled with diverse passages and wonderful juxtapositions in vocal styles.
The scream/sing switch-aroo from frontwoman Amanda Gjelaj, from melodic sections, high pitch shrieks and guttural grunts mean there is plenty of varition on the album and should appease metal fans throughout. For example, Hourglass is a beautifully crafted, arena ready anthem that is guaranteed to be a sing-along, set-list staple, whilst Deaths Embrace kicks off with a riff that Gojira would be proud of and leads into some ferocious blast beats and death metal vocals. Lysergic Lullaby is stuffed to the gills with both lofty clean hooks and skull-crushing riffs.
The penultimate track Monsters is a full-on, heads down rager, with Amanda’s rapping coming across as a carbon copy of Oteps’ Otep Shamaya. The whole song is filled with riffs, and coming so late in the album is an absolute treat, considering some (not all) bands run out of ideas as their album limps to the finish line.
Arguably, the three-piece save the heaviest breakdown of the entire album for the closing song Letter in Red. Lulling the listener in with a soaring vocal passage before unleashing a wall of riffs until two thirds through, enter feedback with an isolated chugging riff into the hardest breakdown we have heard from all these nine cuts.
There is a constant debate on length of albums. Double albums, too long. Prog, too long. Well, this album flies by so fast you will be finding yourself pressing play again and again.
8/10
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