Monday, 31 August 2015

The Machine - 'Offblast!' (Album Review)

By: Victor Van Ommen

Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 01/06/2015
Label: Elektrohasch



These space cadets lift off from the harbor town of Rotterdam but their sprawling jams make us well aware that it doesn’t matter where they call home; their twisted, Hendrix guitar offerings will find you. Familiarity is found in the Palm Desert Fuzz that soak through these songs like the ink in a tie dye shirt, conjuring late night hallucinations of a Kyuss reunion done right

‘OffBlast!’ CD//DD///LP track listing:

01 (A) – Chrysalis (J.A.M.) [16:25]
02 (A) – Dry End [03:05]
03 (A) – Coda Sun [05:34]
04 (B) – Gamma [06:48]
05 (B) – Off Course [06:36]
06 (B) – Come To Light [12:11]

The Machine is:

Guitar & vocals | David Eering
Drums | Davy Boogaard
Bass | Hans van Heemst
Recording/production/mastering | David Eering

The Review:

The Machine’s new album kicks through the speakers with a sense of urgency. No one ever told these guys that a psychedelic jam needed an intro of backwards guitars or that the main riff needed to be brought in slowly as to not freak out the unwitting stoner. Instead, the snare crashes through – thwack! thwack! thwack! – like the jackhammer my neighbors have been using these last few weeks renovating their house. At this point, not even thirty seconds in, The Machine has made their presence known without any sort of warm up. Welcome to the opening track of The Machine’s new album, “Offblast!”

These space cadets lift off from the harbor town of Rotterdam but their sprawling jams make us well aware that it doesn’t matter where they call home; their twisted, Hendrix guitar offerings will find you. The reliance on heavy riffing is abound in cuts like “Dry End” and “Gamma,” while whipping choruses telling space-themed tales make up the bulk of “Coda Sun” and “Off Course.” Each of these four tracks clock in at under seven minutes, totaling half of “Offblasts” ’s running time. The other half of the album – the remaining half hour plus – is made up of the aforementioned opener and “Come to Light,” the album’s free spirited, bass heavy closer.

There’s no pretense here, it’s just a group of guys from Holland’s deadest heavy rock scene piddling around with instruments in such a way that got Elektrohasch interested. Familiarity is found in the Palm Desert Fuzz that soak through these songs like the ink in a tie dye shirt, conjuring late night hallucinations of a Kyuss reunion done right. This isn’t meant as an affront to either band, it’s just nice to hear that the Kyuss spirit thrives in bands like The Machine who, with the right attack, are void of being written off as a carbon copy. Instead, “Offblast” is an album made by trailblazers who merely start from a familiar location. 


‘OffBlast!’ is available here


Band info: facebook | official