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One Machine - The Distortion Of Lies And The Overdriven Truth review



Reviewer:
7.7

8 users:
5.75
Band: One Machine
Album: The Distortion Of Lies And The Overdriven Truth
Release date: February 2014


01. The Distortion Of Lies And The Overdriven Truth
02. Crossed Over
03. Kill The Hope Inside
04. Armchair Warriors
05. Defiance
06. One Machine
07. Into Nothing
08. Evict The Enemy
09. Last Star Alights
10. Freedom And Pain

One Machine is not just another "Supergroup" but rather a well thought-out idea by mastermind Steve Smyth, who hand-picked a bunch of musicians, and thus, the end result speaks for itself.

Just because Steve Smyth is best known for his slinging with bands such as Forbidden, Testament and, among others, Nevermore, don't dismiss The Distortion Of Lies And The Overdriven Truth as a rehash of tried and true tunes. With ex-Mercenary vocalist Mikkel Sandager, prior Biomechanical guitarist Jamie Hunt, ex-Mnemic thumper Tomas "Obeast" Koefoed and multi-talented drummer Raphael Saini (Chaoswave, ex-Iced Earth), Smyth surrounded himself with enough talent to step outside his comfort zone. (The latter has been replaced by Michele Sanna who coincidently also tried out for the Forbidden drummer slot back in 2011)

While operating under the progressive thrash metal tag, the band does their best to incorporate all aspects of the genre; thrashy when needed, but mostly your senses will be bombarded with modern compositions. I guess this is where the progressive part comes in, since it is clearly not the thrash sound of the Eighties. Nothing wrong with this, and One Machine proves with their debut album that you can take the lessons learned from the past, improve upon and deliver a quality product.

Mikkel does an outstanding job in the vocal department. Not only does he delight the ears with his clean singing, he surpassed my expectations with his low growls and screaming passages alike. During the track "One Machine" he really proves what a well-rounded vocalist can bring to any band, while during "Last Star Alights" he lulls us into a trance with his familiar singing style; clean and powerful.

And those guitars - holy crap. Memorable choruses and catchy hooks are plentiful; in fact, the entire album is a frenzy of guitar masturbations, be it in the solos or the huge riffs. Each song keeps you on your toes, waiting to see what comes next. While some songs are predicable in that regard, "Armchair Warriors" would be one of them, others keep you guessing which path the sound will take, with the aforementioned "One Machine" being a prime example of this guessing game. Or the rather core'ish or industrial sounding "Evict The Enemy", which takes turns and twists which are not foreseeable at first listening.

Surprisingly the bass is heavy in the mix, which gives the songs that extra "oomph", and the drumming is superb as well.

To sum it up; One Machine experimented with the classic sounds of heavy metal, thrash, power, even a little groove metal and scattered a heavy dose of early Mercenary on it. But, while they created an awesome album, the intent is sometimes lost because of the sheer complexity of some songs.





Written on 14.03.2014 by Former boss lady. Now just a professional concertgoer... dangerously armed with a camera!


Comments

Comments: 8   Visited by: 188 users
14.03.2014 - 04:49
Rupert

Ooof the vocals... I'd take angsty Periphery vocals over soaring power metal ones any day. Rest sounds pretty good though I must say.
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14.03.2014 - 04:54
D.T. Metal

Written by Rupert on 14.03.2014 at 04:49

Ooof the vocals... I'd take angsty Periphery vocals over soaring power metal ones any day. Rest sounds pretty good though I must say.

LOL - well, they are not THAT power metal'ish
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14.03.2014 - 05:17
D.T. Metal

Written by deadone on 14.03.2014 at 05:10

Sounds intriguing though "sheer complexity of the songs" does scare me a bit.

Not all, just some.
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14.03.2014 - 05:36
D.T. Metal

Written by deadone on 14.03.2014 at 05:21


Will give it a go then.

But I'll hold you responsible for any uncontrollable bowel movements or equal uncontrollable sobbing as a result of any over complexity related stress issues.

Ease in with "Last Star Alights" and "Armchair Warrior", followed by "Crossed Over" and "Freedom And Pain" and then check out the rest of the album
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14.03.2014 - 14:44
psykometal
A staff guy...
Sounds fascinating. Wish I would have known about this when I was still at home so I could get it. Oh well, it'll still exist and I get back home in a month.
----
~Zep, Database and Forum Moderation~

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14.03.2014 - 18:19
WarriorFenix

Written by deadone on 14.03.2014 at 05:48

Just started listening to the title track.

Pretty good - kinda like Thrashy Nevermore with Iced Earth/Power Metal vocals. Of course I was going to like it.

My only fault is the overall clicky bass drums, but this could be the result of listening to it through headphones.


Only listened to the title track myself, my only slight beef is with the vocals, Mikkel sounds as if he's trying hard to sound like Warrell Dane, whom he is not. He's a great singer on his own merits, im not sure why they choose to go down that road.

It was a pretty good track though.
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14.03.2014 - 22:29
UPDIRNS

Listened to a few songs and love it. Complex it is, but I love complexity in music when everything works together. From what I heard on the three songs I listened to they work and I'll be buying this album and giving it a solid listen. It's different in a good way.
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15.03.2014 - 14:05
D.T. Metal

Written by WarriorFenix on 14.03.2014 at 18:19

Only listened to the title track myself, my only slight beef is with the vocals, Mikkel sounds as if he's trying hard to sound like Warrell Dane, whom he is not. He's a great singer on his own merits, im not sure why they choose to go down that road.

It was a pretty good track though.

IMO the title track is NOT the strongest track on the album and Mikkel does have the opportunity to shine in the vocal department on other songs. Like I said, it's a complex album but somehow it grows on you.
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