Black Light Machine
We were recently contacted by Black Light Machine to let us know about some of their tracks on their Facebook page, and to see what we thought. Formed by members of Orangefall, The Happenin’, Alive and Remain, and Adrian Smith’s Psycho Motel, there’s a lot of experience within the band already. Couple this with the members having worked with members of Iron Maiden, Thin Lizzy, The Wildhearts and Wishbone Ash, the band are making a name for themselves on the live scene – so I figured I’d better check out the recordings!
End Of Summer kicks thing off and immediately shows that we’re on to a winner, kicking into a hammering guitar line and pummelling onwards into a world of distortion. Combining elements of metal with the intricacies of rock n roll, there’s a sense of funkiness and power combining throughout the track, forming the sort of track which makes you want to crack open a beer, get down to a venue and witness this first hand for yourself. I love the subtle hints of synth behind the music as well which gives this track a sense of more conventional stadium rock, somehow combining the different elements once again to form a sound which you know is heavy, yet it’s not over the top or too far into the world of distortion to make it hard to listen to. Catchy, powerful and quite simply awesome, I found myself converted to this band from the word go – and this is just on track one.
No Tears For Me continues the hard hitting and funky approach, once again throwing down into a distorted riff and forcing you along for the ride. This track moves away from getting too catchy and instead focuses on the power of the band, showing that when they want to, this band can make it damned heavy. This is one of my personal favourite tracks from the selection on the bands FB page, there’s just something about it which reminded me of the sort of music which got me into metal, almost like a trip down memory lane if you will! Inside The Outside follows much the same sort of convention, once again throwing into a funky and heavy melee of distorted guitar lines, pounding drum lines and soaring vocals. The mix which the band have achieved here is as close to perfect as I’ve come across, showing that they’ve got the technical ability to match their song writing skills, resulting in tracks which will leave you gasping for breath and struggling to believe what you’re hearing.
The Truth marks a different approach from the guys, opening slower and building up in a very Metallica-esque style, but then launching into a track which is certainly on the heavy side, yet harnesses elements of punk throughout it. The chunky moments contrast against the more chuggy verse sections, taking a sound which should simply be metal and adding more elements to it. Across The Earth continues this hard hitting and ‘chuggy’ approach to things (I’ve got to stop making words up….but you know what I mean!), once again slowing things down and forming a track which accentuates the raw power of the band throughout, resulting in another track which is going to make you want to get out to see these guys live. Combine this with the faster and hard hitting approach of Sail Unto Me and what you’ve got is a band who can craft heavy tracks, fast tracks, and tracks which make you realise why it is that you listen to this sort of music.
Closing the selection with The Fall Of Elysium there’s no doubt left in my mind that whilst I’m out on tour this summer, I need to check these guys out. Fast, powerful, funky and catchy from the off, this final track holds all of the power of a metal track, all of the catchiness of a stadium rock track, and all of the musical ability of a band well above their stature, showing that if you’re looking for a new band to become a fan of, this could be them!
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I read the bio of Black Light Machine, largely because in the past I’ve always found that when members of a band work with members of other, bigger bands, they end up copying their style. (You only need look at the Sum 41 album Chuck to see what I mean – they were touring with System of a Down and Metallica at the time – so one of the tracks is a copy of Battery and another a copy of Chop Suey). In the case of Black Light Machine though they seem to have avoided it and have instead, created their own approach and sound. What does this mean? Well, to me it means that if you’re looking for a band to check out, a band to go and see – then this could be it, and I’ll bet you’ll love them too.
To find out more about Black Light Machine, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls
End Of Summer kicks thing off and immediately shows that we’re on to a winner, kicking into a hammering guitar line and pummelling onwards into a world of distortion. Combining elements of metal with the intricacies of rock n roll, there’s a sense of funkiness and power combining throughout the track, forming the sort of track which makes you want to crack open a beer, get down to a venue and witness this first hand for yourself. I love the subtle hints of synth behind the music as well which gives this track a sense of more conventional stadium rock, somehow combining the different elements once again to form a sound which you know is heavy, yet it’s not over the top or too far into the world of distortion to make it hard to listen to. Catchy, powerful and quite simply awesome, I found myself converted to this band from the word go – and this is just on track one.
No Tears For Me continues the hard hitting and funky approach, once again throwing down into a distorted riff and forcing you along for the ride. This track moves away from getting too catchy and instead focuses on the power of the band, showing that when they want to, this band can make it damned heavy. This is one of my personal favourite tracks from the selection on the bands FB page, there’s just something about it which reminded me of the sort of music which got me into metal, almost like a trip down memory lane if you will! Inside The Outside follows much the same sort of convention, once again throwing into a funky and heavy melee of distorted guitar lines, pounding drum lines and soaring vocals. The mix which the band have achieved here is as close to perfect as I’ve come across, showing that they’ve got the technical ability to match their song writing skills, resulting in tracks which will leave you gasping for breath and struggling to believe what you’re hearing.
The Truth marks a different approach from the guys, opening slower and building up in a very Metallica-esque style, but then launching into a track which is certainly on the heavy side, yet harnesses elements of punk throughout it. The chunky moments contrast against the more chuggy verse sections, taking a sound which should simply be metal and adding more elements to it. Across The Earth continues this hard hitting and ‘chuggy’ approach to things (I’ve got to stop making words up….but you know what I mean!), once again slowing things down and forming a track which accentuates the raw power of the band throughout, resulting in another track which is going to make you want to get out to see these guys live. Combine this with the faster and hard hitting approach of Sail Unto Me and what you’ve got is a band who can craft heavy tracks, fast tracks, and tracks which make you realise why it is that you listen to this sort of music.
Closing the selection with The Fall Of Elysium there’s no doubt left in my mind that whilst I’m out on tour this summer, I need to check these guys out. Fast, powerful, funky and catchy from the off, this final track holds all of the power of a metal track, all of the catchiness of a stadium rock track, and all of the musical ability of a band well above their stature, showing that if you’re looking for a new band to become a fan of, this could be them!
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I read the bio of Black Light Machine, largely because in the past I’ve always found that when members of a band work with members of other, bigger bands, they end up copying their style. (You only need look at the Sum 41 album Chuck to see what I mean – they were touring with System of a Down and Metallica at the time – so one of the tracks is a copy of Battery and another a copy of Chop Suey). In the case of Black Light Machine though they seem to have avoided it and have instead, created their own approach and sound. What does this mean? Well, to me it means that if you’re looking for a band to check out, a band to go and see – then this could be it, and I’ll bet you’ll love them too.
To find out more about Black Light Machine, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls