The Machine - "Drie"
(Elektrohasch 2010, EH 147)
The Machine - "Drie"
(Elektrohasch 2010, EH 147)
From Aural Innovations #42 (May 2011)
I previously reviewed their previous double LP that was released by Nasoni records by this very Colour Haze inspired band from Holland. They are back with their 2nd double LP about 70mins of music. The opening track is great with some very Hendrix like guitar and a very funky track. I love this song and he has a nice effect on his guitar as well. This young kid can really rip it up. Sunbow is next and a long track at over 9 mins. It starts with only guitar before bass and drums kick in and the Colour Haze guitar riff begins. It is funny in the old days you would say a band like this sounded like Kyuss but then Colour Haze altered that Kyuss sound to make it their own and now the bands get compared to Colour Haze and not Kyuss? Strange. Anyway, this one will remind you of both in its slow stoney groove that slowly picks up as the track evolves and they get more laid back and he plays some nice Koglek like guitar. It is not until the last minute that they pick things up. This track is really like a Colour Haze cover song. Medulla is a more up-tempo stoner rock track with some melodic singing and a bit more catchy and it has a nice psychedelic guitar section with some layers and a ripping solo. Aurora is only 3 mins and an acoustic guitar track with some spacey sounds in the background. This leads into the 3 part 15 minute instrumental suite called Tsiolkovsky’s Budget. It starts off with a guitar that sounds like it was stolen from Stefan Koglek’s apartment. This is a sound that Stefan owns and this guy can only borrow and use. Anyway, this track starts slow and builds like many classic Colour Haze tracks. The stoner riffing kicks in at 6½ minutes as they get it going now. He kicks in with a great wah guitar around 9½ minutes. The last 4 mins (part 3) they come back to the riff that kicked in at 6½ minutes and then start to take it down and out around 12 minutes. Paradox is a short 2 min piece that leads into the masterpiece on this double vinyl (or 79 min CD), called First Unique Prime, which is an amazing 17min psychedelic rock guitar work out with amazing solos, riffs and grooves. Wow… The last track is called Jam no.?, which is only listed as 10:21 on the CD but the track is over 19 and it starts off sounding like Robin Trower, stepping a bit aside of the Colour Haze sound, which is nice. Again, David rips it up on the guitar and he has a very solid band as well with Hans on bass and Davy on drums. Overall, a very good record and even better than the last one but they still need to grow out of the Color Haze sound and into their own as they have the talent. I have seen them live twice and they are great so check them out when they come to your town.
For more info, visit: http://www.elektrohasch.de and http://www.themachineweb.com
Reviewed by Scott Heller