Formed in 2008 by guitarist/vocalist Luke Machin at the Brighton Institute Of Modern Music, UK-based prog rockers Maschine are a new addition to the InsideOut roster. Machin and bassist Daniel Mash were both members of The Tangent before going off on their own. In fact, it was The Tangent’s frontman/founder Andy Tillison who suggested to the label that they might find these guys quite interesting. With Luke and Daniel both also providing vocals, the line-up is completed by Georgia Lewis (keyboards, vocals), Elliott Fuller (guitars) and recent addition James Stewart (drums). Looking at the cover art, along with the band logo, there is the impression that what we have here is an out and out metal act. But, in reality what we have is an incredibly complex prog metal act, who seem to have no interest whatsoever in staying within any particular subgenre or theme.
These guys are incredible musicians, and are tight with complex and complicated music. There are times when it is light and melodic, and others when it is far more fractured and almost King Crimsonish. The vocals are an important part of what they do, and they mix up solo voices with two or three-way harmonies but it is the instrumentation that really makes this. Interestingly there are complete passages where the keyboards are notable by their absence, while Daniel’s bass picking adds a different element to what is going on. But, the one thing that stops this from being a true blue 5* debut is that sometimes it is so complex and complicated that it hard to understand the musical thread and what the aim is of all of this. I listen to music for pleasure, and sometimes I was being taken to a place having forgotten how I got there. So, in many ways this is superb, but when it comes to pure tunes and songs it isn’t quite there, although it is a fine album nonetheless. For more details visit www.maschineuk.com
