2006-02-16
The German metal scene is not just recycling old ideas and themes; the change in the character of metal music has also affected the scene there, leading to the creation of current bands such as
Caliban, who infuse German melody with American aggression.
Dusk Machine is another such ground breaking group, changing their name from the original moniker of Deception, the band combines thrash rhythms and energy with modern day tuned down guitar riffs, resulting in an album that brings thrash into the 21th century, without sounding dated or contrived.
The album is actually a concept album, based upon two books by 19th century German author E.T.A. Hoffmann, centered on the life and death of the story's main character.
There's no waste of time here, the band belt out the opening title track, and its main strengths are immediately evident, a sharp and meaty sound, fine drum work by ex-
Annihilator, current
Primal Fear skin-basher Randy Black, and thick guitar riffs that combine the basic idea of thrash riffing with a tuned-down quality more usually found in such bands as
Fear Factory and
Machine Head.
A special mention should go to the excellent vocals by Hagen Hirschmann, the guy manages to combine melody with a throaty rasp that lends his vocals an added edge, at times he sound as brutal as
Grave Digger's Chris Boltendahl, but he has a much wider range and he also carries such quieter, emotional pieces like "Consolation" well.
The songs have plenty of hooks, though some of them begin with riffs that are similar, they tend to develop in an interesting melodic fashion, some of them aggressive as hell, such as "The Maker's Death", a strong, quite fast cut that ends with a serious bang.
The album ends with the Epic "Lament/Entering The Afterlife", a fine combination of clean guitar passages and the after mentioned tuned down heavy riffs, it’s the only track on the album that isn’t as catchy and listener friendly as the rest, but it serves to add another flavor to the band's pallet.
A fine album, it will delight both old-school thrash fanatics and more modern oriented metal listeners, let's just hope they can keep this up.
Alon Miasnikov
