| CD REVIEW Guilt Machine (Arjen Lucassen’s) |
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Band : Guilt Machine (Arjen Lucassen’s) Pfieuww…I could be that cowardly as to direct you, the readers, to the Wikipedia page on Guilt Machine, but that would really be doing this extraordinary release an unforgivable injustice! So, her’s me re-writing that article! Lucassen, known from such high-profile projects as Ayreon and Star One (which use a wide array of singers from the Prog and Rock scene) and Ambeon announced to be working on this new project in February of this year. In stead of his usual Fantasy and SciFi themes, this time around Arjen wanted to work around “…the destructive psychology of guilt, regret, and the darkest form of secret – the secrets we hide from ourselves…”. Unaccustomed to such close-at-home lyrics, he asked his manager Lori Linstruth to write him some to use as guide vocals for some music he already had in mind, and what she wrote befell & impressed him so positively, he asked her to write àll of the lyrics! He also invited her to play the lead guitar on this project, simply because he’d always liked her melodic style of play. In contradiction to his former projects, he wanted to work with just one singer this time around, and the one he had in mind, because of his very warm and in-deep emotional style of voice, and his vocal versatility, was Arid’s Jasper Steverlinck. It took Arjen quite some convincing for Jasper to join in on this Progressive Metal project, as the singer’s musical genre differs quite a bit, but in the end we can only cheer the fact that he succeeded! On top, Arjen let his fans know on March 9, that they could submit a vocal contribution for inclusion on the album. With a deadline set on March 15, over 200 audio messages were sent, of which 19 were used in the album. According to Arjen, the languages used in these messages range from Chinese to Tagalog (whaddahellisdat?) and from French to Russian (besides phrases in Spannish and Italian, I also found a sentence in Dutch at the very beginning of the album, as well as German, and I’m certain there’s also a Japanese girl saying a sentence…and let’s no forget English!). With Arjen himself providing the usual keyboard backings, as well as the bass and backing vocals, plus rhythm guitar and the occasional mandolin…and with Chris Maitland (formerly of Porcupine Tree) behind the drum kit (in stead of his usual Ayreon collaborator Ed Warby – read for the reasons behind that choice at Wikipedia), the complete sum of it all is an overwhelming album! Soaring at moments, with dark passages, moments of utter emotional expression…it’s too special to explain, really! Let me just tell you that many a tear was shed while I was singing along (or at least tying to) with the extraordinary vocal contributions by Steverlinck. Tears from being touched by those dark feelings of desperation and unhappiness expressed in the lyrics, but even more so by the way the singer was able to express them! On top, you get this wonderful Progressive Rock/ Metal music which helps you to be able to bear everything thoughout the album. In the end, you cannot help being touched deeply by both vocals, lyrical content, àand the music…or each seperatedly! Feel like a thoroughly emotional moment? Wanna be a cry-baby? Hey…there’s nothing wrong with that, you know, because a good cry helps cleanse the soul like nothing else can! Well…just surf on over to myspace.com/guiltmachine, where you’ll find ample material to live yourselves out with! Oh yeah, before I forget (and you can be sure I’ll be posted at the record store to get a copy), the album is also released in limited editions with bonus DVD, including bonus audio tracks “The Stranger Song” (a Leonard Cohen original sang by Jasper), “Michelangelo” (original by J. Campbell, and posted at the band’s MySpace, sang by Arjen), an 8-minute compilation of fan messages, and early version of “Perfection?” with guide vocals by Arjen, and radio edits (vvery much needed, seen as the original versions of the songs are so darn long) of the tracks “Twisted Coil”, “Green And Cream” (the edit re-titled “Pull Me Out Of The Dark”), and “Over” (actually, with “only” a 6:11 length, thàt is the shortest track on the album). Video material on the DVD includes the trailer for the album (check it out at MySpace), the making of the trailer, and an interview with Guilt Machine collaborators Arjen, Lori, and Jasper! Fan of Progressive Metal with a deep emotional touch? I won’t believe that, unless you actually go out to the record store to get your own copy of this album after having heard what the band sounds like! A definite contender for the highest positions in my “Best (Progressive Metal) Albums Of 2009! 98/100 - 100/100 (Dirk). Tony & Dirk. |