Author Peter Jones

Guilt Machine – On This Perfect Day

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Arjen Lucassen is many things. But boring will never be one of them. 

I first became familiar with Mr. Lucassen when the release of the Ayreon album The Human Equation was soon to be released. At the time, progressive music, both rock and metal, were my staples. I was a fan of Dream Theater (amongst others) and with the announcement that James Labrie would be singing the main character in the album, I started to pay attention. 

It opened a fascinating universe for me. The music of Ayreon, really just one of the musical outlets for Arjen Lucassen, was expansive, progressive, imaginative, and really hit the prog spot I was looking for. I fell deep down the rabbit hole, became an instant fan, and started to assiduously follow the man’s work.

2009 saw the release of a side project of Arjen’s, titled simply Guilt Machine. Stripping many of the excesses of his Ayreon project, On This Perfect Day presents a more direct approach to his unique style of progressive music. For vocals, Arjen enlisted Jasper Steverlinck, a pop singer from Belgium, rather than the expansive cast of vocal characters seen on Ayreon releases. 

What we have, then, is really lovely, clean pop vocals paired with facets of the Ayreon heaviness. Yet one of the aspects that makes Guilt Machine just so darn good is the way the heaviness is deftly balanced with the atmosphere. Nearly all the songs have a slow build, until the guitars finally kick in. And the dynamics continue throughout each song. None of the songs is in your face the entire time. That balance opens the music up, making it quite accessible, while still being deeply layered. And, let’s be honest, you have to find the version with the bonus tracks, simply to hear “The Stranger Song”. Jasper’s vocals are so powerful on that track, I get chills every time.

Lyrically, this is a dark album. Surprisingly so, honestly. The songs all seem to deal with loss, with things breaking down, with regret. This isn’t light, poppy fare. Nor is it the dense sci-fi stuff of the Ayreon albums. The atmosphere is further built by the addition of recorded voicemail messages. Arjen posted a number for fans to call and leave any message they wanted in their own language, and those messages are peppered throughout the album. It sounds like a gimmick, yet the way it is handled creates a powerful sense of reality. The addition of those messages helps the album feel grounded in a way few albums are.

There hasn’t been anything new out of the Guilt Machine camp in 10 years. And I’ll be honest, this album is so near perfect, that it might just be best to let it stand alone. While I’d love to hear more from this particular collaboration, On This Perfect Day is just that: perfect.

Norma Jean – All Hail

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The truth is, I like most subgenres of metal. However, anything that ends in -core, well, it just doesn’t usually click for me. As with everything in life though, there are exceptions.

Norma Jean is one of those exceptions. And All Hail slams an exclamation mark on that exception.

I became familiar with the band Norma Jean with their 2013 album Wrongdoers. For some reason, songs off that album popped up in my Pandora feed. I don’t recall what station led to that, but pop up they did, and I remember digging some of their stuff.

2016 came, and with it their album Polar Similar, I was paying complete attention. So when I saw that All Hail was getting ready to drop, I pre-ordered it without question. Specifically after hearing the first single, [Mind over Mind]. That song hit like a ton of bricks, and didn’t let up for its short two and a half minute run time.

All Hail is unquestionably metalcore. But it is metalcore that has matured. There is a deftness to the writing on the album that really draws me in. There are plenty of face smashing, head banging moments that get the blood pumping. Yet these moments are balanced by other moments of subtlety and peace. This makes the record stand out for me.

Metalcore, like all its -core brethren, can be a little too much. Too samey. Too balls-to-the-wall from start to finish. There is actually room to breathe on All Hail. And the album is undeniably stronger because of it.

Case in point, “Translational”, a song that will be at the very top of my favorite songs of the year list. It starts slowly, almost gently, and gradually builds from there. Screams are balanced with softly sung lines until the song explodes with the scream “Deliver me!” Yet they still have the maturity to reign the song in, and pull it back. This makes the “Burn baby, burn!” peak of the song that much more powerful. This is a masterclass in dynamics and maturity that eludes most -core bands.

It is this maturity, this ability to weave different layers of intensity, to contrast heavy and atmosphere, that makes All Hail such a darn triumph of writing. And the writing is bolstered by excellent playing and production that, while consistent with almost too polished modern sensibilities, allows the music to have that space to breathe that it needs. Yes, this is loud, but it never gets to be too much.

And with that balance and maturity, Norma Jean has dropped one of my favorite albums I have heard this year.

Mechina – Realm Breaker

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Every once in a while you experience something, and can just tell almost instinctively, that what you are experiencing is special. So it was for me when, in 2015, I somehow stumbled across the album Acheron by some band called Mechina.

Acheron is the fourth entry in an albums spanning science fiction epic. I’m just nerd enough that this immediately intrigued me. Having followed the band from that time onward, I have to say I really love their blend of symphonic, progressive and death metal elements. For a while, they managed to maintain a yearly release cadence, but have since backed off on that, and for good cause. The band states they didn’t want the music to suffer by simply trying to hit some arbitrary release cycle. Good for them.

The last major release was As Embers Turn to Dust at the beginning of 2017. Since then they have been working on the follow up, as well as releasing a compendium of their albums, honing the story a bit. But the time draws near, and today I got my first chance to check out a bit of what is coming our way.

“Realm Breaker” dropped today, and is the first release of upcoming album Telesterion. And it is classic Mechina. Full of lush orchestrations, driving guitars and excellent clean vocals. There are no male vocals or harsh vocals on this track, and it fits. The vocals have a slightly computerized sound to them, which works well with the music and fits the atmosphere being created. And atmosphere is one of the key parts of any Mechina album or song. That was what made my first listen to Acheron those years ago so entrancing: the atmosphere is just excellent.

“Realm Breaker” continues that track record, and instantly has my very excited for where Mechina is taking their story and their music. While not a real deviation from what they have released in the past, the song continues to showcase Mechina maturing as artists. There is a bit more restraint, the music has more room to breathe, and the orchestration continues to feel integral to the music, not an afterthought. These qualities have existed, but really are becoming more pronounced as Mechina feels to be more comfortable with who they are as artists and what they do.

Bring on the rest of Telesterion. I can’t wait for more.

What’s the deal with metal?

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If there is one reaction I get most often, when it comes to music, is the shock and surprise of others when they find out what I listen to.

It isn’t just because I listen to metal. I mean, come on, loads of people listen to something they call metal. Certain aspects of metal are just super mainstream, and so that isn’t surprising.

No, it is more the breadth and depth of my metal love that shocks people.

And that is what I love so much about metal music. There is a type of metal for every mood, for every mindset, for every occasion. There is metal that is calm, quiet, introspective and sedate. There is metal that is stunningly technical, played by people with just insane amounts of skill. There is metal that just wants to take your head and (figuratively) bash it in.

There is metal that is slow, brooding, moody. There is metal that is fast, furious and just insane above and beyond anything most people have heard.

That doesn’t even begin to touch on the lyricism. Sure, there is lyrical crap in metal, as in anything. But it can be deeply personal, it can address mental illness, loss, heartbreak and pain. It can also be fantastical, science fiction, historical. Really, it is all over the place.

And then add in the different tools and instruments, and you have a complete cornucopia of music. Folk instruments, full orchestras, electronics, bag pipes, and so many others have all found their way into amazing metal releases.

And I sort of love it all.

Traditional, progressive, technical, black, death, symphonic, power, doom, thrash, post, sludge, djent, and so forth, I’ll check it all out. You want some blackened symphonic death? I can find that. You want instrumental progressive post-metal? Got that too.

It never gets boring, it never gets old, and it never fails to put a smile on my face. No matter how bad a day is, I can find some metal that either compliments, or lifts my mood. No matter how heavy, how mellow, how fast, or how ponderously slow, there is something for every occasion.

That’s the deal with metal.

A deeper connection

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I’ve always been a fan of music. I think I got that from my mother. I have vivid memories of her cleaning the house or washing dishes with a big, old set of cans on her ears, a huge extension cord going into the living room where the stereo was.

I remember flipping through records. Billy Joel, The Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson, Chicago and the Moody Blues all stick out in my memory. And Neil Diamond. So much Neil Diamond.

That love of music just seemed normal to me. Now, I find that isn’t necessarily normal. Not everyone has a near constant soundtrack to life playing. But I do.

I moved on from my mother’s music to classic rock. I remember being blown away by Led Zeppelin and the Who. Then I discovered Rush. Something about their music connected with me. They were my first concert in May of 1992. The acoustics weren’t great in the Delta Center, but I was hooked.

Over time I continued to listen to classic rock, but like a huge percentage of the population, started checking out Metallica and Megadeth with their releases in the early 90s. Next was Anthrax and “The Persistence of Time”. Something about the heavier music spoke to me.

Fast forward to the early 2000s and I was in medical school. I stumbled on Opeth’s masterpiece “Blackwater Park”. It took a while for the death growls to grow on me, but eventually they did, and the rest is history.

As I’ve aged my musical choices have tended towards the more heavy. I still love all types of metal and even harder rock. But there is no question that I love the heavy stuff, despite the fact I am now in my early 40s. I guess it’s true what they say, “If it’s too loud, you’re too old!”

Rock on my friends. Rock on.