Ape Machine
Mangled by the Machine
Ripple Music
2013
Ape Machine is a stoner/heavy rock band from Portland, Oregon that have just released their 3rd album entitled “Mangled by the Machine”. The band describes this album as “an angry conceptual piece of music that takes a cue from the masters of the 70s progressive masters, yet reflects the immediacy of the chaotic world all around us”. On the other hand, I would describe it as a kick-ass heavy album that you want to hear over and over again.
10 powerful songs that musically sound absolutely amazing. You can understand that the whole band is really enjoying themselves playing and are giving 110% on every chord. One of the cool aspects of “Mangled by the Machine” is that it was recorded as one long continuous track in one take and then broken down into ten individual songs. That fact, nevertheless, is actually a double edge sword. The only thing that bothered me throughout the album was the vocals. I can’t know if the singer has ever had any vocal lessons, but it sounds like he hasn’t. While his voice is not at all bad, he does not do anything with it. The vocals do not change at all throughout each and every song (with the exception of “Ruling With Intent” which features a mic-effect). Something that is magnified by the no-pause-between-songs nature of the album. But, apart from that, everything else is more than fine.
Ape Machine have been called “a rock and roll band with a finger on the pulse of the 70s and their asses firmly in the present” something that I also find absolutely true. What really impresses me in “Mangled by the Machine” is not that you could be listening to a current-sounding stoner/heavy rock tune with a killer fast 00s style riff and, out of nowhere, the Deep Purple 70s organ piano comes. What’s also really cool is the fact that somehow this piano does not feel at all out of place, but manages to fit in perfectly and even complement the overall sound.
If you are a heavy rock kind of guy or girl and you have not heard of Ape Machine go check them out right now.
10 powerful songs that musically sound absolutely amazing. You can understand that the whole band is really enjoying themselves playing and are giving 110% on every chord. One of the cool aspects of “Mangled by the Machine” is that it was recorded as one long continuous track in one take and then broken down into ten individual songs. That fact, nevertheless, is actually a double edge sword. The only thing that bothered me throughout the album was the vocals. I can’t know if the singer has ever had any vocal lessons, but it sounds like he hasn’t. While his voice is not at all bad, he does not do anything with it. The vocals do not change at all throughout each and every song (with the exception of “Ruling With Intent” which features a mic-effect). Something that is magnified by the no-pause-between-songs nature of the album. But, apart from that, everything else is more than fine.
Ape Machine have been called “a rock and roll band with a finger on the pulse of the 70s and their asses firmly in the present” something that I also find absolutely true. What really impresses me in “Mangled by the Machine” is not that you could be listening to a current-sounding stoner/heavy rock tune with a killer fast 00s style riff and, out of nowhere, the Deep Purple 70s organ piano comes. What’s also really cool is the fact that somehow this piano does not feel at all out of place, but manages to fit in perfectly and even complement the overall sound.
If you are a heavy rock kind of guy or girl and you have not heard of Ape Machine go check them out right now.