Das Machine - 2014 - Red Sky

Post Rock

[FOR FREE]

http://amachinesdeath.bandcamp.com/album/red-sky-ep

• 4 songs to download
• You name the price (min 0,-)
• You get the link if you register your email address
• Listening recommendations: Ghost

Impressions

It was only a matter of time until bandcamp delivered unto me the first new post rock album of 2014 worth listening to and recommending. I wasn't expecting it so quickly, I freely admit as much, but Das Machine's second release of the year[!] (the first of new material) certainly sets the bar high enough for any other bands in this genre to try and clear. Sadly it's only four tracks, because a full length would be glorious to sit back and revel in. Machine has got the slow burn build-up down to a science, a churning guitar-driven rock and roll science, that may be a deterrent to some, I'm able to plop down and enjoy. Something about the wailing on "Ghost", and the atmospheric, dreamy nature on "Time Turns Tomorrow into Yesterday", with its just barely there AM radio hiss (well until the fade out anyway). I'm a sucker for music that can elicit a bit of nostalgia for reasons unknown, and both those tracks did just that. The first minute or so of "Ghost" paints a desolate picture, that would indeed be punctuated by a red sky, like the ones light pollution here create in the winter. Strikingly beautiful, but in the back of your mind, there's a niggling that something isn't right. That isn't to say the music is somehow 'bad' (I kind of went of the rails there for a minute), far from it. The production is clean, the guitars are allowed to shine and play off each other in a vast post-rock playground while the low end is dutifully heavy - the drumming is all around excellent really - really letting those skins know who's in charge. Of course everyone chills the 'eff out come 1972, the drums are reduced to simple high-hats and bass basically sits back and lets the guitars call out for each other in a vast dark space on this one. Perfect headphone track. Definitely one for fans of the post-rock oeuvre, check out Das Machines Red Sky.
Also, check out the odds and ends record they put out last month if you get a chance, why not.