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LA RECENSIONE
An hour of sweet dark controlled noise and slow violent songs: a gloomy and compelling wall of sound based on both epic and sparse rhythms, an intense, emotional, balanced album between decadence and sound impact.
The trio could only release two albums (look for the second one too) interspersed with an EP of covers before the bassist's death (Hernandez) and the subsequent breakup... from the ashes, Sophia was born, more acoustic and less hard.
Their skill is inversely proportional to the success they received, and to stylistically frame them, take Jane's Addiction, tell them a bit about the world's evil, then throw them into the studio, strip them of fun by taking them away from the LA private clubs and land them in fundamentalist Tehran during Khomeini's time, there we have it, it's them: the God Machine: wagnerianly grandiose and melancholic.
The spread of this titan invocation, offered by these alchemists of the most enlightening doom, initiation, meditation, ascension; everything is calculated, the dense and tragic odes, the cult of the goddess Isis is a mix of doom, hypnotic and repetitive sounds, and remarkable dramatic and sabbatic riffs. The songs (often long) create an incredibly paroxysmal atmosphere: The Blind Man, Desert Song, Purity, Dream Machine, Seven, cathedrals that terrify, where everything becomes a burning aquarium and devotion, echoing the "de profundis," beds soaked with scents, dark couches, new strange flowers, flashes of mystic blue and gleams.
Religion and esotericism are certainly the most present elements in the lyrics, as always intense and capable of overwhelming, while musically, the band continues to offer us a universe without colors, a world of shadows and chiaroscuro.
Visceral sounds that penetrate directly into the soul, originating from a Gibson Les Paul with an intentional pickup defect that makes the sound gloomy and devastating and produces sounds always enriched with flanges, feedback, delay, and other effects.
We admire with silent vertigo the disproportionate magnitude of this album.
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Summary by Bot
The God Machine’s Scenes From The Second Storey offers an hour of dark, controlled noise and slow, violent songs. The album balances emotional intensity with epic and sparse rhythms, producing a compelling and melancholic atmosphere. The band’s unique sound, enriched by effects and somber tones, is deeply spiritual and enveloping. Despite limited commercial success, the album is a monumental expression of doom and alternative rock.Tracklist Videos
The God Machine
American trio from San Diego who moved to London, The God Machine released two acclaimed albums in 1993 and 1994 before disbanding following bassist Jimmy Fernandez’s death in 1994.09 Reviews
Other reviews
By tia
"Scenes From The Second Storey is the sum of all the emotions you can experience in life and it strikes like a lightning bolt through your ears."
"A sweet sonic trip in free-form style concludes the piece... seventy-eight minutes have passed and I’ve had a very interesting journey."
