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How far can devotion to a band lead? I don’t know, I am not the kind of music lover who revels in every single fart emitted by their favorite group, but if I suddenly feel the urge to obtain anything produced by a band with a relatively short lifespan ('92-'94'), well then that's amore.
1992: The God Machine lay the groundwork for what will be, a year later, their first (master)piece: this EP indeed seems almost like a preface to "Scenes From The Second Storey," as it anticipates the dark and magmatic atmospheres. Four tracks for a total duration of 25 minutes: these Californians never had the gift of brevity, and we definitely thank them for that.
It starts with the title track (7' 38") which is a primordial version of the "The Desert Song" that will appear on the LP a year later: it lacks the initial bagpipe sound, travels at a slower pace than the final version, and the mysticism in the air can already be felt, just close your eyes, and you project yourself into the middle of the desert around the fire, dancing tribal dances. "God save your honour" Sheppard continuously repeats, and chills run down my spine.
"Prostitute" (4' 09") is pure obsessiveness: the same monolithic, anguishing, insistent rhythm with a bit of a doom, a bit of a sludge flavor, until a second guitar timidly hints at a solo, fading shortly after. With "Commitment" (5' 21"), you move again with the pace of a gigantic animal, a continuous stream of heavy riffs reminiscent of Sleep and Goatsnake then intermingles with distortions that will become increasingly lighter noise trails, until semi-silence: the apparent calm before the storm, Robin's scream tearing through absolute darkness and leading us to the final fireworks, because the sonic blows end here.
Closing the EP is "Pictures Of A Bleeding Boy" (7' 39"), that is, The God Machine wrapped in a veil of melancholy. A poignant acoustic ballad accompanied by a now subdued drum and ambient sounds in the background that give it that slightly ethereal air.
("and what if I was to cut my wrists / and paint pictures on the wall of burning / with sunset over a deep red sea / would you see? would you see?")
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