Grey Machine - Disconnected

Grey Machine is a sludge/noise/electronic super group of sorts.  It marks the first official (and hopefully not last) collaboration of Aaron Turner (Isis, Old Man Goom, House of Low Culture, Lotus Eaters, and owner of extreme/metal/noise/experimental label Hydra Head Records) and hyper-prolific Justin K. Broadrick (Napalm Death, Godflesh, Jesu, Final, etc).  If you're internet record review savvy like me, you will find that Grey Machine's debut, Disconnected did not fair well with most critics.  This is unfortunate and clearly the sign of our modern ADD era, because with a first listen this album sounds like a noisy mess.  With subsequent listens however, Turner and Broaderick's collaborative genius unfolds.

First off, what would you expect if you were told that these two great forces would collide?  On one hand you have Aaron Turner's suspected input.  His time fronting Isis would come to mind first: (as of recent) a combination of Neurosis's crushing riffs partnered with Pink Floyd's Meddle era spaced-out jams.  On the other hand you have Broadrick's current flagship project, Jesu (pronounced "Yay-Su"): the best parts of Godflesh filtered though a morphine bath and a My Bloody Valentine fetish.  A combination of these elements would yield exactly what you would expect: tired, post-metal dribble (copies of copies of copies of Isis and Jesu). Fortunately, this isn't the case.

From the first riff of the album's opener, Wolf At The Door, we are treated to a pounding drop-tuned bass assault akin to Godflesh. But as the song progresses the sound hearkens back to early 80's No-Wave and Post-Punk acts such as the early Swans records and a dash of blackened This Heat...if you can imagine that.  Continuing on through the album, any trace of Turner and Broadrick's other bands almost vanish.  As Vultures Descends starts up, early Industrial bands come to mind: The Land of Rape And Honey era Ministry, early Throbbing Gristle etc.  Solid, repetitive riffs entangle with sheets of white-hot noise through many of the tracks.  The vocals are tortured and distorted, buried by the cacophonous mixture of death that Grey Machine procures without effort, and in a natural fashion.

Beside the homages to early Industrial, Post-Punk and No-Wave records, Disconnected has a few tracks that are more ambiguous (yet still crushingly brutal).  It's more of a pull from both collaborators noisier projects (House of Low Culture, Lotus Eaters and Final).

Just Breathing offers a slow, building, muted guitar march to the edge of an active volcano.  The track slowly gathers like an angry mob.  Squalls of noise finally fester into an apex and eventual "fall"; the listener is being thrown over the edge into the hellish soup.

Similarly, Sweatshop, plods along like an assembly line in 4/4.  Voices and noise give way to a mechanized rhythmic current that suddenly stops.

The album ends with Easy Pickings and a track that is titled "Untitled."  The former, another noisy rhythm-laced instrumental track.  This might be the weakest piece on the album when taken in by itself.  The latter is the one song on the album where we can clearly hear the discernible growl of Aaron Turner.  The beats are unmistakably electronic; almost with a Trip-hop feel.  It's chilled-out (again, still brutal) track that serves as a cool-down, yet strong finish - the kind you wouldn't mind waking up to after passing out when your fifteenth beers deep.

One more thing that I will say about this album: most of the songs stand up on their own, but after repeated listens, it is very clear that this album was, in my opinion, meant to be digested as a whole.  One needs time to really dig in.  The layers are plenty and you can hear different things with each listen.

http://www.myspace.com/officialgreymachine

For fans of: Ministry, Severed Heads, Swans, Godflesh, Throbbing Gristle, etc.