Formed in 1996, by guitarist Christian Smedström and bass player Stefan Magnusson, aiming to pick up where the aforementioned Kyuss left off, the Awesome Machine are admirably plugging the gap left by the genre's finest sons. This seven track demo showcases the four-piece's abilities superbly and marks them out as a real mouth-watering prospect for the future.

The fun starts with track one: "El Bojo (empty)" which opens with an elastic riff and then launches into full on groove action, with a guitar tone the like of which hasn't been heard since "...and the Circus Leaves Town". In fact you'd swear Josh Homme must be missing a few guitars.

Excellent, groove oriented riffing characterises the Awesome Machine's sound, complimented by heroic vocals from Lasse, described by their website as "...the band's own lyricmaker and wildbeast. He is known for his funny outbursts on stage, which makes him the perfect lead singer. He is jumping, bouncing and swearing through every live performance." Now that sort of a performance sounds like it's worth paying to see. If only they'd tour the UK...hmmm.

The stand out track is perhaps "Mother's Gone" again Kyussesque, though not detrimentally so. Reminding this listener of "One Inch Man" in particular, it's a tripped out, hypnotic track which improves with each listen.

This genuinely is great stuff, each track a corker. No pretensions, just first class, dusty, driving stoner rock. (9)

Be sure to check out the Awesome Machine website for all your awesome requirements.

Back to main page